XPS 8930, 2nd SSD?

Yes, you can install a 2nd SSD, but the type of SSD (SATA or M.2) depends upon whether or not you have a free SATA port or M.2 slot available.

"It has Win 10 on it so will it be bootable?" I am not sure what you are asking. Are you saying the SSD you want to install already has Windows 10 on it? If that is what you are saying, it is not recommended that you install that way but install by cloning your current installation or doing a fresh installation.

The 2nd ssd came from another dell pc and it had the win 10 files on it. If it is bootable won't I have a 2nd OS to boot to? It is a Toshiba.

ssd #1 which is currently installed has my Win 10 OS on it.  Its properties are Device SCSI\Disk&Ven_NVMe&Prod_KXG60ZNV256G_NVM\5&1c16123c&0&000000.  This is a Toshiba 256 GB. Since the other installed drive is a hdd and it is a SATA, I assume that the ssd is what you refer to as M.2.  If so, does the XPS 8930 come with a 2nd M.2 slot?

You may be able to boot the SSD that came from another Dell PC in your XPS 8930 but you will get errors because it will not have the correct drivers, etc. for your XPS 8930.

The Toshiba 256GB is a M.2 NVMe SSD and already occupies the M.2 card slot SSD slot in your XPS 8930. There is another M.2 card slot but it is for the WiFi and Bluetooth combo card. If your 2nd SSD is a 2.5" SATA SSD you can install it using a SATA data cable and re-initialize it to use as backup storage. If your 2nd SSD has more storage capacity than your current M.2 SSD and you want to make it your boot drive, you will have to clone your M.2 SSD to the 2nd SSD or install Windows on the 2nd SSD. Whether you clone or install Windows on the 2nd SSD, because of the UEFI BIOS you will have to boot using F12 to select the boot drive from the Boot Menu or remove the M.2 SSD. There is no way to select the boot priority in the BIOS.

whether

You need a SATA III data cable, one with a right-angle connector to prevent interference with closing the side panel. The data cable connects to an unused SATA port (SATA1, SATA2, SATA3, or SATA4) on the motherboard. See the system-board components picture on page 12 of the service manual.

Found extra power cables on my 8930 but no additional data cables.  What data cable do I need to add an older SATA drive in the second 8930 bay, and where does the cable attach to the 8930?  Thanks

Thank you sir for your help!  The Dell tech support people couldn't tell me that!

You cannot have two M.2 NVMe SSD cards on this motherboard--that would require 8  PCIE data lanes that are not available.  I tried by buying a card like the one below. The system would not boot.

You can have a one M.2 NVMe SSD card and one or more SATA SSD cards.

@dperry112   You cannot have two M.2 NVMe SSD cards on this motherboard--that would require 8 PCIE data lanes that are not available.

That is interesting. In my situation, I "moved" my M.2 SSD from the mobo to the PCIe slot with the aforementioned adapter. I am not sure if someone marked the adapter method as a "solution" before they actually got it to work. Now I have an excuse to buy a Samsung EVO 970 to test the two M.2 concept.

What is your source for the "would require 8 PCIE data lanes that are not available"?

Another user on this board provided the information. There are motherboards that support 2 pcie name ssd’s but this is not one of them.  Anyway, don’t let me stop you but I think you will not be able to boot.

@Anonymous   Did you manage to test if you can have two M.2 NVMe SSD cards  using the adapter?  I'm interested in knowing if this is a possible solution.  Thanks!  

@TheDavids   Did you manage to test if you can have two M.2 NVMe SSD cards using the adapter? 

I have not tried. As I indicated above, I "moved" my M.2 SSD from the mobo to the PCIe slot with an adapter, and that works perfectly. I do not need more than 2 TB at this time. However, my homies over in the Alienware forum have successfully added a second M.2 SSD in an Aurora R7 using an adapter, and he says he can boot from either drive.

That discussion is here   two M.2 SSD 

@Dell630i However, my homies over in the Alienware forum have successfully added a second M.2 SSD in an Aurora R7 using an adapter, and he says he can boot from either drive.

Thank you!

This is utterly incorrect.

i have just added a 2nd NVME SSD via a PCI adaptor. It was a simple job and both NVME SSD’s are working perfectly. 

I know this is an old thread but I can confirm this is possible on an XPS 8930 as I’ve just done it.