To create a NVMe OS(C:) copy of the SATA OS(C:) drive, use cloning programme. Remember to:- (1) Change the M.2 NVME drive's Partition Table to GPT (GUID Partition Table). (2) Hold down F2 key at splash screen, enter BIOS, find Boot list option UEFI, and enable UEFI to support GPT.
GPT supports drives larger than 2 TB in capacity, while Master Boot Record (MBR) cannot. GPT drives have advantages of partition size, number of partitions, improved partition data structure integrity, resilience, reliability and additional security features.
@egelone003 are you running the latest BIOS for your system and the latest firmware for that SSD? I realize it might be difficult to check and update those items if you don't have a working Windows environment, but if you have some other way to get that system running, that might be worth trying. Or you might find that there are bootable tools for each of those updates so that you don't have to run them from within Windows.
You could also try deleting Windows Boot Manager from the boot order list before installing Windows again. Windows Setup should create that on its own during the installation.
Fyi though, you don't need to disable Secure Boot. Windows kernels have supported Secure Boot from Windows 8 onward, and that support extends to the corresponding WinPE kernels that are used for the Windows Setup environments of those versions. If Secure Boot is ever the reason your system won't boot, the system will display a message that very clearly identifies it as the problem. It will say something like, "The selected bootloader failed the Secure Boot integrity check."
And you can't switch to Legacy mode after installing Windows. If you want to run your system in Legacy mode, you'd have to set that before you boot to your Windows installation media. The reason is that Windows Setup decides how to set up the Windows environment it installs onto the disk based on how Windows Setup itself was booted. If you boot it in Legacy mode, then it will set up a Legacy installation, which will become unbootable if you switch to UEFI mode. The same applies if you run Windows Setup in UEFI mode and switch to Legacy later.
The latest bios from alienware 13 r3 is April 15 2019. I did install that a few month ago. I can put my old ssd back and retry installation to see if that fix anything.
And no, I didn't change the setting after the installation. I tried stay on either Legacy or UEFI, but neither of them work.
Sorry for the delay was without a computer for a few days.
My R13 R3 came with a Samsung 860 EVO 2 TB SATA M.2 2280, I have since purchased another to place in the spare slot and all was fine.
I have then hit my max and wanted to upgrade so went all out for a Corsair MP400 8 TB PCle x4 NVMe m2 2280 and that is where the issues started. using USB windows boot drive I attempted to boot the laptop up and simply install windows to the drive but was unable to as UEFI, first few times it failed at 80% or so, used Legacy options with secure boot off and that eventually worked but my 8TB drive was only seen as a 2TB drive, I understand this is a windows issue.
I suppose cloning the drive for which I recently got the software, is the best option, clone to the new drive then fit it and then this shouldn't be an issue? or will there still be an issue recognising the drive as 8 TB?
Supper grateful for such a fast response, still new on getting to grips with all this techy stuff
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
1
April 29th, 2021 06:00
Hi @Paul 1988 thank you for sharing update.
To create a NVMe OS(C:) copy of the SATA OS(C:) drive, use cloning programme. Remember to:-
(1) Change the M.2 NVME drive's Partition Table to GPT (GUID Partition Table).
(2) Hold down F2 key at splash screen, enter BIOS, find Boot list option UEFI, and enable UEFI to support GPT.
GPT supports drives larger than 2 TB in capacity, while Master Boot Record (MBR) cannot. GPT drives have advantages of partition size, number of partitions, improved partition data structure integrity, resilience, reliability and additional security features.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
April 16th, 2020 21:00
@egelone003 are you running the latest BIOS for your system and the latest firmware for that SSD? I realize it might be difficult to check and update those items if you don't have a working Windows environment, but if you have some other way to get that system running, that might be worth trying. Or you might find that there are bootable tools for each of those updates so that you don't have to run them from within Windows.
You could also try deleting Windows Boot Manager from the boot order list before installing Windows again. Windows Setup should create that on its own during the installation.
Fyi though, you don't need to disable Secure Boot. Windows kernels have supported Secure Boot from Windows 8 onward, and that support extends to the corresponding WinPE kernels that are used for the Windows Setup environments of those versions. If Secure Boot is ever the reason your system won't boot, the system will display a message that very clearly identifies it as the problem. It will say something like, "The selected bootloader failed the Secure Boot integrity check."
And you can't switch to Legacy mode after installing Windows. If you want to run your system in Legacy mode, you'd have to set that before you boot to your Windows installation media. The reason is that Windows Setup decides how to set up the Windows environment it installs onto the disk based on how Windows Setup itself was booted. If you boot it in Legacy mode, then it will set up a Legacy installation, which will become unbootable if you switch to UEFI mode. The same applies if you run Windows Setup in UEFI mode and switch to Legacy later.
egelone003
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
April 16th, 2020 22:00
Thanks a lot for your help
The latest bios from alienware 13 r3 is April 15 2019. I did install that a few month ago. I can put my old ssd back and retry installation to see if that fix anything.
And no, I didn't change the setting after the installation. I tried stay on either Legacy or UEFI, but neither of them work.
Thanks
Paul 1988
3 Posts
0
April 26th, 2021 14:00
Did this work?
Got a new m.2 andnits just not letting me install windows from the USB, it keeps failing at 80%
Paul 1988
3 Posts
0
April 29th, 2021 02:00
Sorry for the delay was without a computer for a few days.
My R13 R3 came with a Samsung 860 EVO 2 TB SATA M.2 2280, I have since purchased another to place in the spare slot and all was fine.
I have then hit my max and wanted to upgrade so went all out for a Corsair MP400 8 TB PCle x4 NVMe m2 2280 and that is where the issues started. using USB windows boot drive I attempted to boot the laptop up and simply install windows to the drive but was unable to as UEFI, first few times it failed at 80% or so, used Legacy options with secure boot off and that eventually worked but my 8TB drive was only seen as a 2TB drive, I understand this is a windows issue.
I suppose cloning the drive for which I recently got the software, is the best option, clone to the new drive then fit it and then this shouldn't be an issue? or will there still be an issue recognising the drive as 8 TB?
Supper grateful for such a fast response, still new on getting to grips with all this techy stuff