M.2 SSD Upgrade but 1 slot

[OopsieNoob]

So I bought an HP pavilion desktop with 3060 and Ryzen 5 4600g 256GB m.2 SSD. I wanted to upgrade it, but there's only 1 slot available. I have an extra 1TB storage. I have an extra computer (an ASRock motherboard) that supports multiple m.2 SSDs. Would it be safe to copy the whole thing from my 256GB SSD to 1TB SSD? Or would it block me out for "illegal copying"?

[BeemerBiker · Accepted solution]

I was unable to find details specifications for your system such as the name of the motherboard number of slots, etc.

Is your available 1 Tb drive an M.2 or is it an SSD that takes up a disk drive slot?

If not m.2 it will run much slower.  I assume m.2

You will have to clone your existing m.2 to the available 1 Tb  There will be no problem activating windows or any licensing that I can think of..  There are 2 problems:

You will need cloning software.  I am only familiar with Acronis.  The manufacturer of your  1-Tb likely has free software to download to perform the cloning procedure.  If not you can google for free cloning software.  Make sure the instructions for doing the cloning include what to do for windows 11 or any system with with secure boot enabled.

After the clone the system may not boot.  If that happens you will need to disable secure boot and possibly enable legacy boot.  After booting up log in to your Microsoft account just to verify it is activated.

[EDIT][  I failed to notice that you have only one slot.  You will have to obtain a USB adapter, preferably usb3 to attach the bigger M.2  something like this and with the correct cable

I will be doing the same upgrade and was basically told it was easy over at Microsoft. 

Good Luck

[Prométhée]

Hi

"I was unable to find details specifications for your system such as the name of the motherboard number of slots, etc."

sorry @BeemerBiker  but may help you !

I went through this topic, and remembered having already mentioned this model

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/cant-find-the-specification-doc...

 Motherboard Specifications, Erica3

indeed

• Two M.2 expansion slots (one for WLAN and one for SSD)
  • One M.2 socket 1, Key A
  • One M.2 socket 3, Key M, (2280/2242)