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RIVE - Install Windows 7 from a thumb drive on a RAID0

UserX
Level 9
How to Install Windows 7 on a RIVE from a thumb drive on two SSD’s in a RAID0 array

What I assume

•You have a common knowledge of Windows and it's file system
•The ability to obtain an ISO image of Windows 7
•You are installing the X64 flavor of Windows 7
•You are installing Windows 7 on two SSDs in RAID 0
•You are using the on board Intel Controller and not the ASmedia controller
•Your RIVE is on BIOS 1101

What you will need

•An ISO of the version of Windows 7 that you intended to install
•A thumb drive larger than 4G
The Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
•The ASUS ROG included installation DVD
•Access to a running computer with internet

OK, let’s get started by prepping the media that we need

Creating the installation thumb drive:

1.Install the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool
2.Download the image (ISO) of Windows 7, I have a TechNet account so I get my images from MS directly
3.Run the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool and follow the instructions, it is pretty straight forward. (All preexisting data on the thumb drive will be lost)
4.Once the image has been transferred to the thumb drive we will need to get a couple of drivers added.
5.Put in your ASUS ROG installation DVD and browse to the following directory
DVD ROOT>Drivers>RAID>RSTe>Drivers>Disk
6.Copy the “64bit” folder to the root of the thumb drive and rename it to “RAID” for easy reference.
7.Go back to the ROOT of the ASUS ROG installation DVD and browse to the following directory
8.DVD ROOT>Drivers then copy the “LAN” folder to the ROOT of the Thumb drive

You now have the drivers that you will need to make for an easy installation. Let’s take this a step further and get some additional information on the thumb drive

1.On the ROOT of the thumb drive make a plain text file called readme.txt
2.Type or copy and paste your Windows Product Key and save the file

OK, we are ready to start prepping the RIVE.

1.Without putting in the thumb drive boot into the BIOS by tapping the [DEL] key until you get the BIOS screen. I also suggest that you only have the two SSD’s and one optical drive attached at this time.
2.Go to the “Advanced” tab and select “Sata Configuration”
3.From here select RAID under "SATA Mode"
4.Hit the [F10] key and select “YES”, this will save the settings and reboot the system. (Please read ahead before clicking “YES”)
5.When your system starts to boot you will need to access the Intel RAID manager, do this by holding down the [CTRL] key and tapping the key.
6.Once in the RAID configuration you will be in a window with a few different options, you will need to hit the [1] key
7.Name the RAID volume “whatever you want to call the volume”
8.RAID Level should be set to RAID0 (Stripe)
9.Under Select the Disk, pick the two SSD’s
10.Stripe Size: I like 128KB
11.For the capacity I suggest the whole amount
12.Select “Create Volume”
13.Put your thumb drive into one of the SATA 2 slots (do not use the white port / connect port)
14.Hit the “4” key and exit (read the next step before exiting)

Installing the OS

1.Your computer should be in the process of booting now
2.Start tapping the [DEL] key to get back in the BIOS
3.Once in the BIOS go to the “BOOT” tab
4.Here you want to make sure the “Boot option #1” is your new RAID array, if it is not listed reboot and reenter the BIOS. It should be listed after the reboot
5.Scroll all the way down to the “Boot Override”, here you should see your thumb drive
6.Select the thumb drive and your system will start to boot from it
7.Follow the onscreen prompts until you get to the select drive screen

Adding the drivers if needed

1.If your volume is not showing you are going to need the drivers that we included on the thumb drive.
2.Select the “Load Drivers” option
3.From here pick the thumb drive and the "RAID" folder
4.Your computer will scan the folder then display the RAID driver after a period of time
5.Click “Continue”
6.The drivers will be loaded then you can continue on with the installation. If you get an error when trying to continue, reboot the system and go to Step 2 under “Installing the OS” above. This should resolve the issue
7.Continue with the installation until you see the Product Key screen. From here you can either type in the key or hold down the [Shift] + [F10]
8.If you used the key combo you are now in a CMD prompt, type E: and [ENTER]
9.If you have no other drives, other than a single optical, this should be the thumb drive, you can type “DIR” and [ENTER] to check and see if the “readme.txt” is present. (If you do not see the file try typing F: and [ENTER] and see if you have the file here)
10.If you see the” readme.txt” them just type readme.txt and [ENTER] to open the file
11.From here you can copy and paste the key in
12.Continue with the installation rebooting as needed

Network Connectivity and internet

1.Once in Windows we will now need to open the thumb drive via My Computer.
2.Open the “LAN” folder and install the NIC driver.
3.At this point I would download the latest drivers from ASUS, do my Windows updates and install software.

Happy ROGing
CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
MEM: 96GB DDR5 6600MHz Corsair Dominator Titanium
MOBO: ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero
GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming OC RTX4090
STORAGE: 2X 2TB Samsung 980 PRO RAID0
OS DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 990PRO
SCRATCH DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 980Pro
PSU: 1500W Corsair HX1500i
OS: Windows 11 Pro x64
COOLING: Custom Hardline 3 RAD Loop with 15 Corsair QL and 3X Corsair Commander XTs
WATERBLOCKS: GPU: Alphacool Custom Block | CPU: EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB
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2 REPLIES 2

UserX
Level 9
[Reserved for later Use]
CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
MEM: 96GB DDR5 6600MHz Corsair Dominator Titanium
MOBO: ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero
GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming OC RTX4090
STORAGE: 2X 2TB Samsung 980 PRO RAID0
OS DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 990PRO
SCRATCH DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 980Pro
PSU: 1500W Corsair HX1500i
OS: Windows 11 Pro x64
COOLING: Custom Hardline 3 RAD Loop with 15 Corsair QL and 3X Corsair Commander XTs
WATERBLOCKS: GPU: Alphacool Custom Block | CPU: EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB

UserX
Level 9
[Reserved for later Use #2]
CPU: Intel Core i9-14900K
MEM: 96GB DDR5 6600MHz Corsair Dominator Titanium
MOBO: ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero
GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming OC RTX4090
STORAGE: 2X 2TB Samsung 980 PRO RAID0
OS DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 990PRO
SCRATCH DRIVE: 1X 2TB Samsung 980Pro
PSU: 1500W Corsair HX1500i
OS: Windows 11 Pro x64
COOLING: Custom Hardline 3 RAD Loop with 15 Corsair QL and 3X Corsair Commander XTs
WATERBLOCKS: GPU: Alphacool Custom Block | CPU: EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB