M.2 SSD seen in Windows 10 but not Windows 7

[stockhausen]

I am using a system based on a Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Motherboard with BIOS = F7.
If I boot into Windows 10 I can see the M.2 SSD.
If I boot into Windows 7 the M.2 SSD is not seen.
Any suggestions as to why?
As it happens I want to use the M.2 SSD as the Windows 7 boot drive.

 

[andshrew]

I would have thought this would be down to the Windows 7 setup not having drivers built in for the M2 slot.

Download the drivers off of Gigabyte's web site, put them on a USB stick, and then during the Windows 7 setup there's an option to load drivers when you're picking which drive to install to.

 

[Broken Hope]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...er-support-in-nvm-express-in-windows-7-and-wi

Integrating it onto the Windows 7 boot media doesn't look that straightforward.

 

[stockhausen]

Two further observations on this are that:

1. Whilst the SATA HDDs appear in the BIOS Setup pages under Peripherals, the M.2 SSD does not appear anywhere in the BIOS Setup pages.
2. The M.2 SSD is seen by Acronis 2017 (LINUX).

Odd . . . .

 

[Broken Hope]

Nothing really odd, Windows 7 doesn’t have support for m.2 unless you add it.

 

[nightmare99]

I presume this drive is PCIe NVMe and not SATA?

 

[stockhausen]

I presume this drive is PCIe NVMe and not SATA?

Yes.

I have now updated the BIOS to the latest (Beta) version and the BIOS setup shows the M.2 SSD.

As pointed out earlier above, the problem is with Windows 7 - the Microsoft fix seems non-trivial. I will stick LINUX on the M.2 SSD.

 

[ubersonic]

Download the drivers off of Gigabyte's web site, put them on a USB stick, and then during the Windows 7 setup there's an option to load drivers when you're picking which drive to install to.

For reference this method works.

 

[stockhausen]

I would have thought this would be down to the Windows 7 setup not having drivers built in for the M2 slot.

Download the drivers off of Gigabyte's web site, put them on a USB stick, and then during the Windows 7 setup there's an option to load drivers when you're picking which drive to install to.

For reference this method works.

I have had a look on the Gigabyte Support website and can find no mention of M.2 drivers for Windows 7 - can you help please?

The URL that I was looking at and from where I got the latest BIOS update is [HTTPS://WWW.] gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-SLI-rev-10#support-dll

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Everything seems fine with Windows 10 and UBUNTU.

 

[ubersonic]

1: Make sure that UEFI boot ROM and UEFI storage interfaces are selected in your BIOS menu, select no legacy options.

2: Format a USB drive to FAT32, create a folder named "Drv" and paste your OS pendant (x86 or x64) drivers, which are provided by your SSD manufacturer.

3: When the time comes to select a hard drive for Windows 7, you will see nothing; click the CD icon "browse files" on the left lower filed, find your USB drive, search your Drv folder for your X86 or X64 drivers, and click ok.

*EDIT*

To be clear you need to get the drivers from the company that make the SSD not GB, it's just GB for raid drivers. They support page for the SSD should have them.

 

[stockhausen]

To be clear you need to get the drivers from the company that make the SSD not GB, it's just GB for raid drivers. They support page for the SSD should have them.

Indeed. Unfortunately, Samsung appear not to offer drivers for the PM961.

 

[ubersonic]

There's links to the 32 and 64 bit Win7 drivers here (Samsung only seem to make them available for OEM partners but users have repackaged them) http://www.win-raid.com/t29f25-Recommended-AHCI-RAID-and-NVMe-Drivers.html

 

[stockhausen]

Thanks for that ubersonic.
I have downloaded the driver and will have a go with it as soon as I can.
Thanks again.