Question Using nvme ssd with ahci mode?

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Radekin

Apr 25, 2019
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Hello,

I recently built my pc with and 500gb samsung 970 evo plus nvme ssd and there's also a 1tb hard disk. The system is currently booting normally from the nvme ssd however when i get into bios, there are two options for drive i guess, which are raid and ahci. It is currently running on ahci however I have read somewhere that ahci is a protocol for older hard disks or sata ssds. Also, when I enter the boot priorities menu, theres no nvme ssd option in there. When I select UEFI HARD DISk , theres only one option that is windows boot control or something like that. I guess it is automatically booting from nvme ssd using windows? Are these selections correct, I mean I dont understand much from this.
 
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1) Launch your Samsung Magician software or if you don't have it, download it here,
link: https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

Once the software is launched, read what is written below: "Interface".

2) Just to confirm it, download and run CrystalDiskInfo as well,
link: https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/

Once there, select your 970 Evo drive (e.g C: ) from above tab and read what is written behind "Interface" and "Transfer Mode".

Also, what's your MoBo make and model or part number?
 
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Radekin said:
there are two options for drive i guess, which are raid and ahci.
Click to expand...
Those settings are applicable to sata devices only. Has nothing to do with NVME drive.
Radekin said:
When I select UEFI HARD DISk , theres only one option that is windows boot control or something like that. I guess it is automatically booting from nvme ssd using windows?
Click to expand...
Windows boot manager is UEFI boot entry. Each storage device with UEFI bootloader will be listed as Windows boot manager in UEFI boot list.
So - if UEFI bootloader is on HDD, system boots from HDD. If UEFI bootloader is on SSD, system boots from SSD.
Anyway - post screenshot from Disk Management. It will show, on which device bootloader is located.
 
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Under interface in samsung magician, it writes PCIE Gen.3x4

My mobo is Msi b450 gaming pro carbon ac.

Under disk management, i can see that it boots from C which is the 500 gb nvme ssd. I didnt divide it during windows installation.

So i understand that ahci and raid mode are not importanat for nvme ssd.While loading windows, I selected to install the windows files to the nvme ssd so i guess the Windows Boot Manager entry in priority menu is automatically booting from the ssd. Then theres nothing to worry about?
 
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Since i have 960 Evo 500GB and i have it running in NVMe mode (while i can also run it in ACHI mode), i too have "PCIE Gen. 3 x 4" shown in Samsung Magician. So, everything is in order. You can confirm it from CrystalDiskInfo as well, where behind the "Transfer Mode" should be listed: "PCIE 3.0 x4".
 
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https://imgur.com/a/w9VDl4D

This is how my disk manager looks. Im using Turkish windows therefore its in turkish so you may not understand some parts.

The part it calls önyükleme means booting which is written for C drive which is the 500 gb nvme ssd. Interestingly, what you are calling as bootloader partition is not inside this ssd. The one that writes EFI System, or EFI Sistem is a part of the hdd. Also, when I enter the boot priorities menu in bios the first boot option that is selected is goes like this: UEFI Hard Disk: Wİndows Boot Manager(SATA4:WDC WD10EZEX) which is my hdd. So what does this mean, where this system is booting from? 🤔
 
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The windows bootloader is located on the HDD. That is what your BIOS is booting from. That bootloader can then choose between different Windows installations (if you have more than one in your system). It appears that the Windows installation on the SSD is what's being loaded.

When installing Windows, it's recommended to disconnect all other drives. This ensures the bootloader and other partitions get installed on the primary drive. As it stands now, you would not be able to boot without the HDD connected, even though the OS is on the SSD.
 
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So does this situation have any disadvanteges such as speed or etc. Should I reinstall windows or continue like this?

This is an interesting detail that I never heard of but after I loaded the windows and entered bios boot priorities menu, I initially suspected that something was wrong because the priority was looking like as if it is booting from the hdd but im sure that it is booting from the ssd because it boots fast. 😀
 
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I don't think there would be much if any impact on boot speed. Only real downside is that, as I mentioned above, the SSD isn't capable of booting on its own. If you just installed Windows and don't have much on the SSD yet I'd say you might as well reinstall. If you've already done a bunch of stuff and don't want to have to do it over again then you should be OK leaving it as is.
 
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I installed lots of things on ssd so I am going to leave it like this. I dont think that I would unplug the hdd in the future so this shouldnt be a problem for me. This was an interesting thing to learn. So while installing windows, I should have unplugged the hdd and install the windows like that? Because while I was in the disk partitioning screen, the little parts that are recovery and Efi system were determined by its own. Did I had a chance to locate those parts to the ssd and I just didnt do it or I just didnt have the option and the windows automatically put them there?
 
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I'm guessing you had an existing Windows install on the HDD already? I think Windows detects if those partitions are already present and if so doesn't reinstall them, I don't remember enough of the install process to say if/how you could force it to reinstall those partitions on the drive of your choice.
 
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No it was a first time installation. After I builded my pc, I installed windows for the first time. This is weird, maybe the hdd was a used hdd and they cheated on me? 🤔
Anyways, thanks very much for your help.
 
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You can create bootloader partition on SSD also.
Then you could boot your pc with HDD disconnected also.
Execute from elevated command prompt.
diskpart​
list disk​
select disk 1​
list partition​
select partition X​
(select 465GB partition, X is either 1 or 2)​
shrink desired=500​
create partition efi​
format fs=fat32 quick​
assign letter=H​
exit​
bcdboot C:\windows /s H:​
​
After this is done, disconnect HDD, adjust boot priorities and verify, you can boot from SSD.
 
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TJ Hooker said:
That's odd, I would have expected everything to go on the SSD then if that's the drive you selected for installation. I see the HDD is formatted into two ~470 GB partitions, did you do that?
Click to expand...
Yes I did that myself. I divided the hdd into two and selected the ssd to install windows on. But I didnt realize that the little parts are also located on the hdd and they should be located on the ssd. But as I said before, the little parts were located on the hdd on its own, I didnt create them.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
You can create bootloader partition on SSD also.
Then you could boot your pc with HDD disconnected also.
Execute from elevated command prompt.
diskpart​
list disk​
select disk 1​
list partition​
select partition X​
(select 465GB partition, X is either 1 or 2)​
shrink desired=500​
create partition efi​
format fs=fat32 quick​
assign letter=H​
exit​
bcdboot C:\windows /s H:​
​
After this is done, disconnect HDD, adjust boot priorities and verify, you can boot from SSD.
Click to expand...
if I do this then this will mean that I have 2 bootloader partion and I select the one I want?
 
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Radekin said:
Yes I did that myself. I divided the hdd into two and selected the ssd to install windows on. But I didnt realize that the little parts are also located on the hdd and they should be located on the ssd. But as I said before, the little parts were located on the hdd on its own, I didnt create them.
Click to expand...
They get created automatically, when windows is installed.
Installation doesn't let you to choose, where to put those small partitions.
That's why, you want only SSD to be connected during install.
 
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what do you mean by "elevated "command promt?

do i write these line one by one and press enter after each line or write them from top to bottom then press enter?

also you wrote X is either 1 or 2 but my disks are called as disk 0 and disk 1, disk 0 is the hdd and disk 1 is ssd

also, my windows is in turkish, does this change anything cause the lines are in english.
 
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Radekin said:
what do you mean by "elevated "command promt?
Click to expand...
Elevated command prompt -
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-open-a-windows-10-elevated-command-prompt/
Radekin said:
do i write these line one by one and press enter after each line or write them from top to bottom then press enter?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Radekin said:
also you wrote X is either 1 or 2 but my disks are called as disk 0 and disk 1, disk 0 is the hdd and disk 1 is ssd
Click to expand...
You have to choose 465GB partition. You get partition number from previous command (list partition).
Radekin said:
also, my windows is in turkish, does this change anything cause the lines are in english.
Click to expand...
Doesn't change anything. Commands will still be in english.
 
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hello,

I did what you have told, executed the command line and it worked like a charm. Now I am booting from the ssd and I have 2 system efi partions, one on the ssd and one on the hdd. So now how do i delete the partition on hdd?
 
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Can you show current screenshot from Disk Management?

If everything is as supposed to be, then you could delete EFI system partition from HDD using these commands:
diskpart​
list disk​
select disk 0​
list partition​
select partition Y​
(select 99MB EFI System partition. Y - is either 2 or 3. More likely 3)​
delete partition override​
exit​
 
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