ENVY 15t-j000 mSATA SSD + HDD fresh install, with mSATA as boot drive

Thank you so much I just bought a Crucial M550 512GB mSata and thaught it would be simple as cloning a drive and then using the 1TB hybrid HDD as storage but as you all know its not that easy. The only way I was able to boot from mSata was if the Hdd was disconnected or with a usb key then pressing f9 to boot from EFI file.I spent two days working on this by following OP's instructions but with no success in the procces I wiped both drives clean which I now realize wasn't the issue and wish I had followed Imadsani's instructions in the first place it would of saved me time from reinstalling software and prevented me from future regrets of deleting important files which I forgot to backup. Thanks again Imadsani for making this painlessly easy and maybe even futreproof from new BIOS updates.

 

So I just installed a 128 GB Kingston mS200 mSata drive into a 15-j060ez as the system disk, using the existing hard drive as an optional extra disk. My bios is F.65.

I didn't want the new mSata system drive to be dependent on any other disk, so creating a boot partition on the larger existing hard drive wasn't an option for me (I don't consider it as a minor downside that you loose boot capabilities if the other disk fails).

1. I create a bootable Windows 8.1 USB with the free tool made available from Microsoft.
   • I didn't need to put any additional drivers on the USB stick to find my mSata hard drive.
2. I removed the existing hard drive, and installed the mSata.
3. Booted with the USB stick. Installed Windows on the mSata. Configured Windows (installing software and drivers).
   • In hindsight I could probably have left the existing hard drive installed, and removed its system disk during the installation in order to stop it hijacking the mSata boot.
4. Stuck the existing hard drive into another laptop as a secondary drive, and deleted all the system partition (300 MB big if I remember correctly) using diskpart.
   • Another option would be to stick the existing hard drive into a SATA USB reader of some kind to remove the system partition.
   • Removing system partition with diskpart requires some commands in cmd: diskpart -> list disk -> select disk X -> list partition -> delete partiton Y OVERRIDE.
   • I also deleted the recovery partition and some other small partitions, basically only leaving the biggest partition where all the data was. But that's optional and not needed to stop the hard drive from hijacking the boot from the mSata.
5. Moved the existing hard drive back to the 15-j060ez. Now it will not hinder the boot of the mSata.

NB: After completing these steps, try to avoid entering the BIOS. Booting from the mSata will be temporarily blocked. To fix it, you will have to shut down, remove the existing hard drive, boot from mSata, shut down, and then install the existing hard drive again. For me this is not a big problem, as I don't need to enter the BIOS very often ..

 

Can you hibernate? I am having issues hibernating with an mSATA and HDD.

 

I don't know if it was hibernation, but at least I tried to close the lid on the computer for half an hour or so, and then open it again. It went back to where it left off, so that worked at least. Don't have the laptop in front of me, will investigate more later and update my answer.

UPDATE: See updated answer further down

 

Thank you for your reply it might be sleep. I can also sleep but not hibernate. In "power options" > "choose what the power button does" under "shutdown setting"s see if hibernate is checked if not then click "change settings that are currently unavailable" and now you should be able to check hibernate. Now when you right click windows logo on bottom left under shutdown or sign out you should see hibernate. The exact issue I am having is when I manually hibernate it will try for a few seconds but then take me to the lock screen. The reason I need hibernate to work is because when the battery is very low the windows will automatically try to hibernate but since it can't I am left with a black screen with the computer still on giving me the only option of holding the power button to turn it off. It will hibernate if mSata is only present no HDD. Im not sure if it is the bcdedit I made to boot to mSata that is causing the issue since your able to boot from the mSata without a bcdedit it might work for you. If so then I will follo your steps from previous post and see if it works. My bios is also F.65 but I have 15t-j100. Thanks in Advance

 

So I followed your instructions and checked the hibernate checkbox in the power options. Then I opened a notepad document and wrote some rubbish (didn't save), before going to the metro start menu and clicking "Hibernate" in the shut-off options. Laptop seemed to hibernate nicely with the fan shutting off and the background light for the keyboard turning off shortly after clicking. Waited 10-20 seconds before turning the laptop on again. The notepad file was still there with contents. So I guess It works for me...

 

Thank you for checking. It must be bcdedit then. I will try to follow your instructions and hopefully it will go without any issues.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Hello,
I have a HP Envy 15 Notebook (2013) with mSata Place.
I removed the Intel Raid and the other Intel functionality.
Then i formated my HDD on other Notebook, inserted the mSATA
and boot with Win8 USB. The installation was successful, can reboot, enter BIOS without problems.
But after connect the HDD, no boot device can be found.

I found the solution, that i boot my notebook only with mSata then after windows is full loaded,
i connected the hdd then restart windows, the hdd is then usable without problems, except if i enter BIOS or change Boot order
then i must go the same way.

I read somewhere, that the solution is to copy the Boot-Records from mSata to HDD (with Bootice) ?
Is that a solution, must i format my hdd?

thanks

 

what you need is to create bootable EFI partition on HDD. (it can fit 100mb like for me ..)
then use BCDEDIT to properly configure boot from mSATA.
Then problem with entering BIOS will be solved ...

 

When you did this was your laptop able to hibernate?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Yes. It was capable for hibernate .... OS was fully functional.

 

Hello everyone

I will buy a 15 hp envy j170np of which brings a mSATA slot. I will add SSD.
I've read that this particular laptop does not recognize the BIOS SSD. How do I solve the problem?
There is a video where you can see?

Thanks

 

Hi, I going to install a msata ssd on my envy 15 j171ns

I have two questions

1. If I follow the OP tutorial i can enter in BIOS whatever i want?

2. If I install bootloader in my HDD the boot time is bigger?

Thanks

 

Thanks guys. Basically what I did was the combination of these two answers and it was so simple.

1. Removed HDD, installed new SSD to my Hp Envy 15t-j000. Used bootable usb to install windows 10.
2. It restarted several times and I set it up like normal. Let it install drivers while I was installing some other apps.
3. When no more update to install, I added HDD drive and restart the computer.
4. Done

Very quick restart woohoo.

 

Well that was a very informative (if some what long) read. Thanks for all that, you have convinced me that my plan dual boot Windows 10 (on the Msata ssd) and OSX Yosemite (on the mechanical hdd) may actually work.
The plan is:
Fit a Samsung Evo 850 1Tb Msata ssd and clone the original operating system (recovery partition and all) on to it. Then remove the hdd check the operation of windows from the ssd before replacing the hdd with Samsung m9t 2 Tb hdd which I will then partion into 2 (1 for OSX and one ExFat for data accessible by both) can anybody see any flaws in this plan that I may have missed?


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Created an account just to post this as I had been struggling for weeks to get the mSata to boot with a storage HDD installed. This is how I got it to work for for me (I'll make this as easy to follow as possible, but beginners like me will have to google bits of it):

I have a HP Envy 15 Touchsmart j002ea ultrabook, 1TB HDD, 500GB mSata, a recovery USB drive (see here), and a Windows 10 installation disk (can be created using a media creation tool found here). Also, make sure you backup your important data first!

1. I took out the HDD and inserted the SSD into my laptop. Also had an external CD-ROM attached with the installation disk inside.
2. Via the installation menu (where you select a drive to install Windows on) I accessed the cmd tool (Shift + F10), and formatted the SSD using the 'clean' function in 'diskpart' and installed Windows 10 onto it.
3. Once done, I turned off the laptop, removed the SSD and installed the HDD.
4. After turning on the laptop, I 'cleaned' the HDD and converted it to a GPT drive using the 'convert to GPT' function in diskpart, and installed Windows 10 onto it. (for older laptops that do not have UEFI, you shouldn't need to do the 'GPT' bit)
5. Once done, I turned off the laptop, inserted the SSD (keeping the HDD installed), and switched it on.
6. As expected, my laptop wouldn't load properly so I booted via the recoverable media USB, loaded 'bcdedit' via cmd and typed in the following to select the SSD drive to boot from (Note, drive 'D:' was my SSD, and the HDD was 'C:')

bcdedit /set {default} device partition=d:
[PRESS ENTER]

bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=d:
[PRESS ENTER]

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=d:
[PRESS ENTER]​

7. I then shut the computer down, started it up again, and it booted via the SSD!
8. Once loaded, I opened 'Disk management' and deleted the largest partition on the HDD, and then formatted it again to NTFS so I can use it for storage space.
​

And that's it.

I'm sure there's a way you can do it without installing windows on the HDD, but I spent so long trying to figure out how to get the SSD to boot that I didn't want to fiddle with third-party bootloaders and trial software any longer.

My two cents.

 

Can your laptop hibernate?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Just checked, and yes it can

 

I have to try your method then. The method I used is similar to yours using bcdedit but when I try to hibernate ( battery is too low and hibernate starts) the laptop freaks out and either does nothing or gives me a black screen with the computer still running.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Good luck.

My battery wasn't low when I tested hibernate, but pressing the power button switches it back on smoothly. So I hope my method will work just as well for you too.

 

Thanks,
The power button might be set to sleep. That's how it was setup for me by default.

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When I just press the power button, the laptop sleeps, yes, but I selected 'hibernate' from the power menu so it definitely works on my laptop

 

Thanks great to know.

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Hello! I just recieved my 128GB KingFast mSATA SSD and I am pretty desperate trying to make it work (as boot device along with original 1TB HDD for data) I have tried what you suggested but it doesnt work for me. What version of BIOS do you have?

 

It's a UEFI bios, Insyde F.56. It will be a nightmare getting it to work, but I'm sure you'll be able to do it somehow - it just takes a lot of trial and error though, unfortunately.

 

i'm here with a problem..

i have the mechanical hdd with data inside and installed windows 10 on the msata.

if i power on the laptop with

intel rapid storage and intel smart disabled
secure boot on
legacy mode disabled

the pc run windows but don't show me the 1tb hdd

how i can solve this problem ??

 

hi, i have the problem with the mechanical hdd

i have , free msata installed
usb stick with windows 10 image and rst driver
mechanical hdd is out with no partition
i put secure boot on disabled and rst technology disabled
install windows
then reboot and windows runs perfect
put secure bood on eneabled
windows runs
shut off
put the mechanical hdd connected
run the pc




hdd non recognized by the sistem, only the msata disk

 

nothing, i'm not able to use msata and mechanical disk at the same time.

nobody can help me ?

 

Try installing or reinstalling intel rapid storage driver. After a reboot it should detect the Mechanical Hard Drive

Afterwards go to disk management enable the hard disk drive as a active drive