Question Can i replace my laptops ssd?

[effable]

Hey! My laptop (asus gl553ve) has a 128gb ssd. I bought a samsung 970 evo with 256gb to replace it. It fits, I know this.
Windows 10 is on the current ssd and idk what to do before replacing? Can I just replace it and be able to install windows to it? Will it give me an option for that. Will the stuff in the Hdd stay?
Can I clone my current ssd to new one?
Ty

 

[Eximo]

Yes, you could just treat it as a new drive.
Yes, you should be able to clone the drive using Samsung's provided tools.
Nothing should happen to a hard drive if you choose not to do anything to it. For safety, and lack of confusion, you can remove the hard drive during cloning or Windows installation and install it after you have a working system.

 

[effable]

Idk how to do all that haha

 

[Eximo]

Samsung provides a data migration tool either with their drives or free to download as long as your target drive is Samsung. The basics of that is to connect the two drives to a single computer for the data transfer. If you are unable to install both drives at the same time, then there are data migration kits that will let you connect one of the drives via USB.

That tool will handle the the drive cloning and you should be done from there.

https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools

If you are doing a fresh install, you will need a copy of the Windows installer. You can get this from Microsoft. They have a tool for downloading to a USB flash drive.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 (The second option)

Your existing key should work with your hardware. If not manual activation by phone may be required.

Aside from the physical swapping of the drives, not much else to tell you.

 

[effable]

I cant have both in my laptop at once. I only have a slot for one ssd

 

[Eximo]

Then you need either this if you have SATA based drives: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...b&qid=1551302373&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

This if you have M.2 SATA drives: https://www.amazon.com/External-Con...ds=m.2+to+usb&qid=1551302427&s=gateway&sr=8-4

And this if you have NVMe drives (though it might be more cost effective to take it to a shop at that point):
https://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD...ateway&sprefix=m.2+NVME+to+usb,aps,212&sr=8-6

Now the 970 Evo should be NVMe so you'll need two NVMe ports somehow. If you want to keep your other drive as an external one, shop around for an NVMe enclosure you like. (That was the cheaper one I could find, but it seems rather big)

NVMe USB enclosures are pretty new and I don't have one, so your results may vary. It is possible the Samsung drive won't be recognized through such a connection.

Shops with desktop motherboards with multiple NVMe ports should be able to clone it for you though.

 

[popatim]

Just image the SSD to the HDD and then restore that image to the new SSD.
Install Macrium Reflect, it's free.
Within Reflect Create a rescue flash drive, then image the SSD to HDD. Make a note of where you stored it.
Shutdown & swap in the new SSD.
Boot up with the Rescue USB and restore the image to the new SSD. You can even expand the partition to fill the larger space.