Question How Would I Properly Install a Secondary Used M.2?

[Kirbyarm]

So I have a new system with a new M.2 (Samsung 980 Pro - 2TB), just got Windows 10 installed onto it and all setup and working and such.

I've migrated a lot of data over from my previous M.2 (Samsung 970 Evo Plus - 2TB).. but I've done so using an enclosure/adapter device that I plug the M.2 into and connect it via standard USB port. While I've had no issues with this setup, it uses a USB port permanently (I like my externals to be accessible at all times), and could be creating other problems with the drive physically that I'm not aware of.

So I wanted to just slap it into the motherboard in a different socket.. but since it also has a Windows 10 installation on it and I've heard from other techs on these forums about watching out having multiple M.2s with Windows installed on them or it could cause some significant boot problems.

I was wondering if anyone could elaborate on these potential problems or if it's as straightforward as just plug and play and I don't have to worry about a thing? Will it lower or otherwise negatively affect performance for anything else during PC operation?

I've never had two internals connected at the same time before, so any advice or warnings would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Lafong]

It shouldn't be a problem at all.

You would need to confirm that the old M2 is in fact compatible with the specific M2 port on the board...you wouldn't want to connect an NVMe M2 to a M2 SATA port. I think some M2 ports can accept both SATA and NVME?

If your new M2 is doing well as your boot drive, the old M2 should appear as some other drive letter when connected internally.

At that point, you should be able to format it as you see fit and use it as storage.

You could format it externally if you wish.

The "don't have 2 drives connected" thing applies during the Windows installation phase, but I've never had it be a problem other than that. I've had 3 internals constantly connected for 10 years or more.

 

[USAFRet]

So I wanted to just slap it into the motherboard in a different socket.. but since it also has a Windows 10 installation on it and I've heard from other techs on these forums about watching out having multiple M.2s with Windows installed on them or it could cause some significant boot problems.

Make sure it is not in the boot order, and wipe it clean.
Use as desired.

All of my systems in the last 15 years have had multiple drives installed. Currently, 6x.