HOW TO: SATA III-SSD-RAID0-Windows Installation: Questions, Troubleshooting Thread

[Mr. Fox]

Anyone here have a guide to setting up RAID 0 and installing Windows 7 on an M18x? Also having a tutorial on how to get your USB read during a fresh Windows 7 installation (when you go to Custom -> Load Drivers)

There are numerous threads that have this information already on them. There's really nothing about the process that is unique to Alienware. There are subtle differences navigating the BIOS and RAID configuration screens on different systems, but the Windows 7 installation process is the same on all systems.

Quick Tip for RAID Setup:
Just install Windows to one SSD or HDD with the BIOS set to RAID. After installing Windows to one drive, install RST and create the RAID0 array within Windows using RST. Super easy operation and no need to mess around with F6 drivers. That's the only way I do it any more, 'cause it's so much easier. Once the RAID0 conversion is done, simply go to the Disk Management utility, right click on C: and select "Extend volume" and use up any unallocated space.

How to Set Up RAID on Your PC | PCWorld Business Center - See Page 2

(The BIOS and RAID configuration screens shown in the videos below may look slightly
different than the BIOS in your Alienware, but conceptually the process is identical.)




Cut to the chase and start watching this at 3:00 mins)









(Be sure to "like" these videos on youtube for the credit of the authors.)

Intel® Rapid Storage Technology F6 Driver Download - Windows 7 Installation Drivers
(select the x64 version unless you are running a 32-bit OS - extract the compressed files from the zip archive and place the extracted files on USB stick)

Intel® Rapid Storage Technology for Windows 7 x64/x86 - RST Drivers and Intel Control Center
(after installing Windows using the above F6 drivers, install this package along with the other Intel Chipset drivers that need to be installed)

Recommendation: Do not use device drivers, Alienware OSD or Alienware Command Center software provided on the Alienware Resource Disc. Download all proprietary Alienware drivers and apps using the latest files posted at support.dell.com. You will generally have good results using chipset, video and wifi reference drivers provided by the device manufacturers.

Basically, you want to be sure that any drives in the system have only unallocated space before you begin the installation to the unallocated space. (Unallocated space means there are no partitions on the drive.) The series of screen shots below depict what you should see with one HDD. With two drives, one would be called Disk 0 Unallocated Space and the other would be called Disk 1 Unallocated Space.



Additional Threads:

Windows 7 Installation Media Download:

LEGAL Windows 7 Download Links (Just like Vista before!!!)

Legal Download from DigitalRiver: Windows 7 SP1, 13 languages

Additional Resources:

HOW TO: Clean Windows 7 Install (Driver Install Order) Guide for Alienware Systems

HOW TO: Restore the Alienware 'Look and Feel' after a clean install of Windows 7

Windows Performance Optimization Guide

How to enable TRIM Command in Windows 7 with a Solid State Drive

To enable or disable TRIM Command, you will need to open an Elevated Command Prompt window.

How To Open an Elevated Command Prompt window: Click on Start Orb > Type "CMD.exe" in Search box > Right click on "CMD" and select "Run as Administrator" (If you receive a prompt confirmation, click YES)

How to Enable TRIM Command

In the Elevated command Prompt windows, type the following:

fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0

How to Disable TRIM Command

In the Elevated command Prompt windows, type the following:

fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 1

How do I know if TRIM is working in Windows 7?

In the Elevated command Prompt windows, type the following:

fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify
Results explained below:
DisableDeleteNotify = 1 (Windows TRIM commands are disabled)
DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (Windows TRIM commands are enabled)

If you cannot find what you need in this thread, don't start a new thread to ask new questions just yet. If it relates to this thread topic, please ask in this thread. Have you searched using Google? For example, using the prefix in red font, you can Google: site:forum.notebookreview.com M18x set up RAID0

Update 5/4/2012:

For those interested in adding a third drive to the M18x R1 for SSD RAID0 plus a data drive, it is easily done. The entire conversion was about $40USD grand total, and it works really great.

The internal bay I am using is this one: https://www.jacobsparts.com/items/HDDBAY-01/

Here is the external enclosure I am using for my BluRay burner: 5.25" USB 2.0 CD/DVD Slim Notebook External SATA Drive Enclosure (Black) N-URW-ESATA

Here is the bezel for the slot-load drive in the external enclosure: Silver Bezel for Panasonic 12.7mm Slot-Load Drive-PAN-BEZEL-SS-SI

And here is what it looks like:


Note: The HDD in the optical bay runs at SATA-2 3GB/s and that is all most platter drives run at anyway. (You will not be able to set up SATA-3 RAID0 with 3 drives.) It works great for data. The above linked optical drive bay caddy will also support 12.7 mm 2.5" 1TB drives that are too thick for the standard M18x HDD caddy.

Update 5/17/2012:

For those that need SSD RAID0 TRIM support, here's a release of Intel Rapid Storage Technology that provides what you need.
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Driver for Intel Desktop Boards
The version for our laptops should be released soon, but this is working fine for now.

Testing and discussion thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alie...m-support.html

New Info 07/08/2012:

Edit: there is yet a newer version of RST out now... I just installed it and it seems to be working fine. 11.2.1.1006

Discussion and testing results in this thread: HOW TO: SATA III-SSD-RAID0-Windows Installation: Questions, Troubleshooting Thread

Update 06/05/2012:

A recent discovery with RAID0 Port1 dropping to 3GB/s on a new installation or image restore... Reset the BIOS to optimal defaults and reboot Windows. I have tested this 4 times and the last week and resetting the BIOS causes both Port0 and Port1 to operate at 6GB/s. One of the 4 times I had to pull the CMOS battery because resetting optimal defaults did not work. Once this is done, the SATA 3.0 speeds stick permanently on both ports for me.



Once the array is confirmed to be operating at 6GB/s you can return to the BIOS to set your preference for overclocking, USB power sharing, virtualization, etc. This may be a glitch with Insyde 2.0 BIOS that does not affect systems with a different type of BIOS.

If you continue having issues with your SATA 3.0 SSD running at 3GB/s instead of 6GB/s, try the "LPM Fix" by merging these registry files. LINK

Update 07/25/2012: New version of Intel RST. [Download Intel RST 11.5.0.1207] or previous version [Download Intel RST 11.2.0.1006]

Update 09/22/2012: Latest version of Intel RST [Download Intel RST 11.6.0.1030]

Update 01/26/2013: Latest version of Intel RST [Download Intel RST 11.7.0.1013]

Note: Updated links for downloading RST will no longer be provided in this post. You can always find the latest and greatest from the Intel Download Center. You may as well look for newer chipset, wifi and Intel graphics drivers while you are there anyhow.

---

Windows 8 Information

---

OK, here is my "down and dirty" tutorial. Nothing out of the ordinary, extra fancy or materially different from a basic Windows 7 setup, except for a couple of bullet points, which made it work the way I want it to work.

• Clean install - avoid upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 (You *might* need to upgrade to activate your Windows 8 Upgrade key for the first time, then do a clean install after the key has been successfully activated. Whether this is required is not clear and needs further testing to confirm if it is so.)
• Set the BIOS for RAID (not AHCI) even if you do not use RAID
• Install Windows only to UNALLOCATED DRIVE SPACE (meaning delete all old partitions, including system and recovery partitions on the OS drive or RAID array before installing Windows)
  ♦ See this thread for more tips: HOW TO: SATA III-SSD-RAID0-Windows Installation: Questions, Troubleshooting Thread
• Windows 8 has native driver support for almost everything (including Intel Chipset and Management Engine) in the M18x R1 except:
  ♦ Intel RST - installed so I could have the RST Control Panel [Download RST 11.7.0.1013]
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Alienware OSD and Alienware Control Center*
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Freefall Sensor*
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Card Reader*
  ♦ NVIDIA GTX 680M Drivers (modded because of the M18x R1 hardware ID, same as Windows 7 - see this post)
• Install AlienAutopsy: Download AlienAutopsy
• Install AlienRespawn: Download AlienRespawn
• Install Windows 8 Media Center (free for a limited time): Add Features | Microsoft Windows
• Install Start Menu: Start8 for Windows® 8 - Bringing back the Windows Start menu
• Install Sidebar Gadget support: 8GadgetPack - Gadgets for Windows 8

Note: Security software is not needed with Windows 8. It has built-in antivirus/malware/firewall protection. I only installed Vipre Internet Security because I already owned a lifetime subscription, but it needed an update to work correctly with Windows 8. If you are experiencing dropped or blocked network connections under Windows 8 with an aftermarket security software package, consider uninstalling it and using the native protection. It may be your software not functioning properly with Windows 8.


Limited time offer: Buy a Windows 7 PC and get Windows 8 Pro for $14.99*
(Note: if you are not a US resident, select "Change Location" in the upper right corner)


*Applies only to M18x R1/R2. Be sure to only use the version that applies to your system.

[ChaosShadow00x]

Im thinking about buying twin Vertex 3 SSD's, but if the laptop cant support the 6gb/s i'd think it would entirely be a waste of 500$ to do what a 200$ pair of HDD's could do, with like 10x the storage...

I've read here and there that people are enabling SATA 3, but does that mean its RUNNING at SATA 3, or that its just using the drives?

Also, maybe for some perfomance advice, i'll take it from you guys, but i'm looking at this SSD right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227714

I plan to buy 2 of them, and configure them for RAID 0. Think its a good move or would should i examine another SSD?

[johnksss]

yes it does.
but
you will only see those speeds using sata 3 ssd's in single or raid mode

[oni222]

yes it does.
but
you will only see those speeds using sata 3 ssd's in single or raid mode

Yeah but when you see those speeds you will drool!

I have two of these SSD's and I am getting 1.1gig/s!

[johnksss]

yeah DEFINITELY ^^^^ what he said!

[ChaosShadow00x]

I'm gana be buying some SSD from this place, this is pretty much my selection:

Fry's Electronics |

I'll be considering to pick one up from here. We'll see but i'm also thinking of just going to newegg, and getting a pair of Vertex 3 Max IOPS. I obviously will want something thats fast, but reliable.


I'm looking to raid0 them, so about 125 gigs each drive will suit my needs. My mass media will be stored on an external. I'm not a huge pack rat for games, i'll keep something till i need more room, and then just bring on the holocaust.

For the external i'm looking something at 1TB+, preferably 2, but it has to run w/o a power cable so i know that cleaves my choices. Also, ideally it will be small and comfortable to carry. I'm thinking of this thing from newegg:

Newegg.com - iomega Prestige Portable 1.5TB USB 3.0 Black External Hard Drive 35213

Also, what will i need to know when i finally do get the SSD in my system? I'm obviously going to want to SATA 6 them, anything special i need to know?

Thanks in advance!

[wraithrsw]

Just plug em in, update firmware, reinstall windows, etc, and you're good to go. I personally use the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5TB USB 3.0. It's faster, cheaper, and I like the warranty.

[ChaosShadow00x]

Alright cool, i'll be sure to check the Seagate out.

As for the SSD, i plan to Raid0 them, but i know that some SSD are just terrible for it while others are a far more ideal choice. If none of the above ones i linked will suffice, i wouldnt mind just going to newegg. It doesnt appear that Fry's has the Vertex 3 Max IOPS i was planning on initially. I'm at least looking for a decent 120 gig SATA 6.0. Would the Crucial's be worth while? Or maybe the kingston Hyper X, its got pretty good reviews on newegg.

[ChaosShadow00x]

Bump --

Its gana be a couple weeks before i actually buy these, but i'd like some actual experience. The guys at fry's are pretty hit and miss, as far as how tech savvy they really are.

[wraithrsw]

Alright cool, i'll be sure to check the Seagate out.

As for the SSD, i plan to Raid0 them, but i know that some SSD are just terrible for it while others are a far more ideal choice. If none of the above ones i linked will suffice, i wouldnt mind just going to newegg. It doesnt appear that Fry's has the Vertex 3 Max IOPS i was planning on initially. I'm at least looking for a decent 120 gig SATA 6.0. Would the Crucial's be worth while? Or maybe the kingston Hyper X, its got pretty good reviews on newegg.

Crucial's SSD's hit the sweet spot between price and performance/storage for me. Though the 120-128GB range is certainly more courteous in terms of prices. Kingston is fine as is OCZ.