Reinstalling Windows 10 on an SSD

Has anyone reinstalled windows onto a Samsung 960 series SSD in an AW15R3?

I had to set the BIOS mode to legacy to detect the drive to install windows 10. Anyone have been able to install windows 10 using the UEFI on the SSD with GPT file format?

Update: I removed the HDD and the computer won't detect the SSD to install windows 10 on it in UEFI mode.

 

Are you sure the SATA mode is configured to use AHCi or RAID? BTW, native nvme driver must work out of the box.

 

I installed win 10 recently on aw17r3. What a nightmare compared to win7!
Anyway, this is how it worked. As you have ssd and hdd , remove the hdd. Go to bios, set sata to raid, and select uefi mode. Disable safeboot !! If raid doesnt detect your ssd then try ahci and it should work.
hope this helps


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Windows 10 is a nightmare to do a clean install. I had to first create an UEFI windows 10 boot drive, disconnect the HDD, and run the installation like you said. Finally worked. But Samsung Magician doesn't detect the ssd and the Samsung 960 evo drivers don't install because of the same reason. The SSD shows up as an UNKNOWN drive on the Magician software

Edit: Actually, UEFI is the nightmare.

 

Did you install the Samsung NVME Driver?

http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools.html

 

I know. I tried myself software from samsung and neither of them worked with my ssd. I started a topic recently to find a reason why my ssd is not recognised and there was a suggestion of a new driver, but that driver isnt specifically designed ( description doesnt say so ) for my ssd so didnt bother.
Im thinking of contacting samsung or dell to find answers


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Bios set to uefi or legacy?

 

uefi


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Bios is set to UEFI, drive option in the bios is set to RAID and not AHCI and I tried installing the NVMe driver from Samsung, but that couldn't detect the SSD also.

Now another headache is that Windows 10 updated to the latest build and Windows Hello doesn't work anymore. So I tried reinstalling the latest build of windows 10 and can't seem to find the SSD while installing. So back to square one which is try to figure out how to install Windows on it. The SSD shows up in the Bios but not in the list of drives on the windows 10 installer and not on Diskpart also.

Btw, I am using a 1TB Samsung 960 evo SSD in my AW15R3.

 

Use AHCI for better compatibility across multiple OSes. Windows Hello works after installing Realtek IR camera driver and Tobii software.

 

I have to ask, I don't plan to RAID any SSD/HDD but which is recommended, AHCI or RAID? Which has better compatibility and is better for normal use since I can't find any info on that.

 

AHCI. Hands down for compatibility. RAID only if you're planning on windows.

 

Thanks. Let me set that to AHCI and see how the installation goes.

I reinstalled the camera drivers after the problem but didn't help.

 

Hi, which SSD are you running and do have the link to your topic?

 

It could samsung 950 pro or 960 pro/evo NVMe. The SW @pinco000 used is Samsung data Migration tool.

 

Well, changing to AHCI from RAID fixed the Samsung driver installation and running Samsung Magician software. I could also see the SSD in the Win10 installation options list.

But still can't fix the damn Windows Hello software and Tobii Eye tracker now. Also, getting errors installing the Alienware OSD software, Freefall driver and thunderbolt driver.

Edit: Got the OSD, Freefall and Thunderbold driver installation fixed. Just had to extract the files and install them manually rather than using the default dell installer.

 

Perhaps you should do the clean install under RAID and get everything else working (Tobii, etc), then you can follow these instructions:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/samsung-sm961-nvme-driver.797206/page-4#post-10399653

to change from RAID to AHCI and install the Samsung NVMe driver and Samsung Software. Worked for me, but I've got a 17 R3.

 

It was worse in RAID for me. Tobii and Windows Hello didn't work then also and I had trouble installing windows. I read somewhere that the Win10 Anniversary edition is the one that broke the Hello feature. Need to figure out on how to get it working.

Edit: Finally got it working. Had to mess around with some drivers.

Wow that was an experience. I had to go through something like this every time I bought a computer in the last decade since there are always bugs in them that make you run around the drivers.

 

According to the link found below, a possible conflict with 'fast startup' could be the cause for windows hello not working in the anniversary edition... hope this helps.

http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-anniversary-update-windows-hello/

 

I had hello working and it just stopped and I get the not avaliable on this machine. I read it you have to install the Realtek IR camera driver, which I did and that didn't fix the issue.

 

Even Tobii SW isn't working?

 

I preferred RAID setting as thats how it came from factory...


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I tried that when I had the problem also but didn't work. Even reinstalled the tobii drivers and that didn't solve the problem. It didn't work after reinstalling windows but then, I don't know what I exactly did but trying the different drivers finally got them working.


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Did someone manage to boot from SSD on UEFI? I have bought an 960 evo but i can boot only in legacy. This wouldn't be a problem, but i am having really slow boot times 14s before windows logo appears and another 10 sec until windows hello.

 

I would suggest creating a UEFI thumb drive using Rufus (creation fails on some computers so try on another one if so). Disconnect any additional HDD/SSD other than the primary drive. Change the HDD setting in the BIOS from RAID to AHCI (you need to do this if you can't see the SSD in the RAID mode. Also AHCI is more compatible with more hardware). Switch UEFI to none secure. Restart the computer and then install the OS using the thumb drive in UEFI option not from the legacy option. After the installation is complete and the drivers are installed, re mount the other drives.

Take your drive data out first.

This should help.

Edit:
I forgot to add that I couldn't get the SSD drivers and Samsung Magician software to detect my SSD (Samsung 960 EVO) when I had installed in RAID mode. Another things is also that I had to extract some of the dell drivers and install them manually since I couldn't get it to work otherwise.

I would also suggest using the latest build of Win10 to create your boot thumb drive


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If I remember correctly the "RAID" mode on these is really just ATA. You are always going to want to use AHCI on modern equipment but you need to install the drivers first if your switching to it on a system that was not installed on AHCI.

 

Not needed. I didn't have to install any drivers when I had switched to AHCI in the Bios. Switching to RAID might need it though.


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Not sure with windows 10 if it always installs AHCI drivers or not but normally under windows 7 if you were installed on a system that did not have AHCI turned on then you will be missing the drivers.

 

Yes it needs to load the drivers.
to enable AHCI in Windows 10 after a install using raid
1)Enable a safe mode boot by running the Command Prompt in Admin mode and enter
bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal
2)enable AHCI in the Bios
3)Boot into windows safe mode, and run the Command Prompt in Admin mode and enter to disable safe mode boot
bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
4) Reboot into windows normally and install Magician and drivers