Windows 10 install with NVMe SSD and SATA drives

The current Dell Windows 10 media will fail to install on computers that are configured with both Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Disk Drives (hard drive)s and Non-Volatile Memory (NVMe) high-performance Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Solid-State Drives (SSDs).

NVMe SSD drives are available on select Dell computers such as:

• OptiPlex 7440, 7040, 5040
• Latitude E7470, E7270, E5270, E5470, E5570
• Precision 3510, 5510, 7510, 7710
• XPS 9350, 9550, 9250
• Alienware X51, 15 R2, 13 R2

There is an incompatibility between the Current Windows 10 recovery environment (WinRE) storage drivers and the NVMe high-performance SSD drivers when there is a combination of SSDs and HDDs on the same computer.

Workaround

The current workaround is to disable all the SATA Storage device (HDD/SSD) controllers in the computer Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) before performing the Windows 10 install to the NVMe SSD from Dell media.

After disabling the SATA Storage Device, you also have to ensure that the BIOS is set up correctly by following these Steps:

1. Enter the BIOS by pressing F2 multiple times while the Dell Logo is shown.
2. Go to Boot Sequence and set Boot List Option to UEFI
3. Go to SATA Operation and choose AHCI
4. In Advanced Boot Option, you click Enable Legacy Option ROMs
5. Set Secure Boot to Disable

Once the Windows installation is completed, the SATA Storage Device controllers can be reenabled without any issues and both the NVMe drive and one or more SATA drives will function normally. No further changes are necessary.

Dell Engineering has addressed this issue, and a fix was incorporated into the latest Dell Windows 10 media release. Recovery media options are available at Dell Windows Backup Media and Recovery Options.

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• How To Load The Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver To Install An Operating System On An NVMe Storage Drive
• Intel 11th, 12th, and 13th Generation Processors, No Drives Can Be Found During Windows 10 and Windows 11 Installation
• Frequently Asked Questions Regarding NVMe solid state drives (SSDs)
• NVME SSD drive not detected on startup or reboot on Precision 15 5000 (5510) or XPS 15 9550

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