Help with choosing correct SSD

SnowWhiterThanWhite

I am looking to swap out existing HDD for SSD but am lost in all the jargon. M2 vs SATA?
I have an old HP PROBOOK 455 G2
and am struggling to identify which SSD would fit?
I'm not worried about losing any files and came across this for reactivating W10
https://m.windowscentral.com/how-re-activate-windows-10-after-hardware-change
Can anyone point me in the right direction of a 250gb SSD that would fit?

neilmcl

If you're swapping out the existing HDD then you need a standard 2.5" SATA.

http://amzn.eu/d/c4OuBhI

Although it might be the case that your Probook also has an additional M2 slot inside which could be used for a secondary drive.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Hopefully, pic of opened laptop here
https://postimg.cc/image/x3e1ghzkr/

SnowWhiterThanWhite

neilmcl wrote: »

If you're swapping out the existing HDD then you need a standard 2.5" SATA.

http://amzn.eu/d/c4OuBhI

Although it might be the case that your Probook also has an additional M2 slot inside which could be used for a secondary drive.

Thanks, so does that mean that the new SSD would fit in the M2 slot and then I can use the HDD as additional memory?

neilmcl

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

Hopefully, pic of opened laptop here
https://postimg.cc/image/x3e1ghzkr/

As I thought, your primary drive, the one with a plastic cover and tab is a SATA drive. You also have am additional M2 slot so you could have either if you wanted (or both). You could keep your exiting HDD where it is, purely for storage, and install a M2 SSD to boot up and run Windows.

neilmcl

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

Thanks, so does that mean that the new SSD would fit in the M2 slot and then I can use the HDD as additional [STRIKE]memory[/STRIKE] storage?

Yes, although bit more effort to set up.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

neilmcl wrote: »

As I thought, your primary drive, the one with a plastic cover and tab is a SATA drive. You also have am additional M2 slot so you could have either if you wanted (or both). You could keep your exiting HDD where it is, purely for storage, and install a M2 SSD to boot up and run Windows.

Thank you! Would I still need to do the W10 swap to SSD and then change the boot up order in bios?
Do I need any further cables to get the Ssd
installed?

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Sorry, does the M2 slot fit the same SSD as the one in the link on Amazon?

arciere

Before you buy any m.2 drive, double check which m.2 slot you have.

It can be PCI-E, it can be SATA, it can be 2260 or 2280. Lots of different variants, and some are not compatible with one another.
Checking the manual is the safest thing to do. In doubt, just buy a 2.5" SSD drive, which is just a SATA drive.

neilmcl

neilmcl wrote: »

As I thought, your primary drive, the one with a plastic cover and tab is a SATA drive. You also have am additional M2 slot so you could have either if you wanted (or both). You could keep your exiting HDD where it is, purely for storage, and install a M2 SSD to boot up and run Windows.

Sorry scrub that, it doesn't look like you have an M2 slot, that empty slot is a spare memory bay. I didn't enlarge the image when I first saw it, apologies.

arciere

Can you take a picture of the m.2 slot?