Upgrade HDD to SSD - HP ENVY x360 - 15t-aq200 CTO

[nsaravana]

Hi,

I'm having HP ENVY x360 - 15t-aq200 CTO laptop, would it possible to upgrade HDD to SSD?

~Saravana

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here's the Service Manual:

Manual 

You can actually add an M.2 NVME SSD into your configuration and by that I mean keep the hard drive and add the SSD to have both. Post back if you want to discuss in detail or just follow the Manual. 

[nsaravana]

Hi Huffer,

Thanks for you reply, I have few questions,

1. I'm currently having 1TB SATA, is there any limit on the additional SSD storage to be added?

2. I had a look at the SSD hardware, it seems to be pluggable, I believe the SATA also be pluggable. can the installation be done in home?

3. Is it possible to make SSD as primary storage, and move the Windows 10 OS to SSD for faster bootup without breaking Windows license?

Any other recommendation or tips would be great.

~Saravana

[Huffer]

Yes you can do the installation. Yes you can move the OS over to the SSD without any Windows license problem. Yes you could install larger capacity storage. Do you want to do this? We can supply a Manual likely a video with instructions and purchase suggestion links for upgrade hardware. 

[nsaravana]

Yes, please send me the details.  Thank you. 

[Huffer]

OK. Service Manual:

Manual 

See pages 34-46. Once the rear cover is removed it looks like this inside:

M.2 slot circled in red

Max capacity (2 TB) 7mm laptop hard drive:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-2TB-Mobile-Hard-Drive/dp/B079BQS5WQ/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=2tb+7mm...

M.2 NVME SSD:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-500GB-NAND-NVMe-2400MB/dp/B086BGWNY8/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=NVM...

A Samsung 970 Evo Plus would be faster but quite a bit more expensive. 

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[nsaravana]

Thank you so much, I have couple of questions,

how can I migrate the OS from SATA to SSD without losing any OS data?

can I add Optane  memory along with SSD?

[Huffer]

Clone is probably the easiest. A clone is much easier if you use a "target" disk the same size as the "source". Possible to do it with different sized disks, but the target has to be at least as big as the used space on the source if that makes sense. Macrium Reflect Free is free as the name suggests and is very easy to use. Put the SSD in and you boot the computer from a "rescue" usb thumb drive made from the Macrium software. It walks you through cloning the existing 1 TB HDD to the new SSD with a graphical interface. Remove the HDD before booting for the first time from the SSD and make sure SSD is booting then you can put the HDD back in.

And Optane is not really needed if you install an NVME M.2. Optane uses a very small capacity NVME M.2 to speed up the hard drive. So that means you still run Windows from the hard drive and the Optane adds no storage. An Optane module occupies the same slot as the NVME M.2 so with only one slot you cannot have both. In a nutshell, you do not want Optane. If you want to add more RAM, you can install up to 32 gigs of RAM. 

Help others find this by accepting as solution, please. 

[nsaravana]

Thank you so much, let me buy a SSD and upgrade hardware, and update the results here. Thanks again 🙂

[nsaravana]

Hi Huffer,

I followed the manual document, but I couldn't find the M.2 slot for SSD, where exactly the slot would be, could you help me on this?

please find the snapshot

Thanks,

Saravana