Install Windows 7 x64 on Samsung SM951 m.2 drive!

[Alexandros76]

I have the m/b ASUS X99-PRO/USB3.1 and the m.2 drive Samsung SM951 256GB NVMe.
I spent 3 days trying and trying, reading forums, many people seem to have problem with m.2 drives.
The m.2 drive does not appear in Windows 7 x64 installation. I do everything right as described in tutorials and forums.

I used rufus and created an uefi usb stick fat32, gpt, bootx64.efi, etc. Windows 7 installation starts but no drive appears. I have no other drives connected untill I install windows.

I tried the same with a windows 10 uefi boot and worked... no problems at all, I was able to see the drive and create the required partitions.
Windows 7 seem to need something extra to see the drive....
any help please?

 

[rojer64]

My sm951 nvme required a clean w10 install with gpt/efi to pass on a z97 mobo. I restored the old install (needs fixing the efi partition), updated the nvme driver to the Samsung provided one and was on my way.

Except I just found that the drive had the optimize option set to "not available". No TRIM is quite the bummer!

Upgrading the driver to 1.4.7.17 as found here (nice resource to bookmark):
http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html
Solved the issue.
Now the defrag command line tool will work without error and the GUI lists the optimize option.
Thought I'd share.

 

[ImAnAutobot]

After a long week of desperation and anger I did the impossible..... Installed and booted Windows 7 x64 on Samsung SM951 NVMe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was looking and looking all over the internet for others who might have found a solution but nothing, am I the first who did it?

Installing and booting Windows 7 on this drive simply is impossible there is no driver, no workaround in BIOS settings.
With windows 8.1 or 10 however it works but I hate them so... for everyone else out there who want to stick with Windows 7 there is a solution but it's not simple.

You have to integrate a Microsoft hotfix in installation so you can boot Windows.
Unfortunatelly you can't do the same with setup. Instead and simpler is to use Windows 10 setup installation which is updated and contains NVMe driver. It works perfectly.

Keep in mind the native driver is not the best but it works, the SM951 is ultra fast anyway, hopefully when 950 pro is out it's drive will be compatible and better for faster speeds.


What you need:

Windows 7 SP1 x64.iso

Windows 10.iso

Microsoft hotfix https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990941

NTlite https://www.ntlite.com/download/


First request and download the hotfix, e-mail arrives instantly with a link.

1. Download and install NTlite (or other similar you prefer)

2. Extract the Windows 7.iso to a folder.

If you are installing in UEFI mode, check efi/boot there should be a bootx64.efi. If not grab it from a current installation of Windows 7 x64. C:\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi copy/paste and rename it to bootx64.efi.

3. Using WinRAR or 7-zip extract the Microsoft hotfix.exe file.

4. Run NTlite and open the iso folder.
You will see 2 folders your current windows and 2nd the iso folder open and choose the version you want to install, home, ultimate etc. and press load, or right click load. It takes sometime..

4.1 Go to updates and add package file. Add the extracted hotfix Windows6.1-KB2990941-v3-x64.msu
(for experienced users: you can add more updates if you want to avoid downloading the huge list of updates everytime you install windows 7 important to keep install.wim under 4GB due to UEFI/fat32 limitation)

[strike]Go to post-setup and add command
1st field type reg
2nd field : "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main"
/v DisableFirstRunCustomize /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

(this step is required because sometimes customized installs of Windows cause the IE to show the welcome screen everytime you open it.)[/strike]
(the above not required after all, it affects the installation only if you add an updated version of IE)


4.2 Go to Apply press Start and wait to finnish.
When it's done close NTlite and go to iso folder and open sources folder.
Delete boot.wim and setup.exe

5. Open Windows 10.iso with winrar and extract the boot.wim to your sources folder of Windows 7.

6. Copy all contents of iso folder of Windows 7 on a usb drive.

Plug, boot and install Windows 7 !!!

Followed your instructions but I am stuck in a loop, where the installer loads, I am able to see the NVMe Samsung drive, but the computer restarts after step 2 of the install (preparing files for install) Any advice?

 

[pesvi2]

It is very simple to do it.

My hardware was:
ASUS Z97A Gaming 6
Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 installed in the onboard M.2 slot
no other drives connected.

1) download drivers for Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 drive
http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html

2) copy them to flash drive

3) if your system boots from dvd, just boot Windows 7 installation disk

4) your W7 will not see the drive, just click find drives in your USB flash disk (connected into USB2 port) and find the drives (W7,32/64bit)

5) the M.2 drive is then detected, continue as you wish

 

[AJBOJACK]

I have just built my first pc. I am using the ASUS Z170i Pro Gaming mobo. I am using a SATA drive and the Samsung M.2 951 PCIe drive. For some reason my motherboard doesn't detect the M.2 drive, also when using my W7 USB after the language part it asks for drivers.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can get this M.2 drive picked up in the BIOS? I will try your method above where you have added the patch file to the win 7 iso and used win 10.

I will let you know how I get on.

 

[justgjt]

It is very simple to do it.

My hardware was:
ASUS Z97A Gaming 6
Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 installed in the onboard M.2 slot
no other drives connected.

1) download drivers for Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 drive
http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html

2) copy them to flash drive

3) if your system boots from dvd, just boot Windows 7 installation disk

4) your W7 will not see the drive, just click find drives in your USB flash disk (connected into USB2 port) and find the drives (W7,32/64bit)
5) the M.2 drive is then detected, continue as you wish

This is my initial problem... I am not able see the USB Flash Drive to select the driver. It only shows what is on the Win 7 disc in the Optical Drive. How did you get to see the USB flash disk during the Win 7 installation .. ?

 

[AJBOJACK]

It is very simple to do it.

My hardware was:
ASUS Z97A Gaming 6
Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 installed in the onboard M.2 slot
no other drives connected.

1) download drivers for Samsung M.2 NVMe SM951 drive
http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html

2) copy them to flash drive

3) if your system boots from dvd, just boot Windows 7 installation disk

4) your W7 will not see the drive, just click find drives in your USB flash disk (connected into USB2 port) and find the drives (W7,32/64bit)
5) the M.2 drive is then detected, continue as you wish

This is my initial problem... I am not able see the USB Flash Drive to select the driver. It only shows what is on the Win 7 disc in the Optical Drive. How did you get to see the USB flash disk during the Win 7 installation .. ?

I had the exact same problem, all i could ever see was boot(x) and not other drive. Even when connected to the USB2 ports which made no sense to me.

Any ideas?

 

[esteinberg]

I got the hotfix but how I put it into windows 7 installation? There is no .inf only an msu file that installs the update on Windows.

ok we tried everything would you please use this link and disseminate it to all M2.SSD pcie drive users
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=wk_149537_1
this will load on a WDS and install on the boot.wim and be picked up by the system required if you add it a driver package.