Windows won't install on NVMe SSD that has Linux installed on it

[Jorno]

Hello, this is the timeline of what i did and what problems i had:

Initial state: Corsair MP510 960GB NVME SSD with Manjaro Linux installed on it

1.  Booted from an USB drive with manjaro live cd on it, used GParted to delete all the partitions on the SSD and create a single NTFS partition.
2. Booted from an USB drive with Windows 10 1909 installer and proceeded to install windows on the SSD normally
3. Computer rebooted automatically after the installer finished (booting to the SSD), throwing an error about not recognizing the partition's format and entering GRUB Recovery mode.
4. I booted into the manjaro live cd usb drive again to do a sanity check and confirm that all linux partitions were deleted.
5. I also tried the windows installer again, using the format option in there this time. error persisted.
6. I used the USB drive with the windows installer to enter troubleshooting mode and use diskpart on CMD. the following commands were entered:
   LIST DISKS
   SELECT DISK 3 (the ssd)
   CLEAR
   CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
   FORMAT FS=NTFS
   ACTIVE
7. Then i proceeded install windows on the SSD drive again. The installation went normally again, but this time after the automatic reboot the computer threw the following error:
   "An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart".
8. I double checked and yes, the computer was trying to boot from the NVME SSD.

And this is where i sit, i don't know what the heck is going on here... any help is appreciated.

Thanks for your attention.

[Nixxie_Spark]

I had this issue when I tried to install windows a few days ago, after having ubuntu on my M2, and I followed this handy guide:

 

The NVMe M.2 drive should be the only storage drive connected.

NVMe SSDs do not appear within the BIOS until Windows creates the system partition with the EFI Boot Sector. Your M.2 SSD contains UEFI driver information within the firmware. By disabling the CSM module, Windows will read and utilize the M.2-specific UEFI driver

1. Go into the BIOS, under the boot tab there is an option for CSM. Make sure it is disabled.
2. Click on the secure boot option below and make sure it is set to another OS, not windows UEFI.
3. Click on key management and clear secure boot keys.
4. Insert a USB memory stick with a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup* on it, USB3 is quicker but USB2 works too. A Windows DVD won’t work unless you’ve created your own UEFI Bootable DVD.
5. Press F10 to save, exit and reboot.
6. Windows 10 will now start installing to your NVME drive as it has its own NVME driver built in.
7. When the PC reboots hit F2 to go back into the BIOS, you will see under boot priority that windows boot manager now lists your NVME drive.
8. Click on secure boot again but now set it to Windows UEFI mode.
9. Click on key management and install default secure boot keys
10. Press F10 to save and exit, Windows will finish the install. Once you have Windows up and running, shutdown the PC and reconnect your other SATA drives.

* You can obtain the ISO file here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

[Alex Atkin UK]

What I would have done, as you're wiping the whole NVME, is use gparted to create a GPT partition table on it - then do nothing else.  Leave it empty, let Windows installer create the partitions.

[Jorno]

1 hour ago, Nixxie_Spark said:

I had this issue when I tried to install windows a few days ago, after having ubuntu on my M2, and I followed this handy guide:

 

The NVMe M.2 drive should be the only storage drive connected.

NVMe SSDs do not appear within the BIOS until Windows creates the system partition with the EFI Boot Sector. Your M.2 SSD contains UEFI driver information within the firmware. By disabling the CSM module, Windows will read and utilize the M.2-specific UEFI driver

1. Go into the BIOS, under the boot tab there is an option for CSM. Make sure it is disabled.
2. Click on the secure boot option below and make sure it is set to another OS, not windows UEFI.
3. Click on key management and clear secure boot keys.
4. Insert a USB memory stick with a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup* on it, USB3 is quicker but USB2 works too. A Windows DVD won’t work unless you’ve created your own UEFI Bootable DVD.
5. Press F10 to save, exit and reboot.
6. Windows 10 will now start installing to your NVME drive as it has its own NVME driver built in.
7. When the PC reboots hit F2 to go back into the BIOS, you will see under boot priority that windows boot manager now lists your NVME drive.
8. Click on secure boot again but now set it to Windows UEFI mode.
9. Click on key management and install default secure boot keys
10. Press F10 to save and exit, Windows will finish the install. Once you have Windows up and running, shutdown the PC and reconnect your other SATA drives.

* You can obtain the ISO file here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

This solved my problem too, thanks for the quick reply!