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September 17th, 2019 01:00
Quick M.2 SSD upgrade question
I want to upgrade the M.2 SSD on my Alienware Aurora R8 as 256gb is just not big enough, what's the best way to do a fresh install of windows on a larger hard drive and is it possible to recreate the hidden partitions so the dell F12 support assist recovery still works once I've upgraded the hard drive?
What happens to Windows 10 activation after I upgrade the hard drive.
Thanks
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amstel78
2 Intern
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402 Posts
1
September 17th, 2019 03:00
Install a program called Macrium Reflect as it's free for personal use. Create an image of your current 256GB M.2 drive on an external USB drive or internal hard drive if you have one. Make sure you select all partitions when creating the image. Also create a bootable USB stick with Macrium's version of Windows PE as detailed here:
http://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/How_to/Rescue/Create_a_Standard_Windows_PE_Rescue_Environment.htm
When ready, remove your old M.2 and replace with a new one. Boot using the Windows PE rescue environment. Select the option to restore from image and after a few moments, you should be good to go. Macrium will restore all hidden and logical partitions onto the new drive.
U2CAMEB4ME
6 Operator
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6.2K Posts
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September 17th, 2019 06:00
Welcome to the Dell Community @srome23
Depending on your specific needs and configuration you could just install a second larger HDD/SSD???
Your computer supports one of the following configurations:
Alienware Aurora R8 Setup and Specifications:
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/04/alienware-aurora-r8-desktop/alienware-aurora-r8-setup-and-specifications/storage?guid=guid-2dc1db57-ee24-4137-84bf-aece066a8ae9&lang=en-us
Then you could just use the 256GB M.2 SSD for boot and apps.
Then setup the new HDD/SSD as your "Default" storage drive.
No matter what you choose W10 COA is Digitally signed in the BIOS and should automatically activate.
Best regards,
U2