2016 HP Omen 15 ssd options

[Username_Omen]

I would like to install 2 SSDs into my current omen. I already know i can put a samsung 960 evo in place of the crappy $60 sandisk they put in, but i would like to know, is it safe to put a (either samsung 850 evo 500 GB SSD or Kingston Hyper X Savage 480 GB SSD, plz specify) in place of the current HGST Travelstar at the same time with a samsung 960 evo M.2 NVME SSD in the M.2 slot(i know the samsung 850 evo goes in the SATA 3 2.5 in slot)? If either drive or both is/are compatible, plz say it, thx. And also, since they are both(only the 2 samsungs) are 256 bit encrypted drives, would i have to enter a pw at startup for both drives or what? And would i need any drivers for the 960 evo or 850 evo in order to use them or boot? And in the event of a BSOD or similar scenario, can i use a windows recovery drive(bootable), the hp recovery manager, or the bios/uefi firmware management to recover, boot, troublwshoot, or fiz any issues? Thanks so much in advance. Best regards

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

See: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Can-i-put-an-NVMe-ssd-in-my-Om...

for a response in the affirmative.

> is it safe to put a (either samsung 850 evo 500 GB SSD or Kingston Hyper X Savage 480 GB SSD, plz specify) in place of the current HGST Travelstar at the same time with a samsung 960 evo M.2 NVME SSD in the M.2 slot(i know the samsung 850 evo goes in the SATA 3 2.5 in slot)?

Yes, it is "safe".  Temperature-wise, a SSD generates less heat than a "spinning" disk-drive.

Power-wise, a SSD consumes less wattage than a "spinning" disk-drive.

> And also, since they are both (only the 2 samsungs) are 256 bit encrypted drives, would i have to enter a pw at startup for both drives or what?

It seems to be common-sense that you will need to enter one password for the first disk-drive, and another password (which could be identical) for the other disk-drive.

> would i need any drivers for the 960 evo or 850 evo in order to use them or boot?

No.  All device-drivers are loaded WHILE Windows is booting, not BEFORE Windows is booting.

Besides, Windows Vista/7/8/10 already includes all the necessary device-drivers for all SATA-interface devices (disk-drives, SSD, CD/DVD/BlueRay optical devices).

> In the event of a BSOD or similar scenario, can i use a Windows Recovery drive(bootable), the HP Recovery Manager .. to fizz any issues?

Yes, you may.

> or the BIOS/UEFI firmware management to recover, boot, troublwshoot ...

It is not likely that any 'BSOD' issues can be fixed/bypassed by any BIOS/UEFI firmware, other than temporarily changing the boot-order to boot from some other media.

[Username_Omen]

Thanks so much!