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vertigo2712
1 Rookie
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3 Posts
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January 18th, 2026 19:41
XPS 8940, replace SSD boot disk
I am getting SMART error warnings on my XPS8940 showing that the SSD drive (which contains my c: drive and boot partition) is about to fail. I have a replacement SSD drive I can install and I have a backup of the data on the drive but I'm not sure of how I can restore it to the new disk once I have replaced the drive.
Can someone point me to step-by-step instructions? I assume I'm going to create some boot disk containing the Windows 11 setup files, boot from it and then use that to restore the backup but I'm not 100% sure of the exact steps and would appreciate some guidance so I don't lose all my setup.
thank you in advance
(edited)
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Posted February 10th, 2026 05:56
Want to upgrade SSD from 500GB to 1TB.
Need to know what 1TB m.2 NVME SSDs will be compatible with XPS 8940.
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Posted February 11th, 2026 04:23
M.2 2230/2280 solid-state drive PCIe Gen3.0x4 NVMe, up to 32 Gbps Up to 2 TB
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Posted February 11th, 2026 04:29
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Posted February 11th, 2026 04:37
I wondered if that might be the case.
Crucial P3/P5 Plus: High performance and reliability Crucial.com.
Samsung 970 EVO Plus: Excellent, reliable Gen3 drive.
WD Blue SN570/SN580: Good budget-friendly NVMe options.
WD Black SN770/SN850X: High-speed, compatible options (though Gen4, they work at Gen3 speeds).
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Posted February 11th, 2026 08:17
Finding any of those within my budget is essentially impossible. How about this? --
Western Digital 1TB WD Green SN3000 NVMe Internal SSD Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280
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Posted February 11th, 2026 20:21
@JNagarya1 Yes, it'll work Both XPS 8940 and the NVME you want utilize M-Key, which is a slot in the NVME drive.
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Posted February 11th, 2026 20:41
I queried B&H Photo with the basics: Dell XPS 8940 and 1 TB. They responded with a multi-page list of, apparently, every M.2 NVME SSD in stock, in every size. The list includes, as example, the various Samsung 990s. I'm trying to stay as close to Gen. 3 as possible to avoid heat issues.
And they asked "What size" I'm looking for.
I responded by quoting those basics I'd already provided:
Dell XPS 8940 and 1 TB.
Hopefully they respond with list of only 1TB.
Overall I'm getting the impression that many more will work with the XPS 8940 than those you originally listed.
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Posted February 11th, 2026 21:40
"I'm getting the impression that many more will work with the XPS 8940 than those you originally listed." True. It's impossible for me to list all of them as there's quite a few brands out there.
Unless you find a better deal on one of the other ones, I think you'd be happy with the WD Green that you picked out.
Also, Gen 4 is backwards compatible with Gen 3.
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Posted February 11th, 2026 22:00
yes, I'm aware that Gens 4 and 5 are backwards compatible. But there's also the issue that the 5, especially, runs hot.
B&H responded with a sane 1 TB list, and I reduced it to only these brands/models. I like the looks (ad price) of the Green, but don't know how it compares with these options. (I removed the B&H prices to save space.) --
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Samsung 1TB 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2
Samsung 1TB 990 EVO Plus PCIe 5.0 x2 M.2
Samsung 1TB 9100 PRO PCIe 5.0 M.2
WD 1TB WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe PCIe 4.0
SanDisk 1TB SSD PLUS M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
WD 1TB Blue SN5100 NVMe PCIe 4.0
WD 1TB WD_BLACK SN7100 NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2
Crucial 1TB T710 NVMe PCIe 5.0 M.2
Crucial 1TB P310 PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2
Crucial 1TB P510 PCIe 5.0 M.2
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I believe a limitation in some WDs is lack of DRAM.
bradthetechnut
9 Technologist
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9649 Posts
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Posted January 19th, 2026 23:38
Yes. Once cloned, be sure not to boot from the new SSD while it's external. Otherwise, Microsoft may corrupt the drive. Microsoft doesn't seem to want external boot drives being plugged into just any PC.