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Bob from California - Alienware M14 R2 - 256GB mSATA SSD (CRUCIAL M4) Installed... - Page 4

post #31 of 53
10/25/12 at 7:53pm
You should go into the bios, make sure msata is selected as the primary boot device, and you should also set the system to AHCI mode. (Just performs better in that mode)

I would recommend removing the mechanical drive... Install windows then install the mechanical drive, do your drivers, etc... and go from there. it should be THAT difficult to get an mSATA and mechanical drive to co-exist. Unfortunately I am not super familiar with the bios in Alienware notebooks yet, havent poked around in mine too much to be honest.
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post #32 of 53
10/25/12 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by identitycrisis View Post

You should go into the bios, make sure msata is selected as the primary boot device, and you should also set the system to AHCI mode. (Just performs better in that mode)
I would recommend removing the mechanical drive... Install windows then install the mechanical drive, do your drivers, etc... and go from there. it should be THAT difficult to get an mSATA and mechanical drive to co-exist. Unfortunately I am not super familiar with the bios in Alienware notebooks yet, havent poked around in mine too much to be honest.

B
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post #33 of 53
10/25/12 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
Would you recommend formating the drive before I remove it?

Does the HDD need special partitioning or formatting?

What do I do if the computer does not see the drive?

After all Windows updates and drivers are installed I believe the computer should ecognize the harddrive.

When the laptop was working I had set the bios the the values you described.

I was getting 7.9 Windows Experence Index for the mSATA

My latest bios version is 09

Thanks for the help
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post #34 of 53
10/26/12 at 4:43am
I would leave the HDD in and format it and the SSD at the same time with the windows disc so you know its clean as can be. I am not a fan of formatting drives in windows.
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post #35 of 53
10/26/12 at 5:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-California View Post

Would you recommend formating the drive before I remove it?
Does the HDD need special partitioning or formatting?
What do I do if the computer does not see the drive?
After all Windows updates and drivers are installed I believe the computer should ecognize the harddrive.
When the laptop was working I had set the bios the the values you described.
I was getting 7.9 Windows Experence Index for the mSATA
My latest bios version is 09
Thanks for the help

You could if you wanted to... not totally necessary. You can do a quick or full format in windows drive management after the fact.
When you first install the drive, the PC will probably not see it (if it is unformatted). You right click on computer and select "manage" then storage, then disk management. it will list all the drives installed in the PC, and the partitions on those drives.

once in there it should see the drive you right click on the drive you installed, and click format, or you may need to create a partition... its pretty self explanatory.

I would make sure to set the stoarge mode or sata mode in the bios to AHCI before re-installing windows.

Have you called Dell yet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiftstealth View Post

I would leave the HDD in and format it and the SSD at the same time with the windows disc so you know its clean as can be. I am not a fan of formatting drives in windows.

Yeah,

but if I remember correctly, windows will install some stuff on the mechanical drive... wont it?

I usually install with a single SSD, then install the mech drive and format it in windows...
Edited by identitycrisis - 10/26/12 at 6:03am
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post #36 of 53
10/26/12 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by identitycrisis View Post

You could if you wanted to... not totally necessary. You can do a quick or full format in windows drive management after the fact.
When you first install the drive, the PC will probably not see it (if it is unformatted). You right click on computer and select "manage" then storage, then disk management. it will list all the drives installed in the PC, and the partitions on those drives.
once in there it should see the drive you right click on the drive you installed, and click format, or you may need to create a partition... its pretty self explanatory.
I would make sure to set the stoarge mode or sata mode in the bios to AHCI before re-installing windows.
Have you called Dell yet?
Yeah,
but if I remember correctly, windows will install some stuff on the mechanical drive... wont it?
I usually install with a single SSD, then install the mech drive and format it in windows...

Only if you Clone it.
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post #37 of 53
10/26/12 at 8:00am
I began doing it on the recommendation of Sean Webster, after reading through his SSD installation guide located HERE

I have had good luck so far with following this tutorial...
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post #38 of 53
10/26/12 at 8:21pm
Thread Starter 
I hope there is no important controller (SATA III) data on the mSATA that I will erase when I format it. I destroyed an expensive class 10 SD card by formating with a Windows XP Pro computer. It then operated as a Class 2 card - totally sucked.

I tried re-formating it as: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS and the SD Card would only operate at Class 2 speeds.

Dell's Windows and drivers installation sucks - getting error messigs on everything (I can't ever preform a WEI)

I've taken snapshots of the error messages. I'll post them once I figure out how to place images onto a thread.

When I first received the M14 R2 (same crap error messages)

I reinstalled Windows and all drivers and it work perfectly.

I'll have to checkout that site on how to do installs.

It's nice to get information from people who have been there and done that

Bob
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post #39 of 53
10/26/12 at 8:29pm
Hi California Bob, I used to own a alienware m8800 it was the more boxy version before the new cool mx17 case shells that are sold today...it had a 6800go nvidia graphics card, was a fun laptop. My younger brother has a new mx17 with a 6990mobile ati card in it its really nice.


BTW if you sent your laptop in to them, make sure they know you have added a SSD to it so you get that back if they end up sending you a different laptop back!!!
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post #40 of 53
10/27/12 at 5:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-California View Post

I hope there is no important controller (SATA III) data on the mSATA that I will erase when I format it. I destroyed an expensive class 10 SD card by formating with a Windows XP Pro computer. It then operated as a Class 2 card - totally sucked.
I tried re-formating it as: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS and the SD Card would only operate at Class 2 speeds.
Dell's Windows and drivers installation sucks - getting error messigs on everything (I can't ever preform a WEI)
I've taken snapshots of the error messages. I'll post them once I figure out how to place images onto a thread.
When I first received the M14 R2 (same crap error messages)
I reinstalled Windows and all drivers and it work perfectly.
I'll have to checkout that site on how to do installs.
It's nice to get information from people who have been there and done that
Bob

You shouldnt need to worry. When you reinstall windows with just the 128gb mSATA in it just do a quick format on the drive to repartition on it, and install windows, its not going to break it.

Do you happen to have an OEM disk of the appropriate version of windows? That might eliminate a bad burn on a disc or something from the ones alienware provided, although unlikely.

to place images on to a thread, there is a paper clip when you go into edit a post. from there you can attach an image. or upload them to something like photobucket, then copy the image code from there and paste it into the text box, it will display the image when posted.
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