2 drives in 1? 16GB SSD + 1TB HD HP Envy AIO

[TikiGiki]

On an HP ENVY Recline 23-k000 TouchSmart All-in-One Desktop PC series I have S.M.A.R.T. hard drive errors  on the 16 GB SSD  drive while the one terabyte drive remains okay, I pulled the drive out of the unit, is it possible to have the SSD built on to or  Merged with the SATA drive?  Is thereany way to continue to use the drive without the 16 GB SSD? if I am to replace the drive, can I simply just use a SATA drive or does it have to have an SSD attachment?  If I replace the drive, and  Copy the recovery folder onto the drive will  it boot up  into recovery? many thanks!

[mdklassen]

> I have S.M.A.R.T. hard drive errors  on the 16 GB SSD  drive while the one terabyte drive remains okay

> I pulled the drive out of the unit

99% of computers do not have such a "cache" system, and they work fine, although not as fast as a computer with such a cache.

> is it possible to have the SSD built on to or  Merged with the SATA drive? 

Yes, there are 'SSHD' disk-drives, with some solid-state RAM incorporated into the device.

> Is there any way to continue to use the drive without the 16 GB SSD?

Yes.  Experiment: boot it up, and see if it will run.

> if I am to replace the drive, can I simply just use a SATA drive or does it have to have an SSD attachment?  

Yes, you can replace your existing "spinning" disk-drive with another one.

> If I replace the drive, and  Copy the recovery folder onto the drive will  it boot up  into recovery? many thanks

Instead, look at free "disk-cloning" software -- it will copy all the contents of all the partitions from "source" to "target".

[TikiGiki]

Thanks for your reply! So far I have everything backed up and I have been running it, but is there a way to disable the ssd so I'm not prompted on POST or nagged by Windows that the drive is failing?

[TikiGiki]

I'm in the BIOS, Version 2.15.1234, I don't see anything that allows me to disable the SSD. IS there something I am missing, or another way to disable it so I don't get so many prompts?

[mdklassen]

> another way to disable it ?

It might be removable, just as RAM is removable, or it might be soldered to the motherboard.

Open up the case, and take a peek, or "zoom" on an online image of the motherboard.

[TikiGiki]

great! Thanks for your reply. Hadn't thought of that not being on the physical disk. BIOS shows it but no way to edit it.

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

One online image that I viewed shows it to be immediately adjacent to the RAM, but on the "other" side of the sockets.

+-----+-+-----+

| SSD | | RAM |       

+-----+-+-----+

Welcome to this forum.

Please click the purple/white "Thumbs Up" icon for every response that is helpful.

Also, please click "Accept As Solution" for the best response.