Trying To Transplant A Hard Drive Between Two HP Pavilion Laptops

[ADonMartini_790]

Hello again, HP Community.

If you've followed the conclusion of my previous threads involving my other laptop, you may understand what led to this new topic. For those unfamiliar, I will give a quick review: my HP Pavilion laptop suffered some sort of error that triggered an endless loop of "Automatic Repair" reboots in December 2022, and all efforts to correct the problem were unsuccessful; I managed to consult with HP SmartFriend in January this year, and the problem was determined to likely have been a malfunction in the motherboard rather than an OS problem or a hard drive error.

Ultimately, a decision was made on my part to invest in a new device, with the intent to hopefully insert my still-functioning hard drive from my original laptop and implant it into a new functioning computer. It arrived at my home yesterday (May 28th, one day ahead of schedule), and I opened it up this morning. However, the new computer, while also an HP Pavilion 15 series model, is not an exact version from the original that was felled a year-and-a-half ago, and thus does not have the exact same internal layout for me to do a hard-drive swap.

I took the liberty to snap a few photographs to compare the first and second Pavilion devices, which will be included below. The original, seen on the left, will be an HP Pavilion 15-cs2064st model laptop. The custom replacement, seen on the right, will be an HP Pavilion 15 Laptop PC 15-eh3000 RCTO Base Unit model laptop.

Both laptops side by side (closed)Both laptops side by side (opened)Both laptops side by side (interiors)

The main issue I am facing at the moment is this: while the location of the hard drive in the original laptop is obvious once the casing is removed, I can't seem to locate its counterpart in the replacement. Two photographs each were taken of the uncovered interior of the two laptops; the first two are of the original cs2064st model of the HP Pavilion 15 laptop, where its hard drive can be found on the lower left corner of the device beside the battery.

HP Pavilion 15-cs2064st (interior; distant)HP Pavilion 15-cs2064st (interior; near)

The other two images are of the eh3000 model of the HP Pavilion 15 laptop received yesterday and opened up today, which was bought to replace the original device and to hopefully receive the still-functional hard drive over from the ill-functioning cs2064st model. The problem is that I can't seem to tell where exactly the new unit's factory-installed hard drive is located from a cursory glance at the guts of the machine, as is pictured below.

HP Pavilion 15-eh3000 (interior; distant)

HP Pavilion 15-eh3000 (interior; near)

Since the hard drive wasn't the problem with the original laptop, I was hoping that getting ahold of a similar, if not identical, laptop from the same model line might get me back into where I left off on that ill-fated morning of December 15th, 2022 if I were to transplant the hard drive into the device; having run into this snafu, my hope is that the photographs might give someone an idea of what might need to be done here, since my new device didn't come with a schematic of its interior. Looking at both laptops side-to-side, they look similar enough as far as how they are configured, but the hard drives aren't positioned anywhere near the same way to where I can attempt a hard drive replacement on the new unit.

I admit I'm no expert on the topic, but if anyone here sees something I don't see at the moment, or has any other helpful advice on what to do here, please feel welcome to leave a reply. I will respond as quickly as I am able to all responses.

Thanks in advance for any and all helpful replies!

ADonMartini_790

[Huffer]

The new laptop has a different kind of hard drive and the hard drive from the old laptop cannot be installed into the new laptop. Different form factors. 

[ADonMartini_790]

Thank you for your comment, Huffer; forgive the delay in responding, as I hadn't gotten a notification that there was a reply waiting on this topic.

I was afraid that was likely going to be the response I would get; it was a gamble for me to get the new laptop, and it would seem the gamble didn't pay off.

If you happen to know what models of HP Pavilion laptops would have this type of hard drive for me to do a swap, please provide me a list once you can; perhaps I may have a chance to exchange this model for a different one.

Better yet, if you can provide links on the HP website where the right type of laptops with this drive could be purchased, that would be even better. The new laptop was bought from the HP website earlier this month, so it would help to know the exact pages of the right models needed for me to do this.

Thanks in advance,

ADonMartini_790

[Huffer]

Technology marches on. The new laptop has what we call an M.2 solid state drive (SSD) instead of a mechanical hard drive as in the old laptop. The M.2 is sometimes called a "gumstick" disk. I have outlined the M.2 SSD in this image:

M.2 SSD outlined

The M.2 SSD is several times faster than a mechanical hard drive. If you have never before used a computer with an SSD you are in for a pleasant experience. The other problem you will face in trying to just transplant a hard drive from an older machine to a newer is that the hardware is going to be different and the old install may not be able to boot the new machine. Just too many differences. You could clone i.e. exactly copy the contents of the old  mechanical drive onto the new M.2 SSD but if you did that you would face the same compatibility issues. I know you want to avoid it, but the best way to do this is to do a backup of the old drive so that all the files (pictures, music, documents, videos) can be transplanted to the new machine and then reinstall the apps you need onto the new machine. This can even be done as a batch operation i.e. all the apps at one time. See this link:

https://nerdschalk.com/transfer-apps-from-one-pc-to-another/

You are facing a very common tech problem of transferring your user experience from an old machine to a new one and the ability to do that reliably is one of the first things a good computer tech needs to learn how to do. Fortunately, there is a lot of help out there for people who do not do this regularly. Happy to answer any other questions. 

[ADonMartini_790]

Firstly, Huffer, thank you very much for your elaborate and (perhaps most importantly) sympathetic answer. Believe me, this has been a frustrating and painful journey trying to resolve this longstanding tech fiasco (I have a lot of topics floating around here and elsewhere that are directly or tangentially related to solving it), and it has definitely taken the wind out of my sails for me to see the first message you'd left after yesterday's disappointment. But you seem genuinely willing to offer the best advice possible, and to advocate for me to make the best of this latest mishap. You have my thanks for that.

As for the recommendation you've offered about accepting a transition to the new hard drive and carrying the contents from the original over onto it, I will skim through the link you've kindly provided to see if anything clicks to promote action for me to try out. Granted, I would still rather get another device with a similar drive system and just do the swap; I'm sure there may still be time to contact HP for a possible exchange, as I've only had this new laptop in my hands for barely about 50 hours and haven't even turned it on yet, so a case could still be made in that regard, if any compatible HP Pavilion laptop devices should come to mind that anyone might want to recommend I get while I may still can. But I will keep an open mind and take a closer look at possibly performing the type of transfers suggested in the provided link, and weigh whether I stick with this new laptop or not.

Of course, anyone is welcome to add to the discussion in the meantime -- I'll try to respond as they come to view.

Thanks once again,

ADonMartini_790

[ADonMartini_790]

Quick update: I recently got word back from HP via E-mail, which told me that I am still within a 30-day window to do an exchange. My preference is still to perform a hard drive swap into a new computer, but I will still weigh the option of keeping the new device and starting over, as I was given a link to mull over from an earlier reply from another user. Even if I were to go through with an exchange, I would need to select a new computer with the right fixtures for a hard drive transplant, so I would need to find another computer with the same type of hard drive in order to do it. Again, any recommendations are welcome, if anyone would be so kind as to offer links to where I could buy a suitable replacement computer (with the proper type of hard drive), or could advise what I should be looking for in the way of the right type of drive (I've been paying closer attention to whether or not the type of drive says "M.2" as was pointed out before).

There's still time to weigh both options, so feel free to leave a comment. Thanks in advance for any helpful responses.

ADonMartini_790

[Huffer]

I don't believe HP offers a laptop with a spinning mechanical hard drive any more. They are considered obsolete technology. 

And you are still facing the compatibility issue with swapping an older system with drivers for older hardware into a newer machine. Frankly, that is just not the way to go about this. No technician would recommend it. So many other ways to do it.

[ADonMartini_790 · Accepted solution]

Hello again, everyone.

Haven't been by this topic in a little while; I'd been working with HP directly about the matter since I last posted here, particularly with the Resolutions and SmartFriend departments, and even directing them towards the thread for proper context and insight on the matter.

All sides put forth a Herculean effort to make this work out well for all sides, looking meticulously through the HP catalog of compatible laptops with the necessary hardware, but the effort was ultimately unsuccessful; I was basically given a modest gratuity to stick with my item and make up for the shortcoming, so it wasn't a complete loss on my end, but it does sting a bit that my well-intended strategy to revitalized my crippled device ended in the backfire that I feared it might.

Nonetheless, I wanted to thank all parties involved: those who cared to examine this topic, those who cared to comment (lookin' at you, Huffer), and all those employees affiliated with HP who took the time to hear my various concerns through E-mail, chat and telephone over the last several weeks.

It looks like a true fix of my cs2064st Pavilion computer will have to continue to wait, so I'll just have to make do with my new eh3000 Pavilion device until that day comes. I appreciate the effort, everyone; thanks a lot for trying to help.

ADonMartini_790