Can I add a 2nd SSD to HP ENVY Laptop 17-cr0797nr - and will I need a 2.5 to SSD adapter?

[RenGoddess]

Hello! I have a 17" ENVY with a 1 TB PCIe® NVMe M.2 SSD in it presently, but it's already full. I'm looking to add a 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD as a secondary drive for data storage. Is this possible to add in the 17" Envy (17-cr0797nr) - eg is there an open slot for it, or will I need some sort of adapter to use the HDD slot for the SSD? (And is it silly for me to make such a beefy drive my secondary instead of just putting it as the primary? Trying to avoid a Windows reinstall to save time but if it would be a significant performance increase to make this new 4tb a primary, then I'd love to hear your input!) TIA!! ~Ren

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

It does not help performance to run the OS from a drive that is full. So if you are more than say 90% full your performance is degraded a bit. But theoretically there is no speed advantage of a 4 TB over a 1 TB.

There is only a single M.2 slot, best I can tell. HP manual links are down right now so I am going off this disassembly video which only shows a single slot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n5yZGEZ_Jc

I would clone the existing 1 TB drive over to the new 4 TB drive and just replace the smaller with the bigger capacity SSD in the single slot. You will need a usb to NVME M.2 adapter and cloning software. Macrium Reflect Free is very good. Then when you are done you can just have an external drive with the 1 TB in the adapter. Post back if you need more help with this. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Huffer @RenGoddess 

Here's the service manual...there is no support or available parts (cables, mounting brackets...) to install a 2.5" drive.

Maintenance and Service Guide (hp.com)