Adding SSD to Dell XPS-8900

Hi,

Please find the below answers for your questions.

• Is the SSD I intend to purchase compatible with this desktop?

Yes, if a 3.5 inch HDD adapter or caddy is purchased which can installed on the system.

• If not, why (ie, what should I look for in an alternate)? And what is a good alternative to the SSD I'm proposing. 

SSD are compatible

• Does the XPS 8900 come with spare power and SATA for a second drive?

There are 4 SATA connectors on the system board. If one is used for hard drive and the other for optical drive then two SATA ports should be free. You should have extra SATA power connectors if not then you can purchase Y jack SATA power connector from local computer store.

• Do I need a 3.5" mounting adapter?

Yes

I purchased an OCZ TR150 960GB SSD and installed it into the Dell XPS 8900 with a mounting adapter. I then cloned the hard drive to the SSD and attempted to boot from it. Due to the Dell XPS BIOS / UEFI approach and perhaps their recovery partition configuration, the computer will not recognize the SSD when its one of the two drives that are installed. I see A TON of complaints about this in the forum so I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Is anyone aware if there is a common, reliable solution here?

Hi,

I would suggest you to remove the original Dell shipped hard drive from the system and only connect the SSD to the system to check if it detects in the BIOS.

Also, format the SSD and rebuild the partition to check if it detects on the computer.

Try this. I did similar steps, but did not take notes. This seems very close to what I did in order to get a cloned SSD to boot.

It should go without saying but I'll say it again anyway. BACK UP YOUR DATA.

from here:

tntconseil.com/.../

UEFI boot fix (after HDD to SSD migration)

Posted on 16 January, 2014 by admin

This procedure explains how to fix a drive ghosted (or cloned) when it has UEFI enabled.

Please not that this was done using Windows 8.

I’ve tested this procedure with SSD and HDD, both of them working fine after.

To clone, you can use Ghost (with full disk clone) or EaseUs ToDo Backup (Free) , as demonstrated here:

Boot with Windows 8 UEFI media

(windows 7 is similar)

After choosing language options, you’ll be able to click “repair my computer”

Select the “troubleshoot” menu, then “advanced”, then “Command Prompt”

Find the UEFI partition

on the command prompt, type “Diskpart”

on the diskpart> prompt, type “sel disk 0” (number zero),

then “list vol” to list the partition on your drive

Look for the partition formated in  “FAT 32” with no letter assigned

Select the partition using “sel vol n”

assign a letter using “assign letter=b:”

Enter these commands to fix UEFI issue after migrating and HDD to an SSD over windows

Enter these commands to fix UEFI issue after migrating and HDD to an SSD over windows

NOTE:  If you don’t see any FAT32 partition, just do this command:

bootrec /RebuildBcd

Then reboot.  You should be good to go.

Fix Windows file

Now exit dispart using “exit”

type “cd /d b:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot”

type “bootrec /fixboot”

Rename the BCD file, type “ren BCD BCD.bak”

Recreate the BCD file, type “bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-us /s b: /f ALL”

replace the “en-us” with your language settings

Type “Exit” to quit and return to the troubleshoot screen, then turn off.

Reboot and it should be working.