Upgrading from slow HDD to SSD.

[biruk741]

I have been having problems with my laptops hard drive. Its not that its broken or anything but I'm a power user and the hard drive is really pulling me down. I was thinking of migrating to an SSD. So how do I fully transfer everything to the SSD without losing files or reinstalling windows. Also, I lost the documentation that came with the laptop so can someone show me how or give me a link which deals with how to physically upgrade the HDD (compatibility, installation etc...) of this specific model? I'm kinda scared I might ruin the laptop.... you can never be too careful.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here's the Service manual:

Manual

Here is what you see when you open the back:

red = M.2, green = 2.5 inch SATA disk

So you have 2 different places to put an SSD and 3 different kinds of SSDs. You can put a 2.5 inch SATA SSD in the place in the green circle. Or, you can put a SATA or PCIe/NVME M.2 "gumstick" disk in the space circled in red. 

See p. 35 of the Manual and forward for instructions to physically access these spaces. 

You can transfer the contents of the current drive to a new drive in any one of several ways. The best is to "clone" or block by block copy the contents from one disk to the other. There are free and paid-for software apps that will do that for you. We can help with the specifics. Of the three kinds of disk you definitely want a PCIe/NVME M.2 2280 disk like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-MZVLW256HEHP-PM961-256GB-Internal/dp/B06VYJMLS8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qi...

The one I have linked is the kind HP specifies. There are other brands of similar disks but compatibility has proven to be an issue. Compatibility is much less of an issue with a SATA 2.5 inch SSD or even a SATA M.2 disk, but those are 4 or 5 times slower, albeit still 4 or 5 times faster than an old-school spinner hard drive. 

I can tell you are a bit of a newbie at this (no problem we are here to help) and I am never sure how much to say so let's just leave it to your follow-up questions. 

if this is the answer you needed please accept as solution. 

[jorkki]

You should not have to worry too much as you still have the original data available on the disk.

There are several ways to perform the upgrade but I'm a conservative guy, so I would take the opportunity to get a USB 3 external drive and take a full backup of the system using a respectable software like Paragon Hard Disk Manager 16 Basic or Macrium Reflect Free.

I would even go as far as Booting with the USB media that these programs allow to create to be absolutely sure I get the backup when the main Windows system is not running. I would take a second backup of just my personal data should I have to reinstall Windows from scratch for some reason.

Belt and suspenders..your trousers will not drop and does not cost you anything more.

You can find the Maintenance manual here:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05493193

It lists e.g.  a 256GB SSD part number 847109-020 as compatible.

Which the hp.partsurfer.hp.com lists as GNRC SSD256GB 2280M2PCIe3x4SS NVMeTLC ST

The part is available via parts.hp.com but which should be the same part as Samsung MZVLW256HEHP PM961 256GB M.2 NVMe if you want it at a market rate from somewhere else.

It can very well be that other drives work as well, but I don't know if there is a white list in BIOS of the accepted drives.

[Huffer]

No whitelist in the BIOS, but compatibility can be a problem. 

[jorkki]

Mr Huffer is a quicker typer and probably has a better answer too.

[Huffer]

I hunt and peck so never accused of being a fast typist. 

[biruk741]

Thanks a lot this really helped. But could you please tell me what kind of m.2 ssd I must get for this to be compatible? Every specification I should keep an eye out for. Because I might not be able to get this one from where I buy hardware from.

[Huffer]

On the NVME/PCIe M.2 side there have been numerous reported problems with any disks other than the one I linked. On the SATA side not so much so if you live in a market with limited product availablilty you might want to just get a SATA-3 2280 M.2 disk like the WD Blue, the Samsung 850 or anything else of that type. 

[biruk741]

Why is it that it only works with that specific ssd? As i said earlier, I might not be able to get this exact ssd where I'm buying this from. And i dont want the sata ssds either because there's a big speed difference b\n sata and m2/nvme. So what specification makes this ssd so unique? Will it work if i find another ssd with the exact same specifications? Thanks in advance 

[Huffer]

Very good questions. Wish I had answers. It likely has to do with the controller chip for the NVME disk. It seems the newer the chip, the less compatible it is with HP laptops. Its not a whitelist thing like HP did with wifi cards it is just that some NVME disks do not even show up in the BIOS. The one that most frequently causes issues is the Samsung 960 series perhaps because that is the one most people try. Most have said it does not work, a few have said they got it to work. 

Why don't you see what you can find in your local market, Try to get a Samsung SM961 PM961 or PM951 but if you can't, see what you can find and post back before you buy it. Where is your local market, by the way (country)? 

I will say that SATA M.2 disks are still smokin' fast. The whole thing about maximum burst speed is overblown because you rarely use it in that mode. A SATA SSD whether M.2 or 2.5 inch form factor provides I will say about 90% of the performance benefit of the NVME disk. I have used both extensively.