Follow the latest steps to set up fresh Windows 10 on a brand new SSD with Kingston NVMe 2TB.
Follow the latest steps to set up fresh Windows 10 on a brand new SSD with Kingston NVMe 2TB.
Hello, I have Windows 7 installed on a Samsung 500 GB SSD (850 EVO?) I recently purchased and physically added a new Kingston 2TB NVMe SSD (Kingston KC3000 2048GB, SKC3000D/2048G). I haven’t formatted or interacted with the new drive at all in Windows 7. I’m planning to switch to fresh Windows 10 using an USB drive, downloading the latest version from the Microsoft site beforehand. I have a few questions:
1) Should I definitely disconnect the old Samsung SSD from its SATA port before installing the new Kingston SSD in Windows 7? (I can leave the power SATA connector in place if it’s hard to reach).
2) Should I keep all my other HDDs connected during the Windows 10 installation on the new SSD? (I don’t see a need to disconnect them, though some people suggest it).
3) Will the pre-installation wizard let me format and partition the brand-new, untouched Kingston drive before installing Windows 10? Should I proceed without formatting?
4) What format should I use—NTFS for both partitions? And which option is better: MBR or GPT for system vs. work partitions?
Please confirm if this approach is correct.
Thanks for the new disk. Disconnect the previous drives first. Windows behaves strangely but can boot from a different bootloader if one exists. It rarely does, but it’s worth confirming.
Download AHCI/Raid drivers for your mainboard and save them in a folder. Copy that folder to your USB drive before installation. When starting Windows, be mindful of using the UEFI image during setup so it can create everything properly. Since there are no partitions, you’re fine—just delete any existing ones if needed. You can still access the drive even if it doesn’t appear initially; just select the load driver and search for the AHCI drivers you saved.
Windows tends to create all partitions automatically during installation. Let it proceed. If the drive isn’t visible right away, choose the load driver and locate the AHCI files you downloaded earlier.
During installation, Windows will attempt to partition the drive. Point it at the unformatted disk; it should recognize it as GPT if it’s larger than 2TB. Remember, older systems don’t require partitioning—this is outdated tech. It’s unnecessary on Windows 7 too, but Linux does need it.
Before installing, check your BIOS to ensure NVMe settings are set to AHCI. Also, verify that the UEFI is enabled. If you use an NVMe port, confirm no SATA ports are disabled in the BIOS when using the NVMe interface.
Disconnect all other programs during setup to avoid the installer placing the boot sector on a different drive than the one you selected. You can build or resize partitions using the Windows installer, or create the work partition after installation in Disk Management. NTFS is the only filesystem option. If your motherboard supports EFI and CSM is turned off, GPT will be the default choice.
Thanks BTW, I have a new SSD drive ready for installing Windows 10. It hasn’t been formatted yet. I’m planning to format or partition the C system partition to about 565 GB. I intend to keep Windows 10 and my applications on that drive only—no other stuff. That size should be more than enough for the system plus programs, right? Also, I know SSDs have a limit on how many times you can write to each memory cell before it fails... AFIK SSDs do have a feature that writes each new byte to a fresh cell, spreading the data evenly across the drive to extend its life. My question is straightforward: does this even uniform distribution of data across the SSD respect partitioning? If I create a partition with just 50 GB (or take an example like 50 GB), and keep writing and overwriting it repeatedly... Will those 50 GB still be spread evenly, or are they mostly confined to a small section of the drive? That way, the rest of the SSD would degrade faster. ...Yes, I hope this uniform distribution works around partitions and keeps data spread out evenly throughout the drive. Correct?