XPS 8900, clone/remove HDD to SSD?

I looked at the motherboard layout in the Service Manual and cannot picture what could obstruct the SATA ports. There appears to be a total of five SATA ports grouped in two locations. 

You don't have to remove the HDD in order to clone it. Just connect the new SSD to one of the unused SATA ports and use something like Macrium Reflect Free Edition to clone the HDD, then disconnect the HDD and connect the SSD to the SATA port that was being used by the HDD.

Thank you.

Afraid I don't know how to use Macrium Reflect Free Edition.

Better take a picture of that 'girder' inside the 8900, never seen anything quite like it.

Will update.

Here are some pictures of the 8900 interior.

You can see the blue SATA cable snakes back & down, behind the GeForce panel, so the SATA sockets will be obscured by this panel, I can't see them at all.

It's an old disc drive, it has the 8900 going at a snail's pace.

Is there an instructional video for the cloning software please?

Many thanks.GeForce Panel8900 XPS InteriorHDD Sata cable

We can't see your images until they are approved by the moderator. 

As far as an instructional video, there are several on YouTube. Go to YouTube and search 'clone disk with macrium reflect free'. Depending upon the SSD brand you purchase, some offer free cloning software that can be downloaded. For example, Samsung SSDs offer a free download of Samsung Data Migration software that can be used to clone your HDD.

Thank you.

I must have your advice regarding the obscured SATA sockets please, I cannot proceed otherwise.

It appears to me that there is a black plastic support bracket that supports the end of the GeForce video card. In some cases this bracket is optional. I think you refer to it as the GeForce panel. In the Service Manual, there is a procedure for removing the graphics card bracket on page 30. Once you remove the bracket you should be able to access the SATA ports on the motherboard behind the bracket. It also appears to me that the bracket can be removed and still leave the power cables connected to the graphics card.

OK I see it.

Will update - with thanks.

SSD now arrived, will fit it over next couple of days & update.

Have now downloaded Macrium 7

1). It shows a red partition, should this concern me?

2). Should I disconnect the DVD-Rom drive please, since Macrium also sees this as a hard drive?

3). The mix of FAT & NTFS formats - is this a good thing, or should they all be the same format?

Getting a slew of 'black screen' instances on boot, hopefully setting the screen to 'off never' will sort that.

Thanks

 "I suggest you download the Macrium Reflect User Guide. On page 109, there is a partition similar to yours in red. "

Thanks, I see it.

Why is it red please - & it is checked, all the others aren't?

"I don't see [dvd-rom drive] in the image you posted. Perhaps Macrium sees it as a hard drive because you have a CD/DVD in the drive?"

Thank you.

This is the 'LITEON' disc drive - there is no cd/dvd in it, I checked.

Thanks. I'll leave them all checked - if there's anything I don't want, I can delete it on the cloned drive.

The image in the manual is an example of selecting a partition to image. The partition that is red is checked because it is selected as the partition to image. When you run Macrium Reflect it automatically places a check on all the partitions, you have to uncheck the ones you don't want to clone or image.