The Definitive Guide to Clean Install OS on a mSSD Cache Equipped Laptop (dv6t-7000, dv7t-7000, Envy17-3200)

I want to change my mssd to a 256gb mssd by crucial to use as a primary boot drive for my OS. Maybe even cache boost as well. Will this process work for that and is this drive to big. I have a DV7t-7000.

 

I got a BSOD while I was deactivating the acceleration. Now I am not able to boot. I tried to do a recovery operations, BSOD before the recovery screen loads.

Tried to a do a clean install over this and it cannot find drivers.

Thanks for any assistance.

Jim

 

I think it's a bit overkill to deactivate the acceleration. You simply need to load the drivers when installing Windows. Those who are familiar with installing an OS on a RAID or SCSI drive will be familiar with this; it's the 'Press F6 to load drivers' option in previous versions of Windows prior to Vista.

1. Download the driver Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver package from HP(for the dv7t-7000 it's here: Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver HP Pavilion dv7t-7000 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)).
3. Unpack it with an archive utility such as WinRAR
5. Copy the F6 directory to a thumb drive or another drive that Windows can see natively.
7. When you see the list of hard drives to install Windows to, click the 'load driver' button and point to your F6 directory.

You should now be able to see your HDD. This is the method I used to install Win8 onto my dv7t-7000. Be ware of the Windows 7 drivers though. Some are supposed to work but I found that the Rapid Storage Technology Driver and management application did not install properly and caused my machine to freeze periodically. I also believe this was the cause of my Win7 install freezing, causing me to upgrade to Win8. Not all devices are recognized by Win8 either. Will have to wait for HP to release Win8 Drivers.

Hope this helps.

 

That actually didn't work for me. I actually had to load Lubuntu onto my HDD and then partition from there. Then I was able to do a clean install of Windows.

 

Did anyone try to boot with ONLY the msata drive?
I can boot from msata using the EasyBCD mod if the original 2.5'' is in there, but if I take it out, it will not recognize the msata as a bootable device under bios

I have an OCZ Nocti 120GB (2.25 firmware) btw

Thanks!

 

Beastboy19891988:

Are you still using the 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache with the 16GB of system RAM? If so, how is the system running? I want to upgrade my DV6T-7000 to 16GB system RAM but HP told me that the 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache was incompatible with system memory greater than 8GB. Their reply was that I could not upgrade and use the Hard Drive Acceleration Cache, or upgrade the RAM and disable it. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this.

 

Actually I'm using a 256gb mssd by crucial as my boot drive and 16gb of ram. It all works great together however in order to boot from my mssd I have to keep a master boot file on one of my hard drives I just delete the os my os is stored on the mssd and it is set as my c/ drive and master boot. You just play a little trick on your bios.

 

Hi Beastboy19891988:

Just so I am clear on this - your DV6T-7000 came with the 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache but you replaced that with the Crucial CT256M4SSD3 to use as a system drive?

This sounds like a good way to go since at this point I have installed the 16GB of RAM and (according to HP even though they couldn't give me the technical reason) the drive acceleration is not useable. Thanks for the idea. Were there any configuration changes (besides the MBR thing) that you had to make to make the drive usable to the system? I am wondering about the RAID utility.

 

That is almost correct with the exception of I have a Dv7t-7000 quad edition. Also the master boot record has to be on the sata0 disc drive. I also followed the definitive guide also you can not delete the other os untill you set up a mbr.

 

I have a HP DV7t-7000 quad core cto. Because it is a 17.3" laptop it has more room for storage, it has 2 drive bays and the MSSD port. I originally configured it with a Hybrid drive from HP, when I looked at the drive it stated it was the Seagate Monumentus 750 Hybrid, but when I looked it up online on the Segate site, it states the drive is 6gb. But the one that comes with the HP is the same drive in every way only with 3Gb. I tested this on several controllers and indeed it is 3gb which may confuse some people into thinking the first drive bay is only 3Gb. Anyway, 2 ports are Sata 6Gb. The MSSD port is 6Gb and the port that belongs to the first drive bay is also 6gb. The port that is for the second drive bay is 1.5Gb, I believe this is connected to the same port as the DVD/Blueray drive port. For a total of 4 Sata ports, 2 6Gb and 2 1.5Gb ports. Fortunately the Intel RST can accelerate the 1.5Gb port as well according to the software (I have not tried this though) so if you have an old sata laptop drive laying around, you can install an OS on it and accelerate with a large mssd at 64gb. Which should rarely hit that hard drive for anything for the os and store everything else on faster storage.