15 DC15250, Windows PE does not recognize main storage device

Question

I recently acquired a new Dell 15 DC15250 laptop computer with Microsoft Home preinstalled. When I boot the computer using a thumb drive with Windows Pre-installation Environment (WinPE) installed on it the Windows diskpart command does not find the main storage device (e.g. which looks to be a 1TB Micron SSD).

Feedback obtained from Microsoft forums is that this can happen when the applicable device driver is missing from WinPE. Suggestion is that I need to obtain the appropriate device driver from the manufacturer (i.e., Dell) and install it on my thumb drive. Apparently this requires a driver that is supplied in a format referred as .inf.

I have not been able to find such a driver of the Dell website. In fact, the only downloads that appear to apply to the storage device for this computer are firmware updates. Is it possible that Dell does have a .inf format driver for this laptop which I need some help to locate?

At the same time it does occur to me that the necessary driver is installed on my laptop. A search reveals that there appear to be thousands of .inf files contained within the Windows directory. Is it possible to extract the driver from the laptop in the proper .inf format?

ejn63 · Answer

See here

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19512/intel-rapid-storage-technology-driver-installation-software-with-intel-optane-memory-10th-and-11th-gen-platforms.html

You can get the required driver from Intel.

aajax · Answer

I was able to find a file named SetupRST.exe. Not what I expected for .inf format. However, I don't really know what to expect. The Release Notes file contained a statement which included the statement that follows:

Removed “f6vmdflpy-x64.zip” package from this version and recommend to refer “readme” to extract driver files using Installer “SetupRST.exe

I suppose what I'm looking for could be included in such a file but I'm doubtful to say the least. I'm afraid the "readme" file is quite voluminous and it will take me some time to figure that out. I'd like to avoid going on a wild goose chase if possible.

Also, my objective has been to capture an image of the Windows partition before any more changes have been made. Therefore, my intention is to avoid installing anything else before capturing such an image. I'm guessing the installer is not going to run on the WinPE partition contained on the thumb drive and if it did might still update the Windows partition on the SSD. Is it possible you'd know if this is going to work as expected? Is the .zip file what I'm looking for?

Oh, BTW when trying to run that installer on a older Window 10 System that I'd be willing to sacrifice it failed saying it needed a different computer. Do you think I could count on the installer allowing me to cancel it before it changed anything if I launched iit on the computer in question?

anne_droid · Answer

Hi Why not try an alternate OS, CloneZilla? I presume the micron support site did not have the necessary.

aajax · Answer

I do have some computers that run Ubuntu.  My reason for buying this laptop is that Microsoft is pushing users to use Windows 11.  I have lots of application packages that I rely on that are Windows based.  So far they still work on Windows 10 but some have now stagnated on Windows 7 which is the version of Windows that I much prefer.  I am afraid I don't need a system that works on phones and other devices.  When it comes to Windows, one thing I like is what is commonly called portable apps.  It allows you to upgrade to new versions without making any changes to existing versions.  In that, you can always resume using the existing version if something doesn't work right with the new one.  Pretty much what I am experiencing with this new computer.  I can just abandon (return for refund) it which I am pretty close to doing.

anne_droid · Answer

Hi Clonezilla is to make backups like you wanted. ''Also, my objective has been to capture an image of the Windows partition before any more changes have been made.''

aajax · Answer

OK, a little bit of research indicates that Clonezilla should be capable of obtaining an image that can be used to restore a partition. It looks like it is restoring the actual partition rather than the necessary content for the OS and is likely going to end up being a much larger file. What is as yet unknown to me, is whether or not the partition to which the image is restored needs to the same size and possibly on the same kind of device.

With that said, I do think the driver files I need do exist on the computer that I just set up. I can use device manager to locate some such files but suspect there might be more to it than that. It does seem to me that those files could be copied to another device but it occurs to me that their might be more to installing a driver. It also occurs to me that my need to do something like this has been experienced by plenty of other users and will continue to be going forward.

Would be grateful if someone could help me figure that out.

ejn63 · Answer

Clonezilla can resize partitions on restore. What it can't do is make its own boot media - at least not for all versions of Windows in anything resembling an easy way. Macrium Reflect can make a Windows-bootable ISO or flash drive and will include the drivers you need to have installed, if you don't want to invest the time in doing that manually.

There are multiple types of IRST driver now, and some systems require a specific one of them. If you install Macrium on a system that's up and running, it's very good at producing a WinPE bootable image that will automatically include the drivers needed to mount the drive and restore the image.

Dell Laptop Computers

15 DC15250, Windows PE does not recognize main storage device

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