Computer hard drive question

Question for you computer guys. My son has an HP Omen gaming desktop that has a 256GB M.2 SSD on the motherboard. I called our local shop and to upgrade it to a 2TB Samsung 970 M.2, it is $225 for the drive and $150 for the installation and transferring everything from the old drive. Does that sound about right or is it easy to transfer everything myself? He said something about it needing to be done a certain way going from one M.2 to another. Thanks

 

Can you provide the motherboard name and model? It's likely to have TWO m.2 slots.

 

$162 SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology (MZ-V7S2T0B/AM)

970 EVO Plus 2T
The drive is about $150 +- $20, so $225 is on the high side.
Transfer, depends on who is doing it, I would say it is not that hard, the basic thing is to get the Windows serial number before transfer as it is better to re-install the whole thing.
Or, like @Notarobot said, it might have two or more M.2 slots, then just pop another one in there and call it a day....

 

This should be pretty easy to do, especially if there is a 2nd M.2 slot on the motherboard. If not, no big deal, just buy one of these:

$19 ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) to NVMe PCI-E M.2 SSD Case Support UASP for NVMe SSD Size 2230/2242/2260/2280(up to 4TB) (M.2 NVMe)

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-NVMe-E...eywords=m2+usb+adapter&qid=1671571962&sr=8-18 and put the new drive in there. Download Macrium Reflect (https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree#) on the machine and install it; run the program and connect your new drive. You will basically be cloning the old drive to the new one, doesn't matter if the new one is bigger. Once finished, disconnect the drive, power the machine down, swap the drives and power it back on.

 

If it doesn't (have 2 M.2 slots on the motherboard) you can get a M.2 adapter PCI daughter board adapter for the desktop (cheap), install it and use a program to mirror/clone your current m.2 hard drive to the new one. Swap the drives out and you are good to go.
Can also do the same thing with an external m.2 case/enclosure and just hook it up to USB C or a standard USB port instead of the PCI daughter board adapter.

Now that being said, If it were me I would save ALL data to an external drive. Take out old M.2, put in new M.2 and reinstall the operating system/drivers/programs from scratch.

 

I'm looking through the specs to find it. The computer itself is the Omen 25L GT12-0xxx

 

Depends how computer savvy you are. If your MB has two m.2 slots use the 256GB one for the OS and the new one for data. If you old SSD is a SATA drive and you only have on M.2 then you want to use that for the OS as it’s faster. You can then put data on SATA SSDs or HDDs. If moving the OS to new drive you should either create an image using free macro um reflect or similar. Alternatively you can do clean install but you’ll have to reinstall any programs and be sure to backup any files and settings. If you have mult drives be sure to only connect the boot drive when doing a clean install as Win will sometime span the boot sector across multiple drives and then if you remove one it might not boot. Before you start make sure your version of Win 10/11 has a digital license or you have the product key from the sticker. MS doesn’t advertise it but upgrades to W10/11 are still free if you have either Win 7 key or digital license.

 

Is this it?

 

Post pictures of the mother board if you can. Look for the current HD and if there is a second slot.

 

You tube has several videos how to install M.2 in HP Omen 25L/30L. Also tenforums.com has good tutorials for making backups and images

 

It looks like the 25L only has 1 m.2 slot. It would be easier and cheaper to add a 2.5" or 3.5" SSD via the sata ports and use it as a storage device. (It might need to be activated in device manager.)

 

Post some pics of your MoBo and we can advise

 

Samsung provides a nice cloning software if you new drive is Samsung branded.

 

If you don't have your Windows key, you can possibly find it using option 3

3 simple ways to find your Windows 10 product key | TechRepublic

My garage computer recently crashed and I reinstalled Windows 10 using the key on my office PC.
It took a few tries but it finally installed and it works now..

From the article..

3. Registry File
As you might imagine, the product key is stored in the Windows 10 Registry File, so it is possible to find the code there if you know the right key. Type “regedit” into the Windows 10 desktop search and select the appropriate item in the results. Navigate to this key:

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionSoftwareProtectionPlatform
As you can see in Figure C, the BackupProductKeyDefault key will reveal a valid Windows 10 product key.

Figure C

 

If you have a digital activation you don’t need a key and can skip that during a clean install

 

There is a Sata SSD as well that is about 3/4 full. It's a 460GB. How does his games and stuff store on a secondary drive? He does games like Roblox and games from Steam.

 

It was a used machine when we bought it from a computer place.

 

The system should be capable of holding 3 physical drives total. The m.2, 2.5" sata, 3.5" sata. If it only has 2 drives currently, then you can add a third drive and quadruple the storage space for the same price as the 2tb m.2 option.

As far as storing on a new drive- once it's set up (super easy!) It's the exact same as saving to a USB or new file location. Instead of saving to the C: drive, you can save to the [letter]: drive.

I'm on mobile, I'll fire up my rig and take some photos. In the mean time take the side pan off his and show us the guts.

 

Thanks. I'll get some pics in an hour or so when I get home. Yeah I wasn't sure how the game patches and that type of thing are downloaded and where they save at. I just know that the 2nd drive has alot of stuff on it as well.

 

Try cloning the old drive to the new one. There are a couple freebies like Macrium to do the job.

 

I can't provide pics of the hard drives. I didn't realize my drives were hidden. (It's a new build.) After Steam updates I'll show you how to direct downloads.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Open steam> extreme top left corner click "steam"


It makes a drop down.

Go down to "settings".

Opens a new window. On the left options, go to "downloads".

The right frame of the window switches. The very top buttom should say "Steam Library Folder". Click it. It'll open a new window to the Storage Manager.


You'll see the "local drive (c at the top and a second button with a +. This will let you add a second Steam folder without disrupting the existing files.

 

Thank you for uploading this. Now I'll just have to figure out what I want to do. I'll have to see what he is putting on the 2nd drive.

 

The etching on the lower left of the m.2 drive is the motherboard model.
Dorado 4L Rev A.

I have to ask... what are his game interests? Is the new drive strictly for storage, or for performance improvements? How long have you had the computer?

 

You're welcome! I can't contribute much to the tundies, but I'm still somewhat useful!

 

He got it for Christmas last year. He mainly plays Roblox and Rocket League but has a few other Steam games. He just asked for a bigger drive because it was getting full.

 

Definitely just add the 3rd drive. You'll see 2 slots (looks to be vertical on his rig) if you press the pins and there's a thin plastic "guide" and the driver's about 4" wide, it's the 3.5" drive. If you pull it and it's the same width but the "guide" is thicker and the physical drive is only 3" wide it'll be the 2.5" drive.
From the photos you loaded, it looks like the 2.5" is installed. Triple check though.

 

Yeah I'll have to ask him again. I can put a 3rd drive in and show him how to select it as a download location if that's all he needs. It's a much cheaper route as well.