Storage upgrade with SSD on 15-da0414TU

[Emil2804]

Thanks again.
You mentioned, "You may have to temporarily disconnect the 2.5" drive so the Windows boot manager switches to the SSD to boot from." That is after I transfer the OS from the HDD to the SSD, right? Do Sumsung/WD supply a tool for the OS transfer? Acronis True Image or something like that?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I don't have much experience with cloning drives.

I don't even know if you can clone a SATA based drive to NVMe because a SATA drive uses a different storage controller driver than a NVMe drive does.

I guess you have nothing to lose by trying a clone, because you can always clean install W10 on the new SSD or use the cloud recovery tool-created recovery media.

I don't know what those drive manufacturers have on their websites for cloning.

You can use the free Macrium reflect cloning software if neither of the drive manufacturers have anything.

You want the software on the left side of the page under the 'Backup at Home' section.

Macrium Software | Reflect Free Edition

You will have to do an extra step to clone a larger drive's contents to a smaller drive.

Cloning Large Hard Drive to Smaller Hard Drive (macrium.com)

Video:

How to clone and resize a Hard Drive to a smaller SSD using macrium reflect update - YouTube

[Emil2804]

I read on another forum where the OP wanted to do something very much like my case. One response I liked suggested not to clone but use the Windows back and restore feature. That sounds sensible to me. What do you think?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That's what I would do.

Your notebook is supported by the HP Cloud recovery tool which you can use to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall W10, the drivers and the software that originally came with your notebook on the new SSD.

Here is an info link for how to use the utility.  You will need a 32 GB USB flash drive to create the recovery media on.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

After you install the NVMe SSD, temporarily disconnect the 2.5" drive use the recovery drive to reinstall W10 and run the notebook for a while just on the SSD.  Do some restarts, shut it down, etc.

Then when you are happy that everything is working right, you can reconnect the 2.5" drive.

If you use the cloud recovery tool on another PC, after you install the recovery tool software you will need to enter your PC's product number in the tool's search window which is:  9VH05PA#ACJ

[Emil2804]

Ah! That helps a great deal. With this method I guess I will not need to find my license key and activate windows. The OS originally installed in this laptop would work straight away, right? Then I only have to reinstall other apps, right?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Regardless of whether you clean install W10 or use the Cloud recovery tool, you won't need the product key to reinstall W10.

[erico]

@Emil2804 

" That is after I transfer the OS from the HDD to the SSD, right?"

Yes, that is correct, although it is a cloning process, not a transfer of the OS.

It is a bit like Dolly the sheep, that was the first successful clone, years ago.

[Emil2804]

I am leaning towards a clean install as many friends have suggested. However, I also have MS Office that came with my laptop. My OS has been activated using my MS Outlook account. What would happen to my MS Office on this laptop?
Or is it advisable to use the cloud recovery tool which will reinstall the entire original system that came with the laptop?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

If you have MS Office installed, I don't know what you are going to do.

It may not be included with the cloud recovery tool, and I don't believe you can download it from Microsoft and have it work with your product key/Microsoft account.

That is a question you will have to ask Microsoft.

[erico]

I recommend retrieving the activation code for your Microsoft Office products.  There is a third party company named EASUS  that sells a utility for that.

You can get your Microsoft office key from your Microsoft account. (This is a no cost method and my own preference)

1. Sign in to your Microsoft Account.
2. Go to Services & subscriptions, locate your Office 2019 and click the View product key next to the Product key tab.
3. write the 25 character code down or use notepad and save it to an external storage device as a text file.
   
   The cloud recovery installer is what HP recommends and it is generally simpler that doing a clean install.  It does include all required drivers.

Microsoft Windows clean installs from a USB flashdrive are what I do and have had the best success with.