Hello,
just copied hdd to me M.2 NVME disc from M.2 Sata and i have boot bluescreen 0x0000007B it suppose to be problem with reading from device.
Chipset is Z170 so only AHCI mode. OS is installed in no EFI mode, i dunno if it matter, is updated backup from 2018 end, because my internal ssd died… i know that there where some NVME hotfixes, but i dunno if they where part of auto installed packages or not.
Is there some way how to backport NVME drivers to already installed OS to make it again bootable?
@ruthan :
The best and safest way to use an NVMe SSD as future system drive is to do a fresh OS installation in UEFI mode onto it (after having wiped all existing partitions by the OS Setup).
If you want to use Win7 as future OS, you have to integrate the MS NVMe Hotfix for Win7 into the BOOT.WIM and INSTALL.WIM of the Win7 ISO file.
Thanks, so for already installed OS is there no way? I know that UEFI woul be better for future, but im now i different situation, so important is if it is possible to make it working without EFI or not?
Except downgrade back to SATA and install the hotfix, if is could work?
BTW is there some legacy to EFI migration tool for existing installations?
@ruthan :
The usage of an NVMe SSD as bootable system drive requires the following:
- a) The partition scheme of the target SSD has to be configured by using the GUI-Mode Partition Table (GPT) (Note: Your old system drive has used the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition scheme).
- b) To be able to boot off an NVMe SSD, an appropriate NVMe EFI module has to be present within the mainboard’s BIOS chip (Note: Should be no problem with for your Z170 chipset mainboard).
- c) The OS has to be installed in UEFI mode (Note: A small sized usually hidden EFI partition containing the “Windows Bot Manager” has to be created onto the NVMe SSD).
If you want to avoid a fresh installation of the OS in UEFI mode onto the NVMe SSD, these are the required tasks for you:
- You have to convert the current MBR partition scheme of your old system drive to the GPT one (Note: Since Win7 cannot do it itself, you may need a tool. For details look >here<).
- Before you are going to clone the current system drive, you have to make sure, that your OS supports the NVMe protocol (Note: Otherwise your NVMe SSD would not be detected by the clone).
- You have to create a separate EFI boot partition onto your system drive by using a specific cloning tool, which is able to manage it (Problem: The EFI system partition must contain the information about the NVMe Controller of your NVMe SSD and must have access to the related NVMe driver).
There’s one thing I don’t understand: ruthan reports a STOP 0x0000007b. That’s a Windows error but when booting in Legaxy mode the whole drive (and thereby every part of the Windows installation and the boot sector) should be invisible to the Bios! So which boot sector does his system use?
@lfb6 :
Yes, it is not easy to understand, what exactly ruthan has tried to do while cloning his previously used system drive to the NVMe SSD.
The STOP 0x0000007b BSOD is usually caused a wrong/not matching storage driver.
@ruthan :
If you want help, you should give us more information about what exactly you have done with which Disk Drive before you got the STOP 7b BSOD.
Furthermore you should post the manufacturer and model of your NVMe SSD. If it should be a Samsung 950 Pro, you have neither to switch the partition scheme nor to install the OS in UEFI mode.
I just cloned whole driver by R-Drive Image.
I have one Samsung 950 Pro, but i wanted to use it for other system, if understand correctly it doesnt need UEFI migration? I can use it temporarily.
SSD is ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro SSD 256GB
MBR to GPT migration, convert partition scheme is easy, but that EFI partition is problem, do you have any good experience with some migration tool? I tried multiple of them and it usually failed, because EFI partition wasnt created, or was created empty etc.
Can buy on eBay some cheap Sata to NVME M-key adapter? Or adapters are only for USB and M.2 Sata?
Yes, this NVMe SSD can natively boot in LEGACY mode (using the MBR partition scheme). So no MBR>GPT switch would be necessary.
No, I always prefer a clean install of the OS, when I want to change the system drive.
What for? The only adapter, which may be useful for you, is an M.2>PCIe adapter. The performance of an NVMe SSD depends on its connection to the mainboard (for details look into the start post of >this< thread).
The EFI partition itself is not a very complicated construction- Fat32, ID can be changed with diskpart, one folder "\EFI\Microsoft\Boot" and afaik the content should be part of your Windows 7 installation? Normally this partition can be simply recreated with tools from a recovery- environment?
Machine which im no tryinb to make booting is my NAS after M.2 Intel 535 crash, which is Win7 based, so for now… i dont can about performance and much as fuctionality… and M.2 and inside cases on not too much accesible places, so some Sata adapter would be great, i already ordered USB adapter… I would that i can by PCI-E card adapter, but i usually dont have slots to waste.
Yes, there is I did it but it is a very long and hard process it is described in this forum, under topic
[Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS (323)
Sorry for late update, but i had to move some data… I tried Samsung 950 Pro and even with it i had some error, so i had to use M.2 Sata… Its there something to check if my install is not working with Samsung 950 Pro legacy boot?
@ruthan :
You will be able boot a Samsung 950 Pro in Legacy mode, but neverteless the MBR needs the information about the correct storage driver.
An NVMe SSD needs an NVMe driver and cannot be detected and managed by a SATA driver.
I booted in Legacy mode.
What exactly means still?
but neverteless the MBR needs the information about the correct storage driver.
An NVMe SSD needs an NVMe driver and cannot be detected and managed by a SATA driver.
MBR and storage driver? I need heard about something like that. Windows 7 boot process is started so MBR code is ok i guess?
So what i have to do in OS booted from M.2 Sata before migration to NVME, if would give it another try?
MBR and storage driver? I need heard about something like that. Windows 7 boot process is started so MBR code is ok i guess?
That’s splitting hairs- the MBR system/ legacy installation needs the correct storage driver is what’s meant.
You should have installed KB2990941 and thereafter KB3087873 for Windows 7 before cloning and made sure the NVME driver starts at boot (check registry) prior to cloning.
Thanks i didnt get any message that these where already installed, so its good sign.
Maybe someone can make some magic and create something like injecting these from Windows PE, or Windows To GO USB, or something like that. I saw at least some drivers injection by such way.
I dunno what these are doing if its just some dirty system file rewrite and you would miss only some proper possiblity to uninstall updates because of not working registry and other minor things it would be nice… More nicer if it would be usefull for 1 boot and after would be possible install them by proper way.
Hmm,
i installed both updates - i checked that they are installed - but run them again - im getting already installed, cloned installation on Samsung 950 Pro, but im still getting some boot error… Something else has to involved. I dont thing that my Samsung 950 Pro is fake one, i seem to have all right stickers and its reporting in Bios as Samsung 950 Pro.
I finaly made it… I was able to clone M.2 Sata NVME to M.2 for long times, but had some booting issues (blue screens), its probably because of used imaging tools.
How to convert Win7 x64 MRB installation to EFI installation:
- i suppose that now all steps are needed, or that is best or fastest way
0) install 2 Win7 updates for NVME support first
1) First i made whole driver image (M.2) Sata with Acronis, but you can probably use any tools. Make its from USB /CD its saver than from working OS.
2) Migrated this image into virtual machine with EFI enabled… I just tried to mount orginal physical M.2 Sata driver within Win10 machines in Vmware Workstation or VirtualBox - these options are on paper supported, but its lengthy and has issues, for example when Vmware tried to read from EFI partition… im getting read errors and crashed.
So i had create new virtual disk… boot from imaging tool cd… recover M.2 Sata image from network to new virtual drive.
O discovered that Vmware in EFI its not booting from lots legit EFI boot CDs, Virtualbox is booting from everything.
3) Restore image - i used lots of partition tools - EasyUS (11.5.12), R-Driver (6.1001), but i always got blue screens after booting… Acronis true image worked fine, i suspect it from doing some P2P HW adjustment, but im not sure.
4) Now i used some partition tool - like free Minitool / Aomei / Paragon HDD suite etc… and you need to convert MBR disk to GPT disk without data lost.
5) Now you need with that partition tool resize Win7 partition, to make at the start of disk place for EFI partition (200 MB is enough).
6) Now you have to create Windows 7 EFI partition, from other real and virtual machine (my case)…
7) Restore Win 7 EFI partition image to free space at the start of disk…
8) Now you probably could to use Windows 7 with NVME drivers and mess with it until to it would be able to link EFI partition with Windows 7 partition… I made this in the past working with Win 8 but its mas ungly process…
So im recomend just install some you favorite linux distro (if you have not favorite Linux Mint is most user friendly and its still based on Debian->Ubuntu) on some other (small partition - 20GB is enough) and install GRUB efi bootloader during installation (i thing that is default, so you dont need to do anything special). Linux is nice as better recovery console and backup OS for surfing etc.
If after reboot are Linux and Working, you just can change /boot/grub/grub.cfg (need admin rights to select Windows as default instead Linux).
7B) If as i you already have Linux on your NVME, you have to make MBR Linux to EFI too - boot-repair-disk -, for this -https://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/ … and use its nice wizzard to install Grub EFI on EFI partitions… I had once some issues because of old Linux Mint 18.2 - not available packages (sudo apt-get update), but update packages form terminal fixed it.
Now you maybe can skip… all Linux stuff and just try, if will see in EFI no target driver Windows boot loader and if it will boot, right away - but im not sure about that…
8) You can now, but you dont need it try to to boot Windows within virtual computer, if could file, because emulated HW is else that previous physical. This step is not needed and if booting its good check that all is working.
9) Make image (again here i recommend Acronis) without virtual machine, with some boot CD and save it to some network share.
10) Recover disk image to new target disk - i my case M.2 NVME - because, that was of whole point of my MBR to EFI migration. You can make it on target computer on any other computer.
11) Switch target machine bios to boot UEFI firsts, or simply eble UEFI.
12) Boot from migrated disk on target computer, it should work fine. In EFI you can select Windows boot loader on target device for direct Windows boot, or Ubuntu - or other distro name for Grub 2 menu, here you get boot menu with selection between Linux and Windows - of course you can select it from EFI right away only optimally - its your choice.
13) I dunno if is was done that Acronis P2P (Physical to Physical migration magic) or MB now reporting other MB ids, but after boot… USB devices where dead so i had to connect to machine remotely and reinstal somel drivers with Windows driver search and Snappy driver installer.
NVME proof:
- BTW i find out that Crystal disk 5 and 7 no reporting very diffent numbers for 2/3/4… maybe some tests where altered or old version has bugs… Version 7 reporting bigger numbers.
Im using just cheap Adata 256 M.2 NVME recommended by mighty Diderius.
Second small NO-NAME partition was probably created by Boot repair disc, i dont checked what is not on it, maybe you can get rid of it… but its so small that its in big deal.
So my NAS is now EFImied…
@ruthan - glad you got it sorted out, and thanks for posting your method for others in the future 
For future reference in case others are searching and find this thread, here is my way of doing it, and Fernando’s way too
Clone SSD to NVME
Installing Clean Win7x64 on M2.2280 PCIe Gen3x4 SSD A-DATA SX8200 Pro << My way
[Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS (330) << Fernando’s way
This guide is not for clean install… but for migration of already installed system.
Otherwise i started with this long time ago… and at that time nobody pointed me to working solution, so had to find it myself.