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Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended

I have a newly purchased HP ENVY Phoenix 800-445qe which includes what's supposed to be a 16gb ssd cache.  Running WIndows 7 Pro 64.  

 

The ssd drive was factory installed so it shows in Windows as with the name DATADRIVE1 (doesn't sound like it was intended as a cache, does it?) and it shows as drive E:. My understanding is that if it were really installed as a cache, it wouldn't be showing as a drive in Windows Explorer.

 

The HDD was set as ACHI in BIOS, not RAID.  The Intel RST screen in firmware (accessable through Ctrl-I) shows both drives as non-RAID Disks.  The HP support assistant shows the Intel RST x 64 driver v 13.2.0.1016 installed. 

 

Elsewhere on the HP site is a support article with the title: A Seondary 16 GB Drive Shows up in Windows 8 File Explorer, which is the problem I'm having except, I have Win 7, not 8; it says to download a softpaq with release notes that say it only applies to HP ENVY HP-8 systems and requires Win 8; it's fix is to install Condusiv ExpressCache, which I'm under the impression is an alternative to Intel's RST, not something that works with it.  So that doesn't seem to be the fix I'm looking for.  HP Tech Support's helpful suggestion was to find a local computer dealer an pay them to fix it. (Yeah, right.)

 

Does anybody here know how to get this thing working?

 

 

 

19 REPLIES 19
HP Recommended

Hi,

 

Your PC should be using the Condusiv ExpressCache service.  It either works or it doesn't.  If you believe that it's not working then you need to contact HP Support (instructions from an internal HP employee).

 

HP's support number is 800-474-6836 or 800-HPINVENT or online here.

 

HP ENVY 6055, HP Deskjet 1112
HP Envy 17", i7-8550u,16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4K screen, Windows 11 x64
Custom PC - Z690, i9-12900K, 32GB DDR5 5600, dual 512 GB NVMe, gen4 2 TB m.2 SSD, 4K screen, OC'd to 5 Ghz, NVIDIA 3080 10GB
HP Recommended

Thanks for the response.

 

I don't see any indication that ExpressCache is installed.  Where would I be able to see it.

 

I have already spent 4 hours and 40 minutes dealing with HP tech support.  The people I've spoken with -- 3 so far -- are absolutely without a clue on this issue and take the position that if the machine is booting up it's working fine. 

HP Recommended

Hi,

 

Review this entire thread

 

The Condusive ExpressCache is a service and not an application program.  You will not see it listed under Programs.

 

Open up the Run window (admin) and enter the following:

 

C:\Windows\system32>eccmd.exe -info          --------------> the returned information will tell you if the service is working

 

 

HP ENVY 6055, HP Deskjet 1112
HP Envy 17", i7-8550u,16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4K screen, Windows 11 x64
Custom PC - Z690, i9-12900K, 32GB DDR5 5600, dual 512 GB NVMe, gen4 2 TB m.2 SSD, 4K screen, OC'd to 5 Ghz, NVIDIA 3080 10GB
HP Recommended

Good idea, except that there is no ecccmd.exe in the system32 directory or anywhere else on my system that I can find. 

 

I have already looked at the list of services running as per the Computer Management tool, and don't see any indication of it there.

 

I have also found HP's download for ExpressCache on the support site, but it's for Windows 8 only. My machine is Windows 7. 

 

Also, as best as I can tell, ExpressCache is an alternative for Intel RST rather than something that works with it.  Given that the Intel RST driver is installed on my system, my guess is that that's what is supposed to be handling the caching.  But, Intel's site says that RST has to be installed after the HDD is set to RAID, and the drive was not set to RAID when I recieved the system, so it looks to me like it was not installed correctly. 

HP Recommended

Hi,

 

Your research is correct. If your PC was downgraded from W8 to W7 then the ExpressCache service is not an option.  However, if your PC is not using a Hybrid hard drive then you can get the 16 GB cache to work by placing your PC in RAID mode.  Is that an option for you?

HP ENVY 6055, HP Deskjet 1112
HP Envy 17", i7-8550u,16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4K screen, Windows 11 x64
Custom PC - Z690, i9-12900K, 32GB DDR5 5600, dual 512 GB NVMe, gen4 2 TB m.2 SSD, 4K screen, OC'd to 5 Ghz, NVIDIA 3080 10GB
HP Recommended

I already set the mode for the HDD to RAID in the BIOS, but that didn't make any difference.  It's still showing as a NON-Raid Disk in the Intel screen available on boot up with Ctrl-I.  I don't have any experience with setting RAID, but if can give--or point me to--step by step instructions for how to set it up, I'm cofortable doing that sort of thing. 

HP Recommended

Just re-read your comment.  It's not a hybrid disk.  It's a 2TB HDD plus a separate 16 GB SSD for cache.  Here's the decription from HP's Customize page:

 

 


Hard drive
Hard drive

Get the storage you need for all of your music, photos, videos, files, downloads and more.

2TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive Included in price

3TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive +$50.00


Disk caching
Disk caching

Increase responsiveness with a traditional hard drive paired with an SSD Cache module.

None -$50.00

16GB mSATA SSD Cache Included in price

 

HP Recommended

Hi,

 

Go to the Control Panel and use the Intel Rapid Storage Technology function.  You don't need control-i.:smileysurprised:

 

The latest Intel IRST RAID driver can be found here.

 

Look for the acceleration tab.  You can find all of the required information under the help topics as it doesn't get any better.  The Intel SSD caching article posted at Pudget Systems should also be helpful.

HP ENVY 6055, HP Deskjet 1112
HP Envy 17", i7-8550u,16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4K screen, Windows 11 x64
Custom PC - Z690, i9-12900K, 32GB DDR5 5600, dual 512 GB NVMe, gen4 2 TB m.2 SSD, 4K screen, OC'd to 5 Ghz, NVIDIA 3080 10GB
HP Recommended

There ain't no such thing in the Control Panel.  *sigh*  

 

Let me jump off in a very different direction, because as this point I've probably wasted more time on this than the cache can ever save me over the life of the system....

 

I have a 128GB SSD on order that I was going to install as my data drive, and then keep it backed up on a partition on the HDD.  That's almost twice as large as my OS+Programs partition on my current XP machine.  I'm thinking maybe I should bail on the whole cache thing, install the 128GB drive as my OS+Programs drive, and set up the 16 GBs as a data drive (since it seems to be set up that way already anyway.  That's a little small, but I can make it work if I move older data files to the HDD as a kind of near line storage.

 

Unless you know of a reason I can't do that--like the mSATA SSD won't work as a drive--the question then becomes, how do I set up the 128GB SSD as the OS drive?  I see two possibilities:

 

The first would be to use the HP restore image function to initialize the SSD, so it has the EFI partition with the Boot information, and then use Norton Ghost to restore the Ghost image I've created from my now customized Drive C (removing bloatware etc) to the new SSD.  

 

The second--which could be a lot easier-- would be to make a ghost image of the entire drive of the current HDD and then use Ghost to restore the image to the 128GB SSD. 

 

Do you know if either or both of these approaches will work?

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