XPS 8910, migrating Windows from HDD to SSD

@andrewc20 The first thing I would do is disable the M.2 caching of the HDD in Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IntelRST) and then reboot the system. Next, I would clone the HDD to the SSD. When cloning is completed, I would disconnect the HDD before booting from the SSD. If everything is working with the SSD, I would switch the Windows installation on the SSD from RAID to AHCI using the following procedure: http://triplescomputers.com/blog/uncategorized/solution-switch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/

Note that in the procedure the BIOS change from RAID to AHCI is not made until step 4.

I would then make sure everything is working with the SSD in AHCI mode. Finally, if everything is working with the SSD, I would reconnect the HDD, boot from the SSD using the F12 Boot Menu, and then reinitialize the HDD to use as additional storage. Up to this point, before reinitializing the HDD, the HDD is your backup in case you run into a problem. I would use DiskPart and the following procedure to reinitialize the HDD: https://macrorit.com/partition-magic-manager/initialize-disk-gpt-mbr-from-cmd-diskpart.html

When using DiskPart, make sure you identify the HDD using the 'list disk' command and select the HDD to reinitialize using the 'select disk' command. You don't want to reinitialize the wrong disk.

hello Vic, 

Thank you very much for your detailed reply, i will be sure to follow the steps you listed closely, however when trying to install the intel rapid storage technology application, it gave me this instead, do i just "delete volume" to get rid of the array ? as cache mode is already off however the system will not boot with the raid still setup. would it be safe for me to clone my C drive ( HDD ) to a new SSD ? 

thank you so much for your time

@andrewc20 I don't have experience with Optane memory and the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application, but it appears that Intel Rapid Storage Technology has reached the end of life. I think what you need to do can be done with the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application. You should probably look at the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application Installation and User Guide. I looked at the M Series User Guide and it appears to me that you need to Disable Acceleration (Section 5.1.2). Also, you should look at section  7.3.4, Media Replacement Procedure, because what you are planning is basically similar to replacing the Optane memory except you are just disabling it. 

hello @Vic384 , thank you so much for your reply, yeah if only i have the "disable" option available, also this m.2 is not an official intel optane memory drive so it doesn't get recognized in the application like that too, my only concern is once i hit "delete volume" on the m.2 drive my windows would stop working that instant.

@andrewc20 , hi, I see that @Vic384 has guided you to a good start there.  I also notice that your current SSD is a 30 GB SSD, which is very small to handle OS and programs.  The least cost upgrade could be done to your XPS would be replacing the SSD with a 256 GB NVME to handle OS and all applications.  Your current hard drive will be configure for user files and data after back up and reset.

As a standard precaution, back up all your files to an external drive before attempt to work on your machine.  Then open up the machine to verify the current configuration before purchasing new parts.  According to Dell specs, your M.2 slot is NVME 3.0 x2, it helps to find the right part that work best for you.   If you glance through the forums, you will find that a clean install had resolved many issues and restored the performance for many.  Just a thought, unless you have reason to clone your drive (programs that can't reinstall).

@andrewc20 You indicated that instead of installing Intel Rapid Storage Technology, Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application was installed. I wonder if you could download and install Intel Rapid Storage Technology for the Dell support site. Since you don't have Optane memory, what application did you use to cache the HDD, and can't you use that application to stop the M.2 SSD from caching?

hello @Vic384 , thank you so much for replying again, i just realized this morning, i think when i first got this PC the intel rapid storage technology application was on it and the cache was all setup by Dell ( i honestly did not know about the existence of the m.2 cache until i wanted to upgrade my OS drive to a SSD) , but somehow it was removed by me or another family member and now when i tried reinstalling the application, it couldn't because the intel RST drivers ( might have been updated along with windows updates )  i have in the pc now is newer than the installer's driver, so it would not allow me to install an older driver. 

now my dilemma is, would windows still work if i click "delete volume" on the m.2 drive ? what if the m.2 drive fail ? its already been 5 years, could i just replace it with another low cost m.2 drive just to keep my machine running as it is now ?

i'm really sorry causing you all this trouble and im really thankful and really appreciative that you're still replying

@andrewc20 It seems to me the safest way is to disable acceleration because that would stop caching the HDD. I am not sure about 'delete volume' atthough it seems to me that it should not allow you to delete the volume if acceleration was still enabled. Are you sure the HDD is still being cached? Does it appear that the operating system boots faster than it normally would if there was only a HDD? 

I know this would be more work, but instead of cloning the HDD, you could remove the HDD and the M.2 SSD and install your new SSD and then do a fresh install of Windows. Removing the HDD would preserve the data you have on it and after you get the new SSD working you could install the HDD and recover your data, although you would have to reinstall all your applications on the new SSD. You could use Dell's OS Recovery Tool to reinstall Windows or you could use Microsoft Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB drive. Windows activation should not be required if you have a Microsoft account for your cureent installation.