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898
February 24th, 2022 04:00
Increase capacity of 'boot' SSD
I have a Dell Inspiron 3671 running W10 and I want to increase the capacity of my 'boot' SSD (my words - it is the PCIe SSD that fits onto the motherboard) from 256G to probably 512G. Form factor 2230. I think that I need to clone the existing one to a new one, but am facing a couple of questions:
1. I can source a 512G from Dell (https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/dell-m2-pcie-nvme-gen-3x4-class-35-2230-solid-state-drive-512gb/apd/ab292881/storage-drives-media#compatibility_section) but am having difficulty in sourcing an enclousure to fit
2. Can I use a form factor 2280 (for instance https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/dell-m2-pcie-nvme-gen-3x4-class-40-sed-2280-solid-state-drive-512gb/apd/ab292883/storage-drives-media ) although I cannot find one that says it is compatible with my machine, bit there is a screw socket on the motherboard to fit (I think). Enclosures for these seems to be more available.
So:
1. Any general comments on my plan
2. Where can I source an enclosure for the form factor 2230 in UK
3. Can I use the 2280 form factor
Thank you in advance
nyc10036
4 Operator
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5.6K Posts
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February 24th, 2022 19:00
Yes. I did just this the other day.
I don't have your model desktop PC, but according to Crucial, the 3671 uses a NVMe SSD.
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/inspiron-3671
here's a highly rated enclosure : https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type-C-Tool-Free-Enclosure-EC-SNVE/dp/B08RVC6F9Y
JOcean
9 Legend
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12.6K Posts
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February 24th, 2022 06:00
You can install a 2280 M.2 SSD in your system. As for an enclosure, this page has a large number and some are compatible with 2230. I would suggest looking at a site such as Crucial for the SSD as they are quite possibly equal in performance and better in price such as here. It may be easier to put the 2280 in an enclosure and then clone the old drive to it using a program Such as Macrium Reflect Free available here. If you have an HDD in the system you could also save an image of the old drive to the HDD then remove the old drive, install the new drive, then restore the image to the new drive. That can also be done with Macrium and be sure to create a rescue media from Macrium. The directions for that are on their web site and many YouTube videos.
jo5030
13 Posts
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February 24th, 2022 07:00
JOcean - thank you. I was planning to:
1. get an enclosure for the new SSD and link it to PC via USB
2. Clone the current bootable SSD to the new one
3. Swap the two SSDs over and reboot.
Would that work?
jo5030
13 Posts
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February 26th, 2022 07:00
I spoke too soon - having got the enclosure and the SSD but the machine does not 'see' the SSD. It does the 'found something new' ping-ping-ping when I plug the loaded enclosure in, which, I think, confirms that it has noticed that something has been added. But nothing shows up in File Manager or Macrium.
The enclosure was supplied with a Type-C to Type-C cable, which is not much use whan trying to connect to a PC with USB sockets. I do have a 'gender bender' which converts from Type-C to standard USB (Type A?), but I wonder of it is only for power?
Any thoughts, or is it likely that the SSD is faulty?
jo5030
13 Posts
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February 26th, 2022 12:00
Update for those that come after.
Having played wirh Macrium and Acronis True Image (my backup software that also has a Clone facility) I established that although the computer could see the external SSD drive, it could not list it as it was not formatted.
Playing with Macrium and Acronis demonstrated to me that I had to define which drive I wanted to clone and then click Next and at that stage it showed all my established drives AND the new unformatted one, so I could select it.
So I could go ahead, and 1.5 hours later I had a new bigger boot drive that works
The only issue I had was with BitLocker, and my data drive was locked. I got my key and all was well
Thank you all for your help
nyc10036
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5.6K Posts
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February 27th, 2022 07:00
I am sorry. I hadn't noticed that the Sabrent is USB-C. Return it to Amazon and buy something similar that has the USB-A cable.
https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-NVMe-Enclosure-Gbps-Support/dp/B08G14NBCS
The USB-C to USB-A adapter may be just for power. The D+/D- lines are usually not connected when that is the case and are needed for this.
jo5030
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February 27th, 2022 10:00
nyc10036. No problems - you confirmed what I was trying to do was correct. In fact the 'gender changer' worked, and it was my misunderstanding of the way that Macrium and Acronis True Image works. When I opened the applications I assumed that I would see the USB drive as one of the available drives, and as I didn't see it I assumed that it was not working. Using Device Manager I established that the PC was actually seeing the drive, although it did not show it to me.
So I want ahead with the Cloning process and selected the Source drive. The system then showed me all my other drives as potential Targets INCLUDING the new and unused USB drive. I continued and succeeded. This is written using my new and bigger Boot drive.
I think that it was to do with the fact that the YouTube videos were using a previously formatted drive (which was visible at all steps) rather than a brand new one. I live and learn.
Thank you all very much for your help
nyc10036
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5.6K Posts
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February 27th, 2022 11:00
I love happy endings. Thank you for posting back and letting us know the result.
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