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[Guide] Installing Windows 7 on an NVME SSD (from a USB 3.0 thumbdrive)
Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by bfishman, Nov 12, 2015.
I’m going to show you how to install Windows 7 with a USB key onto an NVME-based SSD such as the Samsung 950
Pro.
Along the way, you’ll be creating a bootable installation partition on this SSD. When we’re done, you can delete that partition
and extend the OS partition to reclaim this space.
bfishman
Notebook Consultant
Reputations: 56 Here’s a brief overview of what we’ll do:
Messages: 131
Likes Received: 59 Format the USB and copy W7 installation files onto it
Trophy Points: 41 Modify those installation files so that setup has ‘native’ driver support for USB 3.0.
Load a set of NVME drivers onto the installation USB
Prepare BIOS for the installation
Boot from the USB and “F6” the NVME drivers
Using the command prompt from within setup:
Create the installation partition
Copy all files from the installation USB to this partition
Make the partition bootable
Restart and boot to the installation partition
Install windows with no difficulty!
Delete and ‘re-integrate’ the installation partition
Here we go!
Code:
diskpart
list disk
*Find the # of the disk corresponding to your USB stick* Then enter:
clean
convert mbr
active
assign
exit
Modify the W7 installation files so that setup has ‘native’ driver support for
USB 3.0.
1. Go here: http://www.sagernotebook.com/drivers.php
2. Select your model number. In my case, NP9758. Accept the License Agreement and press search.
3. Use Ctrl+F to find “USB 3” (or just scroll down), and download the “USB 3.0 Driver for Windows 7 64 BIT”. As of writing,
the file version is 4.0.1.40, released 15 Oct 15.
Note: the following instructions and images were copied nearly verbatim from the following website:
http://codeabitwiser.com/2014/03/how-to-install-windows-7-with-only-usb-3-0-ports/
Next we need to get the files we need to install the drivers into. Open up your USB thumb drive that has your Windows 7
image on it and go the Sources folder. Move the “boot.wim” file and “install.wim” into your “USB3 Fix” folder we created earlier.
Once open, navigate to the USB3_Fix folder in the cmd shell, and type in the following commands in this order to update the
boot.wim file:
Code:
dism/mount-wim/wimfile:boot.wim/index:2/mountdir:mount
dism/image:mount/add-driver:"usb3"/recurse
dism/unmount-wim/mountdir:mount/commit
Next do the same thing to the “install.wim” file. This file has a couple different index values depending on what type of windows
you are installing. You can list all of the indexes and their contents by typing in:
Code:
dism/Get-WimInfo/WimFile:install.wim
It will give you the output of the different installers and their indexes:
If you want to update all of them you will have to repeat the below process for each of the indexes you want to update. For me,
I’m just installing Windows 7 Professional, so I’m going to just update that one.
Code:
dism/mount-wim/wimfile:install.wim/index:3/mountdir:mount
dism/image:mount/add-driver:"usb3"/recurse
dism/unmount-wim/mountdir:mount/commit
Note: The majority of the next section comes from the following website (modified slightly to create a separate installation
partition to allow for easier removal of the installation files once setup is complete): http://druss.co/2014/07/fixed-
setup...installing-windows-8-18-7-vista-etc-from-usb/
1. From within the Windows setup program, press “Shift+F10” to bring up the command prompt.
2. Enter the following commands:
Code:
diskpart
list disk
*Identify the disk # for your NVME SSD* Now enter the following commands:
create partition primary size=30000 (you could increase this number (which represents Meg
select part 1
active
assign letter=R (you could change R to whatever drive letter you’d to assign to your insta
list volume
*Identify the volume letter for your USB thumbstick. In my case it’s D, and that’s how I’l
exit
d:
cd boot
Congratulations! You’ve now booted from your NVME SSD for the first time!
Note: Once Windows is done with the first phase of its installation , it will reboot. After the Sager logo, you’ll get a brief 3-
second flash of the Windows Boot Manager with two options: Windows 7, and Windows Setup [EMS Enabled]. Windows 7 (the
first option) is selected by default. This is the correct option. On subsequent restarts, the selection delay will increase to 30
seconds. If you’re really impatient, go ahead and manually select the Windows 7 option.
The Windows Setup startup entry is still lingering around, so let’s clean that up before we remove the installation partition.
Code:
This final step will allow you to reclaim the 30GB installation partition used during this process. First we must move the ‘Boot
Configuration Data’ off of the installation partition and onto the OS partition.
Code:
bcdboot c:\windows /s c:
Now that we can safely boot without the installation partition, we’ll remove it and reclaim its space:
1. Download and install ‘MiniTool Partition Wizard Free’ from here: http://download.cnet.com/MiniTool-Partition-Wizard-
Free-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html
2. Launch the Partition Wizard.
3. Locate your installation partition. It will be ~29 GB, and on the same disk as your C: drive.
4. Right-click and delete volume. It will become unallocated.
5. Now Right-click on your C: volume, and select “Extend”
6. Move the slider all the way to the right to consume the entirety of the free space, then select Ok.
7. Now press “Apply” (Top-Left of window)
8. The tool will not be able to perform the extension without restarting the laptop. Allow it to do so.
9. Once the tool completes it’s magic, you’ll return to Windows. If you’d like to confirm the operation was successful, do the
following:
Start Menu > type ‘Create and format hard disk partitions’, and select the listed item
This opens the Disk Management interface. You should see your OS Disk as having a single volume which
completely occupies the disk.
Sources:
http://codeabitwiser.com/2014/03/how-to-install-windows-7-with-only-usb-3-0-ports/
http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html
http://druss.co/2014/07/fixed-setup...installing-windows-8-18-7-vista-etc-from-usb/
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/SwitchingMyWindows7BootDiskFromDToCWithBCDBootRatherThanBCDEdit.aspx
And about 14 hours of frustration
Download locations:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/drivers.php?cat=617
http://download.cnet.com/MiniTool-Partition-Wizard-Free-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html
https://mega.nz/#!IJcSDIIB!xdxM-atprqjeTTN6ZxSfyh2dJZXVSi5GsJeIy3iVNk4
I genuinely hope this guide will help out some people. It has taken me several hours just to write, on top of figuring out how to
install the dang OS, so I'd like to keep it visible and accurate. If you find any egregious typos or areas which could be improved
upon, please don't hesitate to post or send me a PM, and I'll keep the OP updated. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed
it!
Last edited: Nov 13, 2015
Thanks for your work, much appreciated. Gonna need this real soon.
zexel
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bfishman
Notebook Consultant
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nice guide, thx for the work uve put into this
although im still wondering why the heck people would go through so much hassle to be able to stick to windows 7.... i
mean, that OS is almost 6.5 years old now...
jaybee83
Biotech-Doc
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Support.3@XOTIC
PC
Company
Representative
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Trophy Points: 331 Support.3@XOTIC PC, Nov 12, 2015 #5
It's crazy how much of a process this is, but this guide appears right. We have a similar guide, though we can install 7 for end-
users too to save them all of this.
Prostar Computer
Company
Representative
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Prostar Computer, Nov 12, 2015 #6
It really is wild, isn't it? I kept thinking that I must be doing something wrong, that there had to be an easier way, but several
others have validated that this is very similar to the process they had to use.
jaybee83 said: ↑
bfishman
Notebook Consultant although im still wondering why the heck people would go through so much hassle to be able to stick to windows 7
Reputations: 56
Messages: 131
TBH, because I strongly disagree with MS's 'user telemetry' data collection practices that were implemented into Windows 10
Likes Received: 59
(and back ported into 8 and 7, although you can remove the spyware in 7), and the lack of transparency surrounding this
Trophy Points: 41
decision. I can't conscionably support their product - even if free, I'm sure they're keeping a count of how many folks are using
W10. I guess this is my form of civil protest.
bfishman, Nov 12, 2015 #7
I have been lurking and exploring a similar setup. I cannot thank you enough for the time and effort you put into this. This will
help me tremendously. Thank you again.
Cathydoesmith
Notebook Enthusiast
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bfishman
Notebook Consultant
Reputations: 56
Messages: 131
Likes Received: 59
Trophy Points: 41
bfishman said: ↑
It really is wild, isn't it? I kept thinking that I must be doing something wrong, that there had to be an easier way, but several
others have validated that this is very similar to the process they had to use.
jaybee83
Biotech-Doc
TBH, because I strongly disagree with MS's 'user telemetry' data collection practices that were implemented into Windows
Reputations: 4,125 10 (and back ported into 8 and 7, although you can remove the spyware in 7), and the lack of transparency surrounding this
Messages: 11,568 decision. I can't conscionably support their product - even if free, I'm sure they're keeping a count of how many folks are
Likes Received: 9,141 using W10. I guess this is my form of civil protest.
Click to expand...
Trophy Points: 931
P775DM3 problem, black screen after installing gpu drivers. Replies: 17 Meaker@Sager
Mikki79, Nov 9, 2021, in forum: Sager and Clevo Views: 787 Nov 15, 2021
Sintech PCIe nVME,M.2(NGFF) SSD to Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB - WD Black 500GB High-Performance
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SanDisk 128GB Ultra Flair USB 3.0 Flash Samsung 970 PRO NVMe Series 1TB M.2 Highpoint SSD7101A-1 NVMe RAID Silicon Power 256GB NVMe M.2 PCIe
Drive - SDCZ73-128G-G46 PCI-Express 3.0 x 4 Solid State Driv… Controller Gen3x4 2280 TLC SSD (SU256GBP3…
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