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Question

SSD Type

Sep 21, 2015 7:33PM PDT

I'm having problems figuring out what type of SSD my laptop has. I ordered the drive and it was listed as M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD. I now need to format it so I can load a fresh installment of windows to it. I ordered in a SSD caddy/adapter that was listed as the same (M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD) but they aren't compatible. I plugged the drive into my laptop to make sure it was correct and it did fit, but it won't fit into the caddy. It has several pins on one side, a slow, and a few on the other. My SSD looks to have 4 on it, but the caddy looks like it takes one with five pins. Please, I just need to know what adapter I need to get to format this thing... Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
PICS
Sep 21, 2015 7:39PM PDT
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Answer
SSD's are just like hard drives
Sep 22, 2015 5:46AM PDT

as Laptop SSD's are typically 2.5 " with SATA2 or 3 connections. It looks like you have the smaller devide. I have a MSATA SSD which is a small card like the one you have but you have a PCIe device which is a different connector then a MSATA is have. You need to look at the specs for the PC and determin which SSD inteface is needed. If the PC is pre 2015 I would guess it's MSATA and not PCle.

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Answer
I never needed to format prior to installing Windows.
Sep 22, 2015 6:06AM PDT

I leave the drive blank, not partitions and let Windows prepare the drive. The caddy shown doesn't look right. I've yet to see USB 3.0 as a SSD drive interface inside a laptop since they would lose speed and incur other issues. I wonder if that is some USB drive adapter used for cloning drives.

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Drive Caddy
Sep 22, 2015 6:32AM PDT

My problem is that the computer will not read the drive because it is not formatted at all, so need to format it to NTFS for example or windows can not even recognize it in bootloader mode. As the drive sits it has no format at all, it is just blank. The device pictured is just an external caddy that i ordered hoping to plug the drive into a working pc so I could format it. the actual slot on the pc is connected to the motherboard and the SSD DOES fit into the laptop. What I need is is an external caddy to format it from my running pc.

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Re: format
Sep 22, 2015 6:38AM PDT

As Bob said: no need to format it before you install Windows from the DVD. Just leave it as it is and use the partition manager in the Windows setup.

Kees

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Again, no formatting to install Windows today.
Sep 22, 2015 6:40AM PDT

Just last week I did clone an external to the internal. Why not do that?

I used Apricom (note: corrected spelling) but you would need some M.2 to SATA adapter for their software and hardware to work.

Anyhow, you did clear up something. That is your external USB 3.0 adapter is incompatible it seems. If this was mine I'd install the new drive in the laptop and clone from my old drive to the new drive (which fits in the laptop.)

Post was last edited on September 22, 2015 7:07 AM PDT

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Installing Windows
Sep 22, 2015 6:59AM PDT

Ok, I guess I assumed windows would not install because the laptop did not recognize the drive. That being the case there may be an issue with my 'Windows installation thumb drive' as it is not loading. I assumed it was an issue with reading the disc. I can not clone the old drive as I only have one port to plug into. I would have to have the caddy to copy from one to another. My laptop does not have a disc drive in it, but i will try and check my windows thumb drive in another computer this evening to see if thats the issue. Thanks!

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Just last week
Sep 22, 2015 7:10AM PDT

I had the fun of sorting out USB install woes. Turns out the first document the laptop maker issued 2 years ago was not working. A newer document let me create a fully working factory restore USB stick and from then on it worked. This industry.....

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Factory Restore
Sep 22, 2015 10:03AM PDT

I'm just trying to use a windows 10 install usb for a clean unstall, so I'll try to just test the drive for bootability on another working system when I get home tonight. Thanks again for the help thus far!

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That can get messy fast.
Sep 22, 2015 10:26AM PDT

For example many are trying to clean install that FREE upgrade version but that falls apart fast. It's so well discussed that all I can do is note that you must take a little care in that upgrade.

In short, to do a clean install of the free upgrade version you have to do the upgrade first, let it register and then we can clean install.

But if you bought a license, this does not apply.

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Windows 10
Sep 22, 2015 11:36AM PDT

I have a download through work, so hopefully it works.

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Found the issue
Sep 23, 2015 7:49AM PDT

Apparently my drive needed to be formatted as FAT32 when it was NTFS as the how to I was following told me to format it as such. Works great now. Thanks for all the help!