Re-visiting SSD Upgrade

[Viffergb]

It really is time for me to take a serious look at upgrading my 'SSD' - Sandisk SD8SN8U-128G-1006 - to a larger capacity drive.

However, I am confused as to which type I can use when it comes to the interface.  According to the 'Maintenance and User Guide' for my model it talks of 'PCIe' for use on only mine, then lists 'M2 PCIe3x4 SS' and 'M2 SATA 3' for use on all computer models.

Can I fit any of the above models?  If I'm restricted to 'PCIe' only how do I go about cloning my existing drive?  Apologies for missing what might be an obvious answer!

Thanks in advance.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

According to the model specs of the sandisk drive you posted, it appears to be a SATA SSD.

Sandisk SD8SN8U-128G-1006 - 128GB M.2 2280 SATA III NGFF Solid State SSD (cpumedics.com)

Since chapter 1 of the service manual indicates that NVMe SSD's are supported, you may want to upgrade to one of those, as they have much faster read/write speeds than sata drives do.

HP ENVY x360 15m Convertible PC Maintenance and Service GuideIMPORTANT! This document is intended fo...

I don't know how large a capacity you want to go to, but this would be the 500 GB SSD I suggest for your notebook...

Samsung 980 500 GB PCIe 3.0 (up to 3.100 MB/s) NVMe M.2 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (MZ-V8V500B...

Cloning:  Not sure how you go about doing that.  I imagine you would need to purchase an external USB device to fit the NVMe SSD into so you can clone the OS to the SSD.  Something like this...

M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter Tool-Free, USB C 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps to NVME PCIe M-Key(B+M Key) Thunder...

You can use the free Macrium reflect software to clone the drive. 

The software on the left side of the page under the Backup at Home section.

Macrium Software | Reflect Free Edition

I always clean install the operating system on new drives and then reinstall my programs and files.

You could also use the HP cloud recovery tool to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall W10, the drivers and the software that originally came with your notebook on the SSD.

Here is an info link for how to use that utility.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool (Windows 10, 7) | HP® Customer Support

[Viffergb]

Hi Paul,

Thank you very much for a very detailed and informative response 👍.

A lot of useful information which I'm gradually working my way through.  I decided to remove the bottom cover and take a look at the 'SSD' to see exactly where it was situated and get some idea of how easy it would be to upgrade.  I managed that without any problems I'm pleased to say, as I'm using the laptop to enter this 😉.

Yes, I think I'll go for an 'NVMe' device with its superior performance, and I'm seriously thinking of fitting a '1TB' card, unless there is a good reason not to, that I'm unaware of?

That 'Enclosure Adapter Tool' looks like it will do nicely for connecting the old and new drives for the 'cloning' process.  Talking of which, I take your point about a clean install and I might well try that at a later stage.  I have 'Acronis True Image' already installed so I might well give that a go for the 'cloning' software, but if it doesn't work, I'll try 'Macrium'.

I've decided to go for a bigger 'SSD' as mine is nearly full, plus the 'WindowsPCHealthCheck' utility indicates that this laptop will run 'Windows 11', but I'm not rushing to upgrade - in fact I'm going to leave it for quite some time - as I don't see anything in '11' to currently tempt me away from '10', especially as '10' is being supported until 2025.

Again, many thanks for your help.
Graham

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Graham.

The Samsung 980 also comes in a 1 TB size, and there should be n0 reason I can think of as to why that would be a problem.

The drive capacities listed in the manual are just what HP offered in the model series, not the max capacity supported.

Samsung 980 1 TB PCIe 3.0 (up to 3.500 MB/s) NVMe M.2 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (MZ-V8V1T0BW)...

[Viffergb]

Should I go ahead and mark this as a solution, or should I wait until I've done the upgrade?

Graham

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Graham:

I would wait until you have successfully done the upgrade.

Paul

[Viffergb]

Success.....eventually!

Cloned the 1TB Samsung using 'Acronis True Image' and the 'Mokin Enclosure' without any issues.  It took about 30 minutes.
Then swapped out the old 'SSD' for the new one and keeping fingers crossed turned on the power, only to be presented with a message saying something about a 'CMOS' error, unfortunately can't remember the exact reporting.  Not sure if the laptop automatically re-started - I think it did - and then a short time after I received 'INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE'!!

Uh-oh I thought, what's going on 🤔?  I kept receiving this at every subsequent power on attempt.  Then I took a look at 'Windows Support' on the web using another device and saw instructions to reboot several times, each time pressing power button for some 10 seconds until the HP logo appeared.  Had to do this several times until I was presented with the familiar menu offering different things to try.

I decided to try booting up in 'Safe Mode', and that worked.  So, I thought I must be making progress as at least the drive was now being accessed.  Took the decision to try rebooting and it all worked fine, and has been ever since, thus far 🤞.

Not sure what the initial problem was, other than it might have been caused by a 'driver' issue, maybe?

Anyway,  I'm pleased with the upgrade, plus the 'Mokin' is a useful bit of kit, and once I've given it a few days to make sure everything is stable, I'll place my original 128GB 'SSD' in the 'Mokin' and have myself an external drive for more storage 😊.

Thanks Paul for all your help, it really is appreciated.
Graham

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime, Graham.

Glad to have been of assistance and glad to know your notebook's SSD upgrade project was a success.

Cheers,

Paul