Upgrading Storage on HP ENVY 17.3"

[JKLM16]

Hello, I have this ENVY with 512GB SSD and I need to upgrade the internal storage. I have a couple of questions with this:

1) Is this a SATA drive or NVME?

2) Can I add storage to this device, like is there another card slot where I can add an additional card? Or do I need to replace the current card with an upgraded 1TB or 2TB drive?

Thank you so much for your help!

[erico]

The installed SSD is an Intel® PCIe® NVMe™ M.2.

It can  upgraded up to a maximum of 4TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD.

I do not see any literature that shows whether or not there is a second SSD M.2 slot on the system board.

You might have to open the laptop to find out.

Sources

https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd

Amazon.com

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The parts list for the product number you posted indicates your notebook has an Intel NVMe 512 GB SSD with the 32 GB Optane memory cache.

HP PartSurfer

Below is the link to the service manual:

Maintenance and Service Guide (hp.com)

There are no provisions to add a second NVMe SSD or a 2.5" SATA drive, so if you need more storage, you will have to replace the existing drive with one having a greater storage capacity.

Since you have an Intel SSD with Optane, before you remove it, you should disable the Intel Optane memory using the Intel RST software program and then if there is a setting in the BIOS, to disable the Intel Optane you need to disable that setting too.

See the last two sections at the link below for further information.

HP has the steps out of sequence...first you disable the Intel Optane using the RST software, then you disable it in the BIOS (if such as setting exists).

HP PCs - Installing and Using Intel Optane | HP® Support

[JKLM16]

Thank you very much that is very helpful! Sorry for the newby question, but how do I go about transferring all my data so that my computer is set up just the same with same files, apps, etc. with the new drive? 

Also, I saw the Optane deal on my info for computer.. What does that mean? And why do I need to disable it? Will I lose some sort of functionality by switching to a different drive? or do I need to find one that is also Optane? Any suggestions on an upgraded drive that will be just as good/fast or better?

Thank you so much!!

[JKLM16]

Thank you!!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If you want to transfer your data to the drive, you can copy and paste your user profile folders to a portable hard drive and then after you reinstall Windows on the new drive and you have set up your user profile, you can overwrite the empty folders with your old profile folders.

I don't clone drives but that should be possible, and it may be complicated due to your notebook having an Intel Optane memory device.

I would imagine it would entail disabling the Intel Optane memory, and theoretically the Intel drive should work as a 'regular' NVMe drive.

I would not recommend tinkering with any Optane settings unless you back up your user profile folders to a portable hard drive first.

Then you can clone the existing drive's contents to a new drive using cloning software and a USB3/USB-C to NVMe SSD enclosure.

Something like this:

Amazon.com: SSK Aluminum M.2 NVME SATA SSD Enclosure Adapter, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) to NVME PCI-E ...

If you were to try cloning the drive to a new one as is, I doubt it will work because the new drive won't have Optane.

But I suppose you could try that too.

[JKLM16]

What if the new nvme drive I select is also optane? Could I just clone it as normal and go from there?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Yes, that should work, but I don't know if a 2 TB drive is available.

The service manual only lists 512 GB and 1 TB Intel NVMe SSDs.

32 GB/1 T, M2 2280, PCIe-NVMe, Gen 3 × 4 TLC SS (Optane® Memory Module/solid-state drive combination drive)   HP part number L85374-005

I found one new one eBay for a reasonable price.

L85374-005 - SOLID-STATE Drive 32GB 1TB M2 2280 Pcie (SSD) | eBay

You need to make sure that whatever cloning software you use has the ability/option to clone from a smaller drive to a larger one, otherwise you will end up with ~ 500 GB of dead space which defeats the purpose of installing a larger drive.

[JKLM16]

That's funny I was looking at that same one. I think I'll do that and see if it works like it's supposed to. Thank you again for your help i do really appreciate it

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

HP sells the drive for $449.00   

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