installed an M.2 in a HDD box...

Arjai · Apr 14, 2022

I can see the M.2 in Device Manager but, how do I format it and give it a name? I know it used to be simple but, I can't seem to remember or it changed and I now don't know what to do.

After I get it formatted, I want to use it for my boot drive. What all do I need to copy over to make the OS(win 10) work on the m.2?

Any help will be appreciated, this box takes up to 2-3 minutes to recover from a screen saver!! It's got 2 HDD's, an Laptop drive spinning at 7200(OS) and another for Data storage, slow one. I want to laptop HDD, to house some programs I use occasionally, M.2 to have OS and web browsers.

eidairaman1 · Apr 14, 2022

Right Click Computer/My Computer, hit Manage (faster than going to search)

Arjai said:
I can see the M.2 in Device Manager but, how do I format it and give it a name? I know it used to be simple but, I can't seem to remember or it changed and I now don't know what to do.

After I get it formatted, I want to use it for my boot drive. What all do I need to copy over to make the OS(win 10) work on the m.2?

Any help will be appreciated, this box takes up to 2-3 minutes to recover from a screen saver!! It's got 2 HDD's, an Laptop drive spinning at 7200(OS) and another for Data storage, slow one. I want to laptop HDD, to house some programs I use occasionally, M.2 to have OS and web browsers.

I make it where windows does not hide empty drives either

Which you access Control panel and go to Folder Options

Athlonite · Apr 14, 2022

If you have an M.2 slot on your mobo you could have just installed it and cloned the OS drive onto it. Then rebooted and loaded into BIOS and choose the NVMe SSD as your boot drive

Arjai · Apr 14, 2022

Athlonite said:
If you have an M.2 slot on your mobo you could have just installed it and cloned the OS drive onto it. Then rebooted and loaded into BIOS and choose the NVMe SSD as your boot drive

The M.2 is formatted now but, I don't want to clone everything, from one drive to another. I simply want the OS and my browsers on the M.2.

I know how to go to BIOS and switch boot drives. I need to know what all to copy to the M.2 to make it work. Without cloning the whole drive.

oobymach · Apr 14, 2022

Arjai said:
The M.2 is formatted now but, I don't want to clone everything, from one drive to another. I simply want the OS and my browsers on the M.2.

I know how to go to BIOS and switch boot drives. I need to know what all to copy to the M.2 to make it work. Without cloning the whole drive.

The only guaranteed way is to clone the disk using macrium or some other third party software, you can't just copy the windows folder to another drive and expect it to work.

hrp32 · Apr 14, 2022

Use Clonezilla to clone your whole disk if the M.2 is the same size or bigger than your current boot device.
For a smaller disk just clone your EFI boot partition and Windows partition.

Rock N Roll Rebel · Apr 23, 2022

just make a backup of stuff you want using any backup method then install windows fresh and put in what you want from backup if you watch this guy's video he tells how to get windows keys cheap and legit
(42) Britec09 - YouTube
but the os license is usually tied to the motherboard so you may not have to get a new license key

Arjai · Jun 8, 2022

OK, well. I am back at it again. During my last try, using Macrium, I somehow corrupted Windows on my HDD. Then, about a day later my monitor died. So, I used my Grey box, for over a month, that is connected to my TV to web surf, not ideal but OK.

I now have a new Monitor, a nice 24 inch curved LED from ViewSonic. I was not able to repair Windows on my HDD so, Fresh install, after a few tries. I am now going to give Clonezilla Lite a run. Then, move stuff from on drive to the other, over time, to tweak it the way I like.

One question, once I do a Bios drive switch, making the M.2 the first in line, what can I do to make the HDD not be bootable? What file, or files can I rename, or delete, to keep it from being a boot disk?

P4-630 · Jun 8, 2022

Arjai said:
I want to use it for my boot drive. What all do I need to copy over to make the OS(win 10) work on the m.2?

It's not that easy as just copying files, I don't think it will work that way.
With a fresh windows install it also creates an "EFI System" partition, which it needs to boot.

Arjai · Jun 8, 2022

OK, I unzipped Clonezilla to my USB, booted to it and it just opened Linux Mint. Now what? I looked through the list and Clonezilla is not on any of them. I am gonna reboot, perhaps I missed something on the boot screen?

Edit: I found Clonezilla on the USB but, still don't know what to do with it, i.e. what file to open the program.

Edit2: Everything I found, on the website, on Youtube, they boot to the usb, with the unzipped Clonezilla (even disabled Fast Boot) and the program is listed in the boot menu....OK, so, maybe figured it out...I have a mint version on there, also, even though I formatted the USB...OK, re-try!

ThrashZone · Jun 8, 2022

Arjai said:
The M.2 is formatted now but, I don't want to clone everything, from one drive to another. I simply want the OS and my browsers on the M.2.

I know how to go to BIOS and switch boot drives. I need to know what all to copy to the M.2 to make it work. Without cloning the whole drive.

Hi,
Only two options
Clean install reinstall what you want on the m.2
Clone all remove what you don't want on the m.2.

Arjai · Jun 8, 2022

Alrighty them...So, clonezilla was a bust. I was going to re-unzip it and start fresh but, my damn C drive started effing up, Windows wouldn't boot up. I removed the damn HDD and did a fresh install on the M.2.

So, twice today I have done fresh installs, 1st on the clapped out laptop HDD, I've used since damn near the year 2000! I guess I've had a good run with the little Toshiba? LOL. It is now gonna join the "used up" or, "Not working" shelf. It will go near the other stuff there that I admire.

Anywho, I will be on the look out for a cheapish SSD to replace it. It'd be awesome to find a 1TB I can afford!!

So, this box, Orange, was my first AMD build w/ Ryzen. I have 2 others, since then, another 2700 and a 3700.

So, I guess this thread is now dead. I'm gonna clean up this install and call it a day. Probably watch some Youtube and order up some food. Tomorrow I'm gonna go get a new phone, 13 Pro.

The Android offerings right now, Suck. So, I'm going Apple for the first time in my life, ever. I'm not selling out, just getting the best phone available, right now. In 2 years, hopefully, there will be a good Pixel phone ready. I'd keep my Pixel 4 but, it's played out. So far, it's been the best phone I've had, bar none. But it's a 5g world now, and the 13 Pro is the best of the 5Ger's, right now.

It will involve a certain amount of learning but, I'm sure I can figure it out. Anyway, /Ranting done.

Thanks everyone for their participation and help in this thread. Take Care!!
:lovetpu:

System Name	Bay2- Lowerbay/ HP 3770/T3500-2+T3500-3+T3500-4/ Opti-Con/Orange/White/Grey
Processor	i3 2120's/ i7 3770/ x5670's/ i5 2400/Ryzen 2700/Ryzen 2700/R7 3700x
Motherboard	HP UltraSlim's/ HP mid size/ Dell T3500 workstation's/ Dell 390/B450 AorusM/B450 AorusM/B550 AorusM
Cooling	All stock coolers/Grey has an H-60
Memory	2GB/ 4GB/ 12 GB 3 chan/ 4GB sammy/T-Force 16GB 3200/XPG 16GB 3000/Ballistic 3600 16GB
Video Card(s)	HD2000's/ HD 2000/ 1 MSI GT710,2x MSI R7 240's/ HD4000/ Red Dragon 580/Sapphire 580/Sapphire 580
Storage	?HDD's/ 500 GB-er's/ 500 GB/2.5 Samsung 500GB HDD+WD Black 1TB/ WD Black 500GB M.2/Corsair MP600 M.2
Display(s)	1920x1080/ ViewSonic VX24568 between the rest/1080p TV-Grey
Case	HP 8200 UltraSlim's/ HP 8200 mid tower/Dell T3500's/ Dell 390/SilverStone Kublai KL06/NZXT H510 W x2
Audio Device(s)	Sonic Master/ onboard's/ Beeper's!
Power Supply	19.5 volt bricks/ Dell PSU/ 525W sumptin/ same/Seasonic 750 80+Gold/EVGA 500 80+/Antec 650 80+Gold
Mouse	cheap GigaWire930, CMStorm Havoc + Logitech M510 wireless/iGear usb x2/MX 900 wireless kit 4 Grey
Keyboard	Dynex, 2 no name, SYX and a Logitech. All full sized and USB. MX900 kit for Grey
Software	Mint 18 Sylvia/ Opti-Con Mint KDE/ T3500's on Kubuntu/HP 3770 is Win 10/Win 10 Pro/Win 10 Pro/Win10
Benchmark Scores	World Community Grid is my benchmark!!

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Cumquat 2021
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Strix X670E - E Gaming WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool LT720 + CM MasterGel Pro TP + Lian Li Uni Fan V2
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 6000
Video Card(s)	PowerColor HellHound RX7800XT 2550cclk/2450mclk
Storage	1x Adata SX8200PRO NVMe 1TB gen3 x4 1X Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Gen 4 x4 1TB, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 IPS 144Hz FreeSync Premium 1920x1080p
Case	Lian Li O11D XL ROG edition
Audio Device(s)	RX7800XT via HDMI + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W 5.1 Speaker set
Power Supply	EVGA 1000W G5 Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core Wired
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 X64 PRO (build 24H2)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even more less now ;)

System Name	Bay2- Lowerbay/ HP 3770/T3500-2+T3500-3+T3500-4/ Opti-Con/Orange/White/Grey
Processor	i3 2120's/ i7 3770/ x5670's/ i5 2400/Ryzen 2700/Ryzen 2700/R7 3700x
Motherboard	HP UltraSlim's/ HP mid size/ Dell T3500 workstation's/ Dell 390/B450 AorusM/B450 AorusM/B550 AorusM
Cooling	All stock coolers/Grey has an H-60
Memory	2GB/ 4GB/ 12 GB 3 chan/ 4GB sammy/T-Force 16GB 3200/XPG 16GB 3000/Ballistic 3600 16GB
Video Card(s)	HD2000's/ HD 2000/ 1 MSI GT710,2x MSI R7 240's/ HD4000/ Red Dragon 580/Sapphire 580/Sapphire 580
Storage	?HDD's/ 500 GB-er's/ 500 GB/2.5 Samsung 500GB HDD+WD Black 1TB/ WD Black 500GB M.2/Corsair MP600 M.2
Display(s)	1920x1080/ ViewSonic VX24568 between the rest/1080p TV-Grey
Case	HP 8200 UltraSlim's/ HP 8200 mid tower/Dell T3500's/ Dell 390/SilverStone Kublai KL06/NZXT H510 W x2
Audio Device(s)	Sonic Master/ onboard's/ Beeper's!
Power Supply	19.5 volt bricks/ Dell PSU/ 525W sumptin/ same/Seasonic 750 80+Gold/EVGA 500 80+/Antec 650 80+Gold
Mouse	cheap GigaWire930, CMStorm Havoc + Logitech M510 wireless/iGear usb x2/MX 900 wireless kit 4 Grey
Keyboard	Dynex, 2 no name, SYX and a Logitech. All full sized and USB. MX900 kit for Grey
Software	Mint 18 Sylvia/ Opti-Con Mint KDE/ T3500's on Kubuntu/HP 3770 is Win 10/Win 10 Pro/Win 10 Pro/Win10
Benchmark Scores	World Community Grid is my benchmark!!

System Name	New compy
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5800x3D
Motherboard	MSI MPG x570S EDGE MAX WiFi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15S w. FHP141 + Xigmatek AOS XAF-F1451
Memory	32gb G.Skill Ripjaws V Samsung B-Die Dual Rank F4-4000C16D-32GVKA
Video Card(s)	ASUS TUF GAMING RTX 4070ti
Storage	17tb (8+4tb WD Black HDD's, 2+2+0.5+0.5tb M.2 SSD Drives) + 16tb WD Red Pro backup drive
Display(s)	Alienware AW2518H 24" 240hz, Sony X85K 43" 4k 120hz HDR TV
Case	Thermaltake Core v71
Audio Device(s)	iFi Nano Idsd Le, Creative T20 + T50, Sennheiser HD6Mix
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova G2 1000w
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero custom w. G900 scroll wheel mod, Rival 3 + Rival 3 wireless, JLab Epic Mouse
Keyboard	Corsair K68 RGB + K70 RGB + K57 RGB Wireless + Logitech G613
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/s2y7ny

Processor	AMD FX 6100
Motherboard	ASUS M5A78L LE
Cooling	Thermalright Macho
Memory	Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 + (1 x 2GB)
Video Card(s)	MSI Radeon RX 470 Miner 4GB used for Gaming
Storage	WD Green 1TB Hard Drive
Display(s)	LG 25UM65P
Power Supply	Antec HCG 520
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	ROG MACHINE
Processor	Ryzen 9 5950x
Motherboard	Crosshair viii Hero
Cooling	NZXT Kraken Z 73 my corsair H115i kicked the bucket corsair sucks lol
Memory	g-skill rgb 64gb 4x16gb ddr4 3200mgz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x oc 3080
Storage	Samsung 990 pro 4TB M.2 Samsung 980 pro 2TB M.2 two 16TB Seagate Iranwolf HD 10TB and a 12TB ironwol
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey G9 49-inch Monitor/ Samsung C34J79x 34 inch curved monitor
Case	thermal take view 71 rgb
Audio Device(s)	creative ae-5 sound card
Power Supply	Seasonic Vertex 12 watt power supply
Mouse	ROG CHAKRAM
Keyboard	Rog Strix Flare II Animate Keyboard
Software	windows 11 pro 64bit

System Name	AlderLake
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

installed an M.2 in a HDD box...

The Exiled Airman