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HP Recommended
HP Pavilion Elite HPE-235f
Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)

Hello,

 

I want to upgrade the HDD that came with my HP desktop to a SSD drive - and then just use the HDD as a data drive.

 

My computer lists for drives: HP (C:) - and FACTORY_IMAGE (D:)

 

How do I go about putting in the SSD drive (and installing the factor image...? on it)... and then moving the HDD drive to a data one?

 

Thanks!

11 REPLIES 11
HP Recommended

@WantHPIQ8002
Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

 

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, 

Before you begin to make SSD as main drive see the below information. 

  • The main partition, usually labelled with the letter C, contains the system files, program files, and usable file storage space.

  • A recovery partition usually drives letter D and labelled RECOVERY, contains system recovery information in case the files on the C partition are damaged or unusable.

  • A hidden partition may exist called SYSTEM. A SYSTEM partition is used by Windows to store protected files for troubleshooting and should not be altered.

Click here: https://www.support.hp.com/sk-en/document/c03375417 to know how to Partitioning and Naming Hard Drives (Windows 10)
 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “
Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

ECHO_LAKE
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

Expanding on what @Echo_Lake said,

If you do a search in Windows for 'recovery creator' or words to that effect, you should have a app where you can create a recovery USB or DVD's for your system. I recommend doing it to USB. I *think* you'll need a 32GB one, but the app will tell you.

Install the SSD into the system (you'll probably need another SATA cable.)

Unplug the ORIGINAL hdd so the recovery media doesn't do anything untoward.

Boot off the recovery USB you made by tapping F9 when you turn it on and choose the USB.

Follow the prompts from there. Once the recovery has finished and you've done updates etc.. then re-connect the original HDD.

Note: if you've upgraded from the the original OS, then the recovery media will take you back to the OS that was supplied with the PC.

HP Recommended

i am looking to bring my PC back to exactly how it was when I bought it new (beside from the HDD now having all of the data I have saved over the years on it)...

HP Recommended

That's exactly what you'll get if you make a recovery USB using the media creation tool.

You could also try to get a recovery from here if the 1st option does not work:

https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c06162205

 

Running this Full Factory Recovery will bring your PC back to an 'Out-of-Box' state.

HP Recommended

OK, it looks like I can only make recovery disks - not a USB...

 

So, after I go into HP Recovery Manager -> Recovery Disc Manager... and start doing it with the DVD+R disks...

 

When it is all finished (says 2 hours... 30 minutes per disk...)

 

Then I install the new SSD (or HDD) with a new SATA cable... and leave the old HDD disconnected....

 

Then what do I do?

 

Insert the first DVD+R into the disc drive - and then turn the computer OFF - and then turn the computer back on...?

 

Or....?

 

🙂

 

HP Recommended

@WantHPIQ8002 

 

The problem here is that no-one has told you that the Recovery Drive is designed to restore a drive of the ORIGINAL size.  It starts out by reformatting the entire new drive and then attempts to recreate the original partitions -- and if the new drive is a lot smaller than the original, which is generally the case with SSDs, it will likely fail.



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
HP Recommended

Well, according to my motherboard specs - it only has 2 SATA connections - one SATA 1, and one SATA 2.

 

The original 1TB HDD is connected to one, and the blu-ray drive is connected to the other - I assume.

 

So, it appears that I can't have two separate hard drives - even though the specs say the case has 3 3.5" bays...

 

So, it looks like I will just copy my C drive to an external drive - and then just do the recovery on the original HDD to bring it back to the original configuration when it was new.

 

Is there an easier way to do this? Or do I do this the same way I was going to do it previously...?

HP Recommended

@WantHPIQ8002 

Easier way? Not really ...

 

You might want to consider IMAGING your HDD to an external drive using a utility known as Macrium Reflect.  (more on this below)

 

I suggest this because you can later "mount" the image file as a virtual drive, allowing you to extract any files and folders you want from it.

 

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 50% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 20GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.



I am a volunteer and I do not work for, nor represent, HP
HP Recommended

@WAWoodThis is not always the case in my experience. I have some ffr's complete OK with smaller SSD's and some fail. Generally, the older the unit, the more likely it is to fail. But hey, for 30 cents worth of DVD's, it's worth a go.

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