How To Install Windows On A PCIe SSD

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   USING PCIe SSDs AS YOUR WINDOWS OS/BOOT DRIVE

These simple instructions will allow you to install Windows on a PCIe SSD and use it as your OS/Boot drive.

The overview and description of PCIe SSDs is more complex than their configuration for use as an OS drive. Regardless, it is very important that you at least understand the physical and electrical interfaces to some degree to avoid disappointments with performance after your OS installation. If you encounter any issues, they are most likely explained in the PCIe SSD description sections.

UEFI/BIOS CONFIGURATION FOR OS INSTALLATION ON PCIe SSDs

Only one main UEFI option needs configuration to allow you to install Windows on a PCIe SSD. All this configuration does is cause Windows to use the EFI boot loader rather than the Legacy boot loader, which is necessary for a Windows installation on a PCIe SSD. This setting can be used with any SSD or HDD to enhance OS booting performance.

There are two ways to configure this UEFI option. The first one is the easiest and has no other requirements of your PC hardware. The second way requires your video source to be compatible with a protocol called GOP. That's why I don't suggest using the second method unless you know your video source is GOP compatible.

Before you start, check the UEFI version on your board, and then check for the latest version available for your board. If you find any mention of "PCIe SSD" or "NVMe support" in a newer UEFI version, you should update to that version before you install Windows on your PCIe SSD.

METHOD 1

In the UEFI, in the Boot screen at the bottom, is an option called CSM (Compatibility Support Module.) CSM is Enabled by default. Click on CSM to reveal its sub-options.

The sub-option you are looking for is called Launch Storage OpROM Policy. The default setting is Legacy Only. Change the Launch Storage OpROM Policy setting to UEFI Only.

That's the main thing that must be configured. In the Storage Configuration screen, the SATA Mode should be set to either AHCI (default) or RAID. This is really for any SATA drives you will be using, but is also needed for PCIe AHCI SSDs. Those are described in the PCIe SSD description section if you are interested. Why anyone would be using IDE mode with modern mother boards and drives is beyond me, but just in case do NOT use IDE mode!

Once these options are configured, Save and Exit the UEFI, and go right back into the UEFI.

Not quite done yet. Do NOT be worried if your PCIe SSD is not listed in the Storage Configuration screen or Boot order list. That does not matter at all.

What does matter is the entry for your Windows installation media, whether a USB flash drive (the preferred method) or optical disk, in the Boot order.

You should find an entry in the Boot order like this: UEFI: <Installation Media Device Name>.

"Installation Media Device Name" is the name of whatever you are using as the installation media.

You will see another entry with the prefix AHCI. Do NOT select the AHCI entry. You MUST use the entry with the UEFI prefix.

Once you select the UEFI entry, save and exit if everything else is in order, and the Windows installation will begin. There is no need to format your PCIe SSD before the Windows installation. It is much better to allow the Windows Installation program to format your PCIe SSD. It will be GPT formatted and have an EFI System partition, and a Recovery partition.

Once Windows is installed on your PCIe AHCI or NVMe SSD, the entry in the Boot order list appear as "Windows Boot Loader" or "Windows Boot Loader: <SSD name>", depending upon the UEFI version used with your board.

If you are using a PCIe NVMe SSD (any Intel 750 SSD, and any DC P3500 SSD, Samsung 950 Pro SSD) don't forget to install the NVMe driver that the manufactures provide for their NVMe SSDs. 

The Windows NVMe driver is known to have write performance issues, which I noticed when installing Windows 10 on a 950 Pro. That installation was much slower (five+ minutes) than installing Windows 10 on an AHCI SM951 (three minutes at most.)

It is the best practice with ANY Windows installation to only have the target OS drive powered on during the Windows installation. That is true and recommended in this case as well. If you are using an optical drive, that of course may be powered on and won't cause any problem.

NOTE: PCIe NVMe SSDs will NOT be listed in the Storage Configuration screen in the UEFI. They will be shown in the System Browser tool in the UEFI, and of course will be shown in Windows like any other drive.

METHOD 2

This method still requires the the CSM option to be configured. As said above, the default setting of CSM is Enabled. For this method, simply set the CSM option to Disabled. That has the same affect as setting the Launch Storage OpROM Policy setting to UEFI Only. 

As said above, this requires the video source of the PC to be GOP compatible. That is necessary because setting the CSM option to Disabled causes the UEFI firmware in your board to be fully utilized. That results in the need for the video source to be GOP compatible, which is an EFI graphics protocol.

The Intel integrated graphics is GOP compatible, as far back as their Sandy Bridge processors, as long as your board's UEFI has the appropriate Intel VBIOS update. ASRock has updated all of their boards at least since the Intel 7 series chipsets with the Intel GOP compatible VBIOS.

I know that EVGA video cards starting with the 7 series are GOP compatible out of the box. EVGA 6 series video cards can be made GOP compatible with a VBIOS update. Otherwise you will need to check with the manufacture of your video card to learn if it is GOP compatible. 

Besides setting CSM to Disabled, everything in Method 1 beyond the CSM configuration is the same, and must be the procedure used for installing Windows on your PCIe SSD. Please go over that section which contains important information.

Please feel free to ask any questions or post any problems you have about installing Windows on a PCIe SSD in this thread, or if you have problems with your installation.

WHAT IS A PCIe SSD?

PCIe SSDs do not use the a mother board's SATA chipset interface between the SSD and the Windows file system. They have their own storage controller built into the SSD. The storage controller should not be confused with the standard SSD controller chips that all SSDs use. 

The storage controllers used in PCIe SSDs use a driver that is either provided by the OS itself, or one that is provided by the PCIe SSD manufacture, and must be installed by the SSD user.

PCIe SSDs are those SSD types that connect to a mother board in at least one of these ways:
A standard PCIe slot that is at least physically x4.
An M.2 port/slot. NOTE: Not all SSDs with an M.2 interface are PCIe SSDs.
A 2.5" form factor SSD whose interface is PCIe and can be used with a U.2 adapter card and cable that is connected to an M.2 port. U.2 was previously called SFF-8639. A mother board can have an U.2 connector built into the board, that functions the same as an U.2 to M.2 adapter card.
M.2 PCIe SSDs may be used with a M.2 to PCIe slot adapter card.
PCIe SSDs are not SATA drives, although some of them share one aspect with SATA drives.

WHICH PCIe SSDs ARE SUPPORTED?
Intel:
750 series AIC (Add In Card) in HHHL form factor (Half Height Half Length) PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4.
750 series 2.5" 15mm PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4.
DC P3500 series AIC HHHL PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4.
Plextor:
M6e series, with PCIe adapter card or M.2 connector PCIe AHCI 2.0 x2.
M6e Black Edition AIC HHHL form factor PCIe AHCI 2.0 x2.

Samsung:
XP941 M.2 PCIe AHCI 2.0 x4.
SM951 M.2 PCIe AHCI 3.0 x4.
SM951 M.2 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4.
950 Pro M.2 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4.
WHAT VERSIONS OF WINDOWS ARE SUPPORTED?

You may use Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. Only 64 bit versions may be used. Beyond that there are no further restrictions.

Windows 7 does not have a built in NVMe driver, that is required by PCIe NVMe SSDs. That makes a clean installation of Windows 7 on a PCIe NVMe SSD difficult. There is a Window 7 Hotfix for this situation, and both Intel and Samsung provide NVMe drivers for their products. But those drivers are not the type that can be used in during a Windows installation. This section will be updated when (if) a solution for this issue is available.

WHAT IS PCIe AHCI AND PCIe NVMe?

PCIe SSDs use two types of non-physical interfaces, AHCI and NVMe.

AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is the same protocol that may be used by SATA SSDs.

The difference in PCIe AHCI SSDs is the AHCI controller is part of the SSD itself. Standard SS

Edited by Xaltar - 04 Oct 2018 at 11:04pm