Question Bad HDD

[TheHabzie]

Hey so I have an acer Nitro 5 laptop and it appears my HDD has failed. I'm looking into replacing it but noticed I have two extra slots for m.2 SSD. My question is, could I install an m.2 ssd, install windows on it and run my laptop with the intent of collecting all of my files from the bad HDD?

 

[Gam3r01]

That wouldnt be a bad idea to attempt recovery from a failing HDD.
Just make sure to take the HDD out while you install windows on the SSD, sometimes windows likes to put a piece of the OS install on the secondary drive as well.

 

[Lafong]

My question is, could I install an m.2 ssd, install windows on it and run my laptop with the intent of collecting all of my files from the bad HDD?

Yes.....if I understand you correctly. Maybe I don't.

 

[TheHabzie]

That wouldnt be a bad idea to attempt recovery from a failing HDD.
Just make sure to take the HDD out while you install windows on the SSD, sometimes windows likes to put a piece of the OS install on the secondary drive as well.

Ok thank you. I would just replace the it outright with a new SATA 2.5 but I can't risk losing all those files as I have client files on there as well. Thank you for the quick reply, much appreciated.

 

[TheHabzie]

Yes.....if I understand you correctly. Maybe I don't.

Just for clarification, I have a 1tb SATA HDD installed which is going bad, next to it are two slots for m.2 drives. I was just hoping to add the m.2 drives and install windows on one in order to get into my laptop and transfer my files over to the new drive in order to replace the failing drive eventually.

 

[Lafong]

You can certainly put in an M.2 and clean install Windows to it.

You say "get into my laptop and transfer my files over to the new drive in order to replace the failing drive eventually".

Not sure exactly what that means.

"Transfer my files". What files? Installed applications? Pictures of your cat?

More detail needed.

 

[SkyNetRising]

next to it are two slots for m.2 drives. I was just hoping to add the m.2 drives and install windows on one

One of those M.2 slots is probably for wifi module. SSD can not be installed in that one.
Also make sure, your M.2 SSD is compatible with your laptop.
There are SATA M.2 drives and PCIE M.2 drives. Not sure, if your laptop supports both.
May depend on full model name of the laptop. "Acer Nitro 5" is not a full model name BTW.

 

[TheHabzie]

You can certainly put in an M.2 and clean install Windows to it.

You say "get into my laptop and transfer my files over to the new drive in order to replace the failing drive eventually".

Not sure exactly what that means.

"Transfer my files". What files? Installed applications? Pictures of your cat?

More detail needed.

Client website files. HTML, CSS, JS/Node.JS, stuff like that. But at any rate, it appears my misfortune has taken a turn for the better. I just found a guy right by me who will sell me an HDD for 35 bucks and transfer all my files for free.

 

[USAFRet]

Client website files. HTML, CSS, JS/Node.JS, stuff like that. But at any rate, it appears my misfortune has taken a turn for the better. I just found a guy right by me who will sell me an HDD for 35 bucks and transfer all my files for free.

And it may already be too late.
Your original drive might already be toast.

Why was there not a good backup of this? Especially when concerning "client files".

 

[DSzymborski]

Do you have a second PC? It might be easier and more straightforward to simply put the old hard drive into a dock and connect it to another PC via USB.

And I second USAFRet's notion. Whether this story has a happy or sad ending, please make sure to have a proper backup regimen in the future; it's important basic upkeep that comes with PC ownership! it's always important, but doubly so when it's business-related stuff rather than personal things. I have a lot of peace of mind because when I'm doing some data consulting, anything I save in my work folder is instantly sent to both my backup server and the cloud.

 

[TheHabzie]

And it may already be too late.
Your original drive might already be toast.

Why was there not a good backup of this? Especially when concerning "client files".

Well because I'm new to web development and I'm an idiot and didn't make any backups. Lesson learned.