Adding an SSD to a 17z-ca100

[Walt-in-Lutz]

I have a 17z-ca100 laptop.  I would like to replace the DVD drive with an SSD drive.  Is this possible? I did this with my previous laptop, another 17" HP laptop without any trouble.  This laptop has a 256 SSD and 1000 GB HDD.  I am having issues keeping the 256 SSD with enough space to allow updates, so I was going to add another SSD and use this as my boot drive.  I did not want to open the case if possible.

[NonSequitur777]

@Walt-in-Lutz,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

I have my doubts that you can swap the DVD drive with an SSD caddy.

Modern slim consumer laptops like your HP 17z-ca100 require an ultra-slim 9.0mm caddy.  However, even if you purchased a correctly sized 9.0mm caddy, there is a high probability your specific laptop configuration lacks the internal motherboard adapter altogether.

HP configurations that are sold from the factory with both an M.2 SSD and an internal 1TB HDD usually do not include a fully wired, functioning optical drive interface. Instead, they use a plastic "Dummy Drive" cover to seal the side of the chassis shell.

If you remove the bottom cover of your 17z-ca100, you will likely find that the area behind the DVD plastic faceplate is completely empty. It lacks the internal SATA optical drive connector board and the tiny interposer cable needed to bridge that slot back to the main system motherboard. Without buying those separate, rare internal HP ribbon cables, a caddy will have nothing to plug into.

But even if your laptop has a functioning DVD drive, there are other issues that would make this conversion highly problematic.

And btw, that reminds me that you mentioned not wanting to open your laptop case. Well, whilst legacy business laptops (such as my legacy HP ProBook 6570b) let me slide a DVD drive right out by removing a single external screw, modern consumer laptops do not.

Meaning, in order to remove the DVD drive on your HP 17z-ca100, you must unscrew the casing, peel back the rubber grip feet, remove the bottom cover shell, and unclip the internal optical drive daughterboard framework.

More importantly, you cannot use the optical bay drive as your primary Windows boot drive.  The laptop's BIOS routing layout prioritizes the primary NVMe M.2 slot for boot execution. If you attempt to boot Windows through the legacy SATA optical disc connection, you will suffer severe data bottlenecks, long startup delays, or boot errors -or it may not work at all according to some.

In my opinion, the absolute best and safest path forward to resolve your Windows Update storage issue is to avoid the DVD slot entirely. Use an external USB-to-NVMe enclosure to clone your current drive onto a new 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, using the freeware Macrium Reflect Free cloning software and replace the internal 256GB chip inside the laptop's primary slot.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Walt-in-Lutz]

Thank you for your reply. I have a fully functional DVD drive in my laptop. Would this change your recommendation?

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@Walt-in-Lutz,

No, it would not.  All available information suggests that the best way forward for your particular laptop is that you should upgrade your M.2 NVMe SSD to a 1TB or 2TB drive.

KInd Regards,

NonSequitur777