Installing Windows 10 on NVMe M.2, UEFI boot? normal boot? CSM? I'm confused!

[sradan1]

Hey guys, so I have this build arriving in the mail in a few days and I'm already stressed

CPU: Core i7-8700K
RAM: G.Skill TridentZ RGB 32GB
MOBO: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS X FORMULA
GFX: GTX 980Ti for now (Re-Using my existing GPU until 1180 comes out)
Cooler: NZXT Kraken x62
Storage: Samsung 970EVo NVMe M.2 500GB (OS) + Samsung 970EVo NVMe M.2 1TB (Games)
PSU: Corsair AX1200i 1200 Watt (Re-using Old existing PSU)
OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

I am trying to learn the steps on how to install Windows 10 on one the 500GB 970Evo NVMe M.2 and I'm coming across a lot of new terminology and BIOS options I have never seen before. Can someone clarify what is the best way to get Windows 10 on that drive in the best most practical way? I am seeing people creating UEFI compatible windows 10 USB sticks using something called Rufus, others are changing BIOS options under CSM. I am lost. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Colif]

Defintions
CSM = compatibility Support module - its used mostly for win 7 computers that are only 32bit
UEFI = UNified Extendible Firmware Interface - this was made to replace CSM and is mostly used by Win 8 & 10 and in windows 7 computers that are 64bit. Almost every computer in last 9 years has used a UEFI bios, it lets you use a mouse and has a modern gui

As you installing 64bit windows (given your ram amount) you should use UEFI and leave CSM off

You can use windows media creation tool - see 2nd link on this page Windows 10 media creation tool to create the USB, no need to use rufus for most installs.

IF PC has never had anything installed on it, the bios should already be set up for UEFI boot and you shouldn't need to change anything

I would try to only have 1 drive attached when installing, it will make sure windows only uses 1 drive for all windows partitions, and removes chance it tries to install windows elsewhere.

When installing Windows 10 Pro on a Samsung 960 PRO NVME M.2 drive in a Maximus X Hero (WI-FI AC) mobo, what, if any, changes need to be made in the BIOS to accomplish the install, from start to finish?

If it's the only drive in your system, most likely nothing. BUT as soon as there is any other drive present, here is your general important good practice:

1. Power off and connect ALL devices both to mobo and power
2. Power on and boot into BIOS
3. in the UEFI "boot" section, you should see all devices listed when change or set the boot order
4. Set the correct order for any devices you want to see bootable and disable all others so that any OS is not confused

Keep in mind that when you boot into an OS first time such as Windows 10 installation wizard, the OS will detect all available devices from the layer beneath it (UEFI BIOS) and should respect that order. It can also get confused when it doesn't see your preferred OS drive as the 'first' one. If that happens:

1. Disconnect all drives except the one you want to install the OS on, remove any partitions on it and let the windows wizard do it's thing. Verify that Windows installs correctly and boots correctly and consistently
2. Connect 1 extra drive and see if windows keeps booting correctly
3. Repeat step 2 until windows suddenly no longer boots. Then you've identified a drive that has taken higher priority at BIOS level (you can check it again in the BIOS boot section)


Keep in mind that -especially with new boards and newborn BIOS versions- the boot order might be buggy and non consistent with what Windows sees. If you keep the above logic and this in mind you should be able to figure out what is going wrong and adapt


FYI: I just installed Windows 10 on my new Formula X board with a brand new m.2 drive under the heatsink as OS drive and when I connected the (extra) m.2 from my previous computer right after Windows was installed -to copy things off- the OS saw the second m.2 (the vertical slot) as higher prio bootable drive and started booting from it instead of the new and main one...

Hope that helps

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?98070-Windows-10-Pro-Installation-on-a-Samsung-Pro-960-NVME-M-2-Drive

 

[sradan1]

Defintions
CSM = compatibility Support module - its used mostly for win 7 computers that are only 32bit
UEFI = UNified Extendible Firmware Interface - this was made to replace CSM and is mostly used by Win 8 & 10 and in windows 7 computers that are 64bit. Almost every computer in last 9 years has used a UEFI bios, it lets you use a mouse and has a modern gui

As you installing 64bit windows (given your ram amount) you should use UEFI and leave CSM off

You can use windows media creation tool - see 2nd link on this page Windows 10 media creation tool to create the USB, no need to use rufus for most installs.

IF PC has never had anything installed on it, the bios should already be set up for UEFI boot and you shouldn't need to change anything

I would try to only have 1 drive attached when installing, it will make sure windows only uses 1 drive for all windows partitions, and removes chance it tries to install windows elsewhere.

When installing Windows 10 Pro on a Samsung 960 PRO NVME M.2 drive in a Maximus X Hero (WI-FI AC) mobo, what, if any, changes need to be made in the BIOS to accomplish the install, from start to finish?

If it's the only drive in your system, most likely nothing. BUT as soon as there is any other drive present, here is your general important good practice:

1. Power off and connect ALL devices both to mobo and power
2. Power on and boot into BIOS
3. in the UEFI "boot" section, you should see all devices listed when change or set the boot order
4. Set the correct order for any devices you want to see bootable and disable all others so that any OS is not confused

Keep in mind that when you boot into an OS first time such as Windows 10 installation wizard, the OS will detect all available devices from the layer beneath it (UEFI BIOS) and should respect that order. It can also get confused when it doesn't see your preferred OS drive as the 'first' one. If that happens:

1. Disconnect all drives except the one you want to install the OS on, remove any partitions on it and let the windows wizard do it's thing. Verify that Windows installs correctly and boots correctly and consistently
2. Connect 1 extra drive and see if windows keeps booting correctly
3. Repeat step 2 until windows suddenly no longer boots. Then you've identified a drive that has taken higher priority at BIOS level (you can check it again in the BIOS boot section)


Keep in mind that -especially with new boards and newborn BIOS versions- the boot order might be buggy and non consistent with what Windows sees. If you keep the above logic and this in mind you should be able to figure out what is going wrong and adapt


FYI: I just installed Windows 10 on my new Formula X board with a brand new m.2 drive under the heatsink as OS drive and when I connected the (extra) m.2 from my previous computer right after Windows was installed -to copy things off- the OS saw the second m.2 (the vertical slot) as higher prio bootable drive and started booting from it instead of the new and main one...

Hope that helps

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?98070-Windows-10-Pro-Installation-on-a-Samsung-Pro-960-NVME-M-2-Drive

Thank you much! So do I ned to check and see if CSM defaults to Enabled should I make sure to Disable it?

 

[Colif]

I think the default setting in Asus motherboards is called Auto, this lets it switch between UEFI or CSM at boot. It is this way because the drive format that UEFI & CSM use are different. So it would change the bios settings to match what it needs, its one of the features of UEFI - it lets the OS change settings without you needing to be involved.


CSM (Otherwise known as legacy) matches Master Boot Record (MBR) format for hdd (as well as ssd/nvme.M.2 etc). MBR was the format supported by all previous versions of Windows. it has restrictions that were starting to become a problem - You can only break drive up into a max of 4 partitions and Max hdd size is 2.2 Terabytes

UEFI has a new format called GUID (GUID stands for Global Unique ID) Partition Table (GPT) which is used mostly by Windows 8 & 10. Windows 7 64 bit also supports it. GPT was designed to fix the restrictions of MBR. The max number of partitions is now 256 and the mac drive size is massive - 18.8 million Terabytes

CSM cannot boot GPT drives as it doesn't understand format
UEFI can boot both GPT or MBR

Windows 10 will default to UEFI in any system it recognises supports it. If you try to install win 10 on a MBR formatted drive, Win 10 will insist on using GPT and throw a badly written error at you telling you as much.

If its a blank NVME, you don't need to know any of that but it helps to explain why the 2 boot methods exist

 

[sradan1]

I think the default setting in Asus motherboards is called Auto, this lets it switch between UEFI or CSM at boot. It is this way because the drive format that UEFI & CSM use are different. So it would change the bios settings to match what it needs, its one of the features of UEFI - it lets the OS change settings without you needing to be involved.


CSM (Otherwise known as legacy) matches Master Boot Record (MBR) format for hdd (as well as ssd/nvme.M.2 etc). MBR was the format supported by all previous versions of Windows. it has restrictions that were starting to become a problem - You can only break drive up into a max of 4 partitions and Max hdd size is 2.2 Terabytes

UEFI has a new format called GUID (GUID stands for Global Unique ID) Partition Table (GPT) which is used mostly by Windows 8 & 10. Windows 7 64 bit also supports it. GPT was designed to fix the restrictions of MBR. The max number of partitions is now 256 and the mac drive size is massive - 18.8 million Terabytes

CSM cannot boot GPT drives as it doesn't understand format
UEFI can boot both GPT or MBR

Windows 10 will default to UEFI in any system it recognises supports it. If you try to install win 10 on a MBR formatted drive, Win 10 will insist on using GPT and throw a badly written error at you telling you as much.

If its a blank NVME, you don't need to know any of that but it helps to explain why the 2 boot methods exist

Much appreciate your time sir. Thank you for the clarification