Upgrade SSD in HP All-in-One PC 22 df0000i

[fourniner]

I am trying to replace the SSD with one of larger capacity. My HP All-in-One PC 22 df0000i came with a 128GB SSD, which is rapidly running out of free space. I have tried to install a 512GB SSD and then a 256GB SSD. The PC recognised neither replacement. Diagnostics said "No storage device installed" Can anyone help, please?

[Bill_To]

Hi @fourniner 

Are you using M.2 2280 SSDs? The MB specs show support for both PCIe x4 and SATA x1 M.2 2280 SSDs.

Any compatible M.2 2280 (PCIe or SATA) SSD should work.

Are they new SSDs? You would get a "No boot device error" if you did not image or clone the existing OS to the new boot device.

New drives have unallocated space. Maybe diagnostics will throw the "No storage device detected" error when the drive is blank. Both new drives, when individually installed in the M.2 socket, should be detected in the BIOS if installed properly.

I would check Storage in the BIOS for detected drives. The product number you provided is generic. The same motherboard is used in all products but some PCs have a second 1 TB HDD, some don't. I don't know what you have. You should see up to two storage devices in the BIOS.

Have never been in this situation so I can't say how this goes down. I have never ran diagnostics on a drive having unallocated space.

[fourniner]

Thank you for the information Bill. I have tried cloning the original drive onto the new drive, when that didn't work I migrated the OS onto the new drive but that didn't work either. The software used is Aomie Partition Assistant. I then wiped the new drive and used the 'Make bootable media' option on the new drive before, again migrating the OS. Still, the computer would not see the new drive. There is a space for a second drive in the computer but only the one installed. The connections are there for a second drive but the Mylex-type connector is smaller than those in a desktop PC. If I could source the correct connector I would try to install a second drive to see if that would resolve the problem. What do you think? BIOS does not see the new internal SSD, I am currently running Windows from a USB SSD.

[Bill_To]

Hi @fourniner 

I don't know why your PC can't detect a replacement drive using a cloned operating system. Are you confident both replacement drives are in good working order?

It sounds like HP has limited M.2 drive options in the BIOS firmware. It seems you are successfully running Windows now from an external SATA to USB adapter.

I can't make any sense out of this and have never experienced this over 32 years of computing.

For the heck of it try disabling Secure Boot.

[fourniner]

Secure Boot disabled  but  the new SSD is still not recognised. Thanks for trying to help Bill. 

[JJOcean]

I have to admit to being puzzled myself. Just to clear things up in my own mind, is the new SSD an M.2 drive or a 2.5" SATA drive? If an M.2 SSD are you able to install both the old and new drive at the same time in your system? I assume that the BIOS setting is AHCI and not RAID. If you are installing both drives (2.5" and M.2) and cloning, remember to shut down the system and remove the old drive then reboot to make sure the system boots from the new drive. If it does then reinstall the old drive. And for cloning try using Macrium Reflect Free available here. It has a simpler UI and may make cloning a bit easier. One last question, does the cloning process seem to be successful?

I may be retracing all the steps that @Bill_To has so well explained. But again this is a bit of a puzzler.