Upgrading an SSD on my desktop

[MOJI5]

I was upgrading my current SSD on this desktop with a new one, but I did realize that it only had one M2 slot available, not two ( the other M2 slot was for WIFI). SO question, would i need to clone my current SSD to this new one, or can I just install it and still have my data. What's recommended, I did have an external hard drive, but it doesn't work anymore, so I can't transfer anything to my hard drive, but I do know that some of my data is saved on my cloud, except for the original applications, of course. what's recommended or if anyone had experience something like this before.

[zoey7886]

@MOJI5, Welcome to the HP Support Community!  

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding upgrading an SSD on your HP Desktop! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.  

It sounds like you're upgrading your SSD on your HP Pavilion Desktop PC TP01-2000a — that’s a great way to boost performance! 😊

Since your system only has one available M.2 slot (the other being reserved for Wi-Fi), you’d need to either:

Clone your current SSD – If you want to keep your current data, applications, and settings exactly as they are, cloning is the way to go. This will create an exact copy of your existing drive onto the new SSD. You’ll need a USB-to-M.2 adapter or an external SSD enclosure to connect the new drive during the cloning process. There are several free cloning tools available (like Macrium Reflect or EaseUS) that make this pretty straightforward.

Fresh install – If you don’t mind reinstalling your apps and setting things up from scratch, you can do a clean install of Windows on the new SSD. Your cloud backups should help you restore files, but you’ll need to manually reinstall any applications that weren’t backed up.

Since your external hard drive isn’t working, cloning might be a bit tricky unless you get an adapter or enclosure. If you prefer a fresh start and don’t mind setting things up again, a clean install might be the easier option.  

Take care, and have an amazing day!  

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