Adding SSD to HP 14 inch

[Chordpounder]

Trying to find if I can add an internal SSD drive.  I can't find a definite answer as to whether or not I have an M.2 slot.  And if I do, must I use a SATA device, or will it accept the NVMe drive?  I currently have a 1 TB HDD.  It was VERY slow (5-7 minutes to boot).  I ran chkdsk f r , and that really helped.  But I'm nervous about the hdd now.  I'd be willing to buy a 2.5 form factor ssd and clone it over it that's possible, but I'd like to know if I can do the M.2 slot route and move the OS over to it.

I have an HP 14ck0052cl laptop.  Thanks!

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

According to chapter 1, page 2 of the maintenance and service guide on your notebook's support page, your notebook has a M.2 slot that supports both NVMe and SATA SSD's.

HP Notebook - 14-ck0052cl Manuals | HP® Customer Support

[Chordpounder]

Thanks!  I must have read that manual ten times and STILL missed it!  Now I need to learn how to get Windows over to the new ssd drive.  Any ideas?   I'll be searching. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You can use the HP cloud recovery tool to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall W10, the drivers and the software that originally came with your notebook.

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

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

I normally recommend that you temporarily disconnect the 2.5" drive while you use the cloud recovery tool and make sure everything works right on the new SSD before connecting the 2.5" drive back up again.

You will most likely have to format the 2.5" drive and use it for storage only because notebooks that come with dual storage configurations have no operating system on the 2.5" drive.