Need a new HD; should I put in SSD 2.5" or M.2 or both?

[JBH62]

After a Windows update fried my standard HD; I was told I should upgrade to a SSD. This laptop can support a 2.5" drive and M.2 drive.  Could /should I use both? Is that somehow better? Or, is the M.2 best used when using a standard HD with it? 

Mainly, I want to avoid the problem of the HD overheating when updating, and I would like the laptop to run faster. So what is your best recommendation?

[iomare · Accepted solution]

Hi,

It is not going to make much difference. The M2 port on the PC support M2 SATA3 SSDs and the 2.5"SSD would also be SATA3. One of the best prize/performance SSDs is the Samsung 860 evo which comes in M2 format and as a 2.5" SSD and you can see in links below that they have the same speed:

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-860-evo-m-2-sata-1tb-mz-n...

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/860evo/

I would go with the one you can find the best prize for and use only one with possible option to add another in the future.

Hope it helps,

David

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[JBH62]

Thank you for your advice David. I thought it probably didn't matter, but needed confirmation.

And I have been looking at the Samsung 860, so I appreciate the recommendation.

Maybe you can answer this:  since my old HDD is dead, I probably cannot clone it.  How will I get a new SDD operating once it's installed? (BIOS & OS)

John

[iomare]

Your welcome John.

Now there are a couple of options unless you had any system images saved?

• If you had Windows 10 pro on  the PC you could use the cloud recovery tool from HP to create a USB with recovery software (Windows 10). Then you would use this USB drive to recover your PC to factory settings. (some members have told me that it takes real long time to create this drive)

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-probook-440-g4-notebook-pc/10477248/sw...

https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c05115630

• What I would do is to download the media creation tool from Microsoft run and create a bootable pendrive with the OS on it on different computer. (there is explanation on the Microsoft web page on how to create the pendrive) Windows will automatically activate once installed and connected to Internet as long as you install the same version which was on PC (home or pro)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

If you choose this option you will need to use the pendrive to perform a clean install of Windows 10. You might need to disable fastboot and secure boot in BIOS (probably not). So, insert the pendrive in the PC and it should boot directly from the drive. If not, turn off PC by holding power button. Press power button and immediately keep pressing ESC  until startup menu appears and then press F9 and choose the pendrive in boot menu. Once it boots from pendrive follow the procedure to install Windows. You do not need a product key as it is in the firmware. To enter Bios if necessary (you can enter BIos even without a hard drive press ESC at boot until startup menu appears and then press F10)

When finished installing allow Windows to completely update and find all or most drivers. You can follow this process by going into settings > Security and update > click on Verify for updates. You might need to reboot a couple of times. Once completely updated you  can go into device manager and see if there are any missing drivers (there will be yellow exclamation mark next to the device). You can find these drivers and software on HP support page for your product.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-probook-440-g4-notebook-pc/10477248

Once you replace the drive you can use a SATA to USB adapter to connect the old drive to the PC and try to recover your personal files. It will work like an external drive. You will need to go to the old user folder on the drive and copy your personal files. When you try to open the User folder it will ask for administrator authorization and can take some time to open (even 10 minutes) as all the files in the folder will need to get security authorization.

Now if the drive does not work externally, you can send it to a data recovery service which will dismantle the drive and try to recover the files. Usually real expensive.

Let me know if you need further help,

David

[JBH62]

David, thanks again. I will be trying option 2 as soon as my new SSD arrives and post back next week.

[iomare]

Ok. Let me know how it works out.

All the best,

David

[JBH62]

David, 

Sorry I almost forgot to post back the results.

I am happy to say I successfully installed a Samsung EVO SSD and additional 8GB of RAM. 

AND then I followed your instructions to create a Windows Media Creation flashdrive which worked perfectly!

I'm always surprised when someone with such little understanding of he's doing--myself--is able to do with computers with the help of experts, like yourself.

Thank you again for solving my problem and walking me through it,

John

[iomare]

Hi John,

I am happy it worked out and thanks for letting me know. Many times I give answers and never really know what the outcome is. I am a HP enthusiast and really like helping others in my free time. 

I am sure the PC is much faster and responsive with the SSD. Make sure to completely update the PC (well, in the next couple of weeks there will be yet another major Windows 10 update).

Let me know if you need any further help in the future.

All the best,

David