Upgrade HP Pavilion Elite HPE-137 to SSD

[gerryb4447]

I had heard abnormal noises from a desktop and recently received a warning of predicted hard disc failure.  Hurriedly visited my repair shop, they were able to clone to a new PC before hard disc with MS10 before failure.  Now I'm thinking and asking how difficult would it be to clone the new desktop PC to an SSD, replace the failed hard drive and have a spare PC available?

What SSD is most favorable?  Suggested sources?  Cloning software and adapter cord?  Thorough instructions for a novice or scrap the old PC?

Also have a couple HP EliteBoos 8440p lap tops that I would do the same if recommended.

Gerry

[WAWood]

@gerryb4447 

According to the specs I could find for your model PC, it has four SATA ports -- so adding an SSD will not be an issue.

I have used both Crucial and Kingston 2.5" standard SSDs and can heartily recommend either brand.  You would have to hunt down online reviews to decide on a particular model and capacity for you.

As to cloning, this information from Macrium Reflect (what I have used to do such Cloning on my PCs) is useful:

My suggestion, is if you want to create recovery media for Win10, then consider using a third-party solution known as Macrium Reflect (MR).

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree
2) Connect the new drive to the PC using a spare SATA port
3) Follow the instructions in this link: http://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/Cloning+a+disk
4) Shutdown the PC when done
5) Swap the SATA cables so the SSD boots first -- and reboot the PC.

NOTE: To do this easily, the SDD has to be the same capacity as the HDD.  IF you get an SDD that is a lot smaller, then before you do the cloning, you have to shrink the largest partition on the HDD (usually the OS partition), to the size such that it, and the other partitions, fit easily on the SSD.

You should boot from the new drive without any problems.

After a few days of using the SSD to confirm it works OK, you should then consider removing the OS partition from the HDD and turning it into a Data drive for storage purposes.

[gerryb4447]

I am embarrassingly uniformed on these matters and appreciate all advice and suggestions greatly.  Thank for responding.  I purchased a new computer and all data/programs were cloned from the HP HPE-137 before the hard drive failed.  That date was loaded into my new computer and now I'd like to replace the failed HP hard drive (1TB) with a 1 TB or greater SSD.  Then clone from the new computer to the new SSD in the old HP- HPE-137.  I really prefer not to open the new computer, primarily for warranty issues.  I understand it may require much more time to clone a new SSD via USB but are there other issues?  If doable, what is the adapter cord named, simply USB/SATA adapter?  Then after cloning to the SSD, if possible, I'd simply install the loaded SSD in the old HP-HPE-137.  Possible

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@gerryb4447 

Sorry, did not know you did not want to open the new PC.

The adapter you would use connects a USB port to a SATA drive, and is pictured below:

This is one of the older USB 2.0 adapters.  If your new PC has USB 3x ports, you should look online for a newer adapter that supports USB 3x -- it will be MUCH faster than this one.

Good Luck

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

You can also check this comprehensive tutorial on how to do a disk clone using Macrium Reflect here (Link).

Regards