upgrade HP OMEN 17

[Tuxify]

Good Afternoon,

I recently got an HP OMEN 17 W215NF, but two problems in there.
I really need to get an SSD because although it has an i5 intel processor and a gtx 1050, the whole computer is really slow cause of i/o.
Is there any way to :
1- install an ssd inside? An M2 SSD maybe?

2- install the operating system in the SSD instead of the Hard Drive Disk?

then i would need to upgrade the RAM, 8Go are not sufficient for me. Can I? How?

I already have installed ssd and RAM on another laptop before so if possible i would just need to know how to remove the backplate and can do the thing myself.

Thank you for your help.

[pl100]

Here are the directions. http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05350442

It looks like you can easily install memory, there is a Memory Service Door on your model.

The directions are there for removing the bottom. Then you can then replace the hdd with an SSD. You will need to backup and restore to a new SSD. Some SSD's come with Acronis to do this.  Otherwise you will need software. 

[Photoray002]

Hello Tuxify,

I will also add, before you upgrade to the M.2 (NVMe) SSD,  be sure to update the bios.

Some models that did not come with the SSD to begin with will need to be updated to ensure it will work properly with the new SSD.

Cloning or using an image of the HDD would be a good idea as pl100 pointed out. There have been some issues with using the HP Recovery media when installing to a new drive that's smaller than the original.

Looks like the rest of the info you need is in the manual posted above.

Let us know if you have further questions.

HP Software and Driver Downloads for HP Printers, Laptops, Desktops and More | HP® Customer Support

[Tuxify]

here is what i found on acronis forum :

=======

Always perform cloning using the bootable Acronis Rescue Media on DVD or USB stick - this will also be a good exercise to prove that you can use this media to recover your system should you ever need to do so in the future.

It is strongly recommended that you remove the source HDD from your computer and replace it with the target SSD drive before you start the clone.  Connect the HDD externally via USB or in a second disk position.

The SSD needs to be connected where the HDD was in order to enable it to boot correctly into Windows after the clone has completed.  If it is connected anywhere else it will not boot.

Do not boot Windows with both the SSD and HDD connected after cloning - they will now both be identical and have the same disk signature.  You can reconnect the HDD later after the SSD boots OK.

========

it doesn't seem possible to moove the windows partition onto the SSD does it?

[pl100]

What you need to do in most cases, is take a backup to a USB external drive.

You would remove the existing drive and replace it with the new drive.

Then you need to boot up off of a CD/DVD with Acronis.

Then you would restore the backup from the external USB drive to the new drive.

 If the new drive is larger, that is all that would be required. If the new drive is smaller, there are more things that need to be done.

you can get the instructions for this from Acronis.

[pl100]

I don't want to confuse things too much if this doesn't make sense to you.

Suffice it to say, yes, you will copy all of the partitions (including Windows) off of your current hdd to an external.

You remove the hdd and replace it with a blank ssd.

Then you restore the partitions from the external drive (including Windows) to the new ssd.

[Tuxify]

thank you very much, it means i shouldn't install an M.2 SSD.
Can you help me choosing some RAM and SSD? is the motherboard limited to 16Gb?
And very last question, is there a way to install a normal windows licence (i've got one here) and then install myself all the hp drivers? if yes it would be better for me to install windows as I want on the drive i want but where would i find all the hp drivers? thanks.

[Photoray002]

Tuxify, have you started your upgrade yet?

Your motherboard for the W200 series includes an m.2 slot for NVMe SSDs.

You would be able to install the drive, then clone the HDD to the SSD directly without the hassle of using an external drive to save to first.

The motherboards will be the same for that series whether yours came with the HDD or SSD.

It should look like this example thats using an NVMe drive.

Let me know your status.

[Tuxify]

Thank you really much, i could managed to open it today. It is not exactly the same motherboard though.

I can see a place like in your picture but something weird.
Neither the RAM nor the M2 SSD looks like those from my previous laptop (non hp one). these RAM and SSD M.2 are smaller.

Also i had the idea to just replace the HDD by an SSD so i guess i won't have any problem while reinstalling windows from the installation disks.

i will soon by the stuff i need in order to replace RAM HDD and put additional M2 SSD but i'm not sure about compatibility, in another thread i heard about maximum RAM that could work on a motherboard due to some limitations..

[Photoray002]

Heat sinks might be different and such but the board itself should be the same and have the same m.2 slot.

It would be helpful since you have it open, to post a picture of it also.

I dont know what your previous laptop was but Im sure it was different.

These Omens have been tested up to 16 GB of memory and that is the most HP recommends.

I would use a matched pair of DDR4 SO-DIMM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) 1.2V non buffered like in this example...

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB

The M.2 slot would accept an SSD like this one...

SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 500GB NVMe 

A SATA drive will be better than an HDD, but an NVMe will be even nicer. Then you can use the HDD for storage without removing it.

Also, an advantage of a new SSD like Samsung is that it comes with free cloning software thats easy to use. If you have a lot of items already installed, this will be faster. You would use the Optimized for SSD option to shrink the partition down for the smaller SSD.

If you dont have lots of games and such, a clean install with the HP Recovery media will be faster.

I am told you would need an SSD 256 GB or larger for the recovery media to work on the SSD.

Do make sure you  have the Recovery media burned first before doing anything!