Solved Upgrading to 4K (Advanced Format) Hard Drive (Windows Update Problem)

[Commando303]

I am running Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit, on a Lenovo W500 ThinkPad laptop. I am trying to upgrade my Seagate 320GB hard-disk drive to a Western Digital (WD) Blue 1TB. The new drive has 4K sectors (Advanced Format), as opposed to 512-byte sectors, which appears to be causing some problems with Windows. The operating system loads, however Windows Update will not work, and various programs give strange prompts.

The old drive was cloned to the new using Acronis True Image WD Edition. Proper alignment was verified using Acronis WD Align. I have to clone the old drive; clean-installing Windows is not an option.

Microsoft has this article for what seems to be my problem: An update that improves the compatibility of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Advanced Format Disks is available. I already have run this file (prior to cloning), however the problem remains.

I have read on-line that it might help to install Intel RST 9.6 or later. My Device manager currently lists Intel ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller (under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers); it is driver version 8.9.2.1002. I have tried to upgrade the driver, however without success: I simply receive the message, "Windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date."

Help is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

[TVeblen]

Do you know if the new 1TB drive is using the GUID file table (GPT)? I wonder if the old drive was in MBR format and you are cloning to GPT. That may cause problems.

If so you may want to format the 1TB as MBR with 512 sectors. There is no reason you need to use GPT under 2.2TB. So performance should not be an issue.

 

[Commando303]

The new drive is being cloned using M.B.R., same as the old.

Does anyone have advice on how I might be able to install the SATA driver update (i.e., the Intel RST)?

Thanks.

 

[TVeblen]

You could go into Programs and uninstall the current RST driver package, then reboot and try and install the new one.

One word of caution: there are an awful lot of versions of RST. You've got to be sure to get the one compatible with your chipset. So read carefully.

 

[Commando303]

You could go into Programs and uninstall the current RST driver package, then reboot and try and install the new one.

One word of caution: there are an awful lot of versions of RST. You've got to be sure to get the one compatible with your chipset. So read carefully.

How would I install the new driver? I'm afraid, once I uninstall the old, I might not even be able to get back into Windows, as the computer might not read the hard drive any longer.

Thanks.

 

[TVeblen]

You do not need the RST driver to run Windows. It is an enhancement program (is it even a driver?) that expands the functionality of AHCI modes and modern hard drive diagnostics.

For instance, I have one machine that always showed my internal hard drives as removable media that I could "safely remove" until I installed RST. Then they were recognized correctly as fixed internal drives, just hot swappable.

I have my doubts about whether RST will have any effect on your problem. But you asked the question and I tried to answer it.

Have you tried formatting the 1TB with 512 sectors?

 

[Commando303]

Solved

You do not need the RST driver to run Windows. It is an enhancement program (is it even a driver?) that expands the functionality of AHCI modes and modern hard drive diagnostics.

For instance, I have one machine that always showed my internal hard drives as removable media that I could "safely remove" until I installed RST. Then they were recognized correctly as fixed internal drives, just hot swappable.

I have my doubts about whether RST will have any effect on your problem. But you asked the question and I tried to answer it.

Have you tried formatting the 1TB with 512 sectors?

Thank you for your help. With some work, I was able to install the Intel RST driver, and the problem appears to have been solved. (Had to go for an older version of the driver, that still was new enough to handle 4K hard drives. Too new a version wouldn't install; slightly older knocked out my DVD drive; even older [version 9.6.0.1014] seems to have been correct.)

 

[TVeblen]

Glad to hear it! The RST versions can be quite complicated sometimes.

 

[hthalljr]

Thanks - worked for me, too.

After MANY dead ends this solution worked for me, too. Upgrading my Acer Aspire 5732Z from original Hitachi 250 GB 256 byte sectors, to Seagate advanced format (4K sectors) ST500LT012 500 GB.
Windows Update issue was solved by installing and running STOR_allOS_9.6.0.1014_PV.exe from Intel at https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...ge-Technology-Driver-for-Intel-Desktop-Boards.

Note that the driver is only supposed to work with desktop boards, but worked fine with my laptop.