SSD not UEFI

[MRog40]

I'm kind of new to all of this so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Build Specs
Crucial M4 128gb SSD
i3-6100
Z170a Gaming Pro
RX 470 GPU
Crucial 2400 MHz DDR4 Ram 8GB

I have tried:

-Formatted USB drive and remade boot media

-Plugged SSD into SATA port 1

-Diskpart clean and convert to GPT the SSD

-Updated BIOS to latest release

Tried again and:

When I F11 to enter the manual boot select, the SSD is not given as an option
http://i.imgur.com/4apB1z6.jpg
I put a different drive with windows into my PC (not an SSD) and booted from that to see what was on the SSD. It appears to have a regular windows installation on it.
http://i.imgur.com/9SD3BkQ.jpg

Okay, so i think the problem has something to do with my windows install is not installing in UEFI mode, which is causing it to not be recognized as a boot disk by my motherboard.

So then I tried:

-Setting all the bios settings to UEFI (NOT legacy for anything)

-Running diskpart, clean the SSD, then convert to GPT (again)

-Reinstalling windows from media

After Paul's suggestions here I have tried again after:

-Creating new installation media by downloading windows.iso and using rufus with GPT mode

-Updating firmware on SSD to latest version

For some reason my SSD is still not UEFI. After the installation, the BIOS still does not recognize it at all in the boot priority list unless I toggle it into legacy mode.

It does appear in the storage section of the BIOS still, under SATA 1, it just isn't bootable.

So at this point I called Crucial customer support and the guy actually seemed very knowledgeable and tried to help. He suggested doing a firmware update to the SSD after i told him all of what i listed above. (I didn't even know this was possible, and i can't find any good information on it)

I did buy the SSD used from r/hardwareswap, the CDI showed it as super healthy and I don't think it has any problems from that.

It is pretty dated, as the customer service guy liked to repeatedly mention.

But the HDD I boot windows 10 from is about a decade old now (from my dad's old PC) and I can boot fine from that.

I don't understand why this won't work, I've run out of ideas and really need any help I can get at this point, thanks

 

[Paul NZ]

You dont have to format a hdd windows setup will do it for you

If you used rufus did you select GPT partition before you added the ISO?

Just make sure the BIOS settings are enabled for AHCI secureboot and UEFI if youre installing 64 bit Win10

 

[MRog40]

If you used rufus did you select GPT partition before you added the ISO?

Just make sure the BIOS settings are enabled for AHCI secureboot and UEFI if youre installing 64 bit Win10

I used the windows tool to create the media, is it better to download the ISO and create it myself with rufus?

And it is set to AHCI, but i had secure boot disabled, should it be enabled? (not sure how this pertains, an explanation of what this even does would be helpful)

 

[Paul NZ]

I would get the mediacreation tool get the ISO then use rufus http://rufus.akeo.ie/

If the mobo has a UEFI bios select GPT partition

 

[MRog40]

I would get the mediacreation tool get the ISO then use rufus http://rufus.akeo.ie/

If the mobo has a UEFI bios select GPT partition

I downloaded the iso and created an installation media using rufus and the GPT option, and am having the exact same problem as before. Windows 10 is installed on the drive, but the drive isn't listed in the UEFI boot priority.

I'm now going to attempt to update the firmware on the SSD,

Edit: Okay, so I attempted to update the firmware on the SSD to the latest crucial release (2013) and it was already on the latest version.

Once again i'm running out of ideas, all of my searches are coming up empty, I'm trying everything that has worked for other people but it's still not working for me

 

[Paul NZ]

So what does it say in the BIOS? It should be GPT if its an UEFI BIOS

 

[ArtPog]

1. Perhaps at this point it's best to "start at the beginning" as it were. So if you want to give it a go...

2. We'll assume the Crucial SSD is non-defective. But if you want to check it out you can do so by connecting the disk as a secondary drive in a working system and use Crucial's "Storage Executive" program to check out the disk's health - see http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/support-storage-executive?
gclid=CNvm_du5uNMCFUNbhgodkscCrA&ef_id=WPt9iQAAAMAIRRME:20170422161006:s

3. Assuming no problem with the SSD...I take it you've GPT-partitioned the drive, right?

4. Use the Windows Media Tool to create the Win 10 setup files on a USB flash drive for the OS.

See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Click "Download tool now", then Run.
After accepting the Licensing agreement, select the option to "Create installation media...for another PC" and click Next.

5. After the Win 10 setup files have been installed on the WMT, connect the SSD to the motherboard's first SATA data connector (usually designated SATA 0 or SATA 1). Ensure the SSD is the ONLY disk drive connected in the system. (Again, I'm assuming the SSD has been GPT-partitioned as you previously indicated.)

6. Boot the system and access the boot selection menu. I believe you indicated MSI has designated the F11 key to access that menu. The USB flash drive containing the Win 10 setup files should be listed possibly twice in that boot menu - one listing should indicate the UEFI interface. That's the one you select to boot to.

9. Hopefully you should be able to fresh-install the OS onto the SSD.

 

[MRog40]

1. Perhaps at this point it's best to "start at the beginning" as it were. So if you want to give it a go...

2. We'll assume the Crucial SSD is non-defective. But if you want to check it out you can do so by connecting the disk as a secondary drive in a working system and use Crucial's "Storage Executive" program to check out the disk's health - see http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/support-storage-executive?
gclid=CNvm_du5uNMCFUNbhgodkscCrA&ef_id=WPt9iQAAAMAIRRME:20170422161006:s

3. Assuming no problem with the SSD...I take it you've GPT-partitioned the drive, right?

4. Use the Windows Media Tool to create the Win 10 setup files on a USB flash drive for the OS.

See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Click "Download tool now", then Run.
After accepting the Licensing agreement, select the option to "Create installation media...for another PC" and click Next.

5. After the Win 10 setup files have been installed on the WMT, connect the SSD to the motherboard's first SATA data connector (usually designated SATA 0 or SATA 1). Ensure the SSD is the ONLY disk drive connected in the system. (Again, I'm assuming the SSD has been GPT-partitioned as you previously indicated.)

6. Boot the system and access the boot selection menu. I believe you indicated MSI has designated the F11 key to access that menu. The USB flash drive containing the Win 10 setup files should be listed possibly twice in that boot menu - one listing should indicate the UEFI interface. That's the one you select to boot to.

9. Hopefully you should be able to fresh-install the OS onto the SSD.

Sorry for the delayed response. I have tried exactly this and it did not work. The flash drive is only listed once, as UEFI, because I made the USB drive with rufus and have it set to GPT only.

I have an SSD that works. I format it as GPT, and install windows to it. After that, it does not appear in the boot order.

 

[luddemail]

I'm kind of new to all of this so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Build Specs
Crucial M4 128gb SSD
i3-6100
Z170a Gaming Pro
RX 470 GPU
Crucial 2400 MHz DDR4 Ram 8GB

I have tried:

-Formatted USB drive and remade boot media

-Plugged SSD into SATA port 1

-Diskpart clean and convert to GPT the SSD

-Updated BIOS to latest release

Tried again and:

When I F11 to enter the manual boot select, the SSD is not given as an option
http://i.imgur.com/4apB1z6.jpg
I put a different drive with windows into my PC (not an SSD) and booted from that to see what was on the SSD. It appears to have a regular windows installation on it.
http://i.imgur.com/9SD3BkQ.jpg

Okay, so i think the problem has something to do with my windows install is not installing in UEFI mode, which is causing it to not be recognized as a boot disk by my motherboard.

So then I tried:

-Setting all the bios settings to UEFI (NOT legacy for anything)

-Running diskpart, clean the SSD, then convert to GPT (again)

-Reinstalling windows from media

After Paul's suggestions here I have tried again after:

-Creating new installation media by downloading windows.iso and using rufus with GPT mode

-Updating firmware on SSD to latest version

For some reason my SSD is still not UEFI. After the installation, the BIOS still does not recognize it at all in the boot priority list unless I toggle it into legacy mode.

It does appear in the storage section of the BIOS still, under SATA 1, it just isn't bootable.

So at this point I called Crucial customer support and the guy actually seemed very knowledgeable and tried to help. He suggested doing a firmware update to the SSD after i told him all of what i listed above. (I didn't even know this was possible, and i can't find any good information on it)

I did buy the SSD used from r/hardwareswap, the CDI showed it as super healthy and I don't think it has any problems from that.

It is pretty dated, as the customer service guy liked to repeatedly mention.

But the HDD I boot windows 10 from is about a decade old now (from my dad's old PC) and I can boot fine from that.

I don't understand why this won't work, I've run out of ideas and really need any help I can get at this point, thanks

I have had a problem quite similar, what solved it for me was when i realized it had to do with the bios settings being set to win7 and not win8/10. Have you seen any options for this in your bios?

 

[aquielisunari]

Why Rufus and the formatting? When I wanted to do a fresh install of 10 I just downloaded the tool and created a bootable USB drive with it. I'm a bit slow with the uptake so please educate me.