[SOLVED] Problem expanding storage for an affordable price

[M316]

So this laptop(Gateway Creator series 15.6) has a 256 NVME drive and 8gb ddr4 RAM. Now obviously since this is a supposed gaming laptop it should be upgradable. My main concern however is with the storage, so there is an empty space for 2.5 SATA drive allegedly but there is no tray or sata cable. Now if this was the problem only it would have been an easy fix since u can buy these separately and there is a small mount on the motherboard top left of the battery where u can attach the sata cable to it but here comes the next problem and that is there is no screws to mount on the laptop so putting a tray would be useless since u can't mount it. So are there any solutions that are much easier before eventually I settle on the much more expensive NVME drive?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

not sure what you mean by "more expensive NVME drive" since you are dealing with 2.5" what kind of expansion are you looking to do?
SSD expansion or HDD expansion?
What capacity and for what price?
As for the laptop supporting additional 2.5", there should already be a tray in the empty space to the left of the battery in the picture.
The tray should come with a SATA power/data combo connector built into it as well and already be attached to the proper connector on the motherboard for it in the laptop.

Did you buy this brand new or used?
It looks like someone has already been inside of it, since that space looks to have been marked with a red marker indicating the empty space.
If you bought this new, you should take it up with customer support about a warranty replacement on the 2.5" drive cage and connector.
If you bought this used from somewhere, then you're basically out of luck without going online and trying to find the right drive cage and connector to fit and plug into your laptop.
You have a second M.2 slot though, and it looks to also support NVME, so you could easily expand storage that way.

While it costs a bit more than some cheaper low end HDD storage, it's definitely better storage overall.

If you live in the states, you can get M.2 storage starting at 500GB for about $50 and 1TB for $90

 

[DSzymborski]

In similar situations, I've made do quite well with some double-sided foam tape.

 

[Gam3r01]

You can usually find certain M.2 drives on sale for just about the same price as SATA (intel 660p for example, or spend a bit more for a WD 750), and just make use of your second M.2 slot.
Alternatively, DSz has the right idea with sticky tape since SSD are not very sensitive to impacts and movement.

 

[M316]

not sure what you mean by "more expensive NVME drive" since you are dealing with 2.5" what kind of expansion are you looking to do?
SSD expansion or HDD expansion?
What capacity and for what price?
As for the laptop supporting additional 2.5", there should already be a tray in the empty space to the left of the battery in the picture.
The tray should come with a SATA power/data combo connector built into it as well and already be attached to the proper connector on the motherboard for it in the laptop.

Did you buy this brand new or used?
It looks like someone has already been inside of it, since that space looks to have been marked with a red marker indicating the empty space.
If you bought this new, you should take it up with customer support about a warranty replacement on the 2.5" drive cage and connector.
If you bought this used from somewhere, then you're basically out of luck without going online and trying to find the right drive cage and connector to fit and plug into your laptop.
You have a second M.2 slot though, and it looks to also support NVME, so you could easily expand storage that way.

While it costs a bit more than some cheaper low end HDD storage, it's definitely better storage overall.

If you live in the states, you can get M.2 storage starting at 500GB for about $50 and 1TB for $90

1- 1 TB HDD, I wanted to buy a 1 TB worth of space and the reason I want hdd is cos nvme in my country at least is 3 times the cost

2- I bought it brand new from Walmart and also this picture isn't mine it is the laptops insides from reviews and stuff, I didn't open it yet

3- My problem still stands there is no screws mount to put a tray, and no from all unboximgs they don't support trays or sata cables, so even if put a tray and a sata cable it still wouldn't mount due to screw places to put on. Also worthy to note, I have never seen anyone try and put 2.5 inch drive inside so basically I am kinda like the rat in the experiment in the experiment but I would have taken the risk if there is no such hindrances.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

Oh well, if that picture isn't your picture, then you don't know for certain that you don't have a drive cage already installed into the laptop.
And as for where the drive cage mounts to, that would be pass through screws that pass through it from the laptop casing itself, and would also be attached to the top left corner of the battery where you can see there is a screw hole there.

Since you haven't provided the exact model number of your laptop I cannot confirm if it actually is supposed to support 2.5" expansion storage or not, and cannot confirm if the picture you've provided is of your exact model therefore I cannot confirm if you yourself actually have a second M.2 slot inside your system or not.
I can only assume it is supposed to support 2.5" since you said it yourself and am assuming you looked into it correctly for your exact model of laptop.
And I was also saying things about the second M.2 slot because I assumed that the picture you provided was one you took yourself rather than pulled off the internet.

So at this point, offering information and/or advice about upgrading storage on your laptop that has been provided so far is now useless until you provide us the exact model name and number of your laptop so we can look up the correct spec sheets.

 

[M316]

Oh well, if that picture isn't your picture, then you don't know for certain that you don't have a drive cage already installed into the laptop.
And as for where the drive cage mounts to, that would be pass through screws that pass through it from the laptop casing itself, and would also be attached to the top left corner of the battery where you can see there is a screw hole there.

Since you haven't provided the exact model number of your laptop I cannot confirm if it actually is supposed to support 2.5" expansion storage or not, and cannot confirm if the picture you've provided is of your exact model therefore I cannot confirm if you yourself actually have a second M.2 slot inside your system or not.

So at this point, offering information and/or advice about upgrading storage on your laptop that has been provided so far is now useless until you provide us the exact model name and number of your laptop so we can look up the correct spec sheets.

This is the stock photo of the laptop inside, many reviews had the same photo, no cage or cable, so for convenience I got one off Google that has better quality and looks exactly the same as the rest, also they unboxed the laptop and then opened so. And for the model of this laptop it is (GWTN156-3BK). Yes there's is an M.2 i saw people upgrading it and it was a cake walk, can't say the same for the 2.5 inch drive.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

OK, so as far as I can dig up, no, this laptop model never once has had support for a 2.5" upgrade.
So where you got your "supposedly" from has given false information.
This device was built for M.2 storage upgrades only.

I am trying my best to locate if this board has a thin header connection port on it for adding a 2.5" SATA connector, but it's not looking good.

If you want integrated storage, then you'll have to look into M.2 options.

If you want cheap storage, then you will need to go the route of external hard drive using USB 3.0 or Type C (the Type C port is located on the back)

If you want to look into external storage on your own that is fine, otherwise I might be able to help if you tell me what country you're in.

Otherwise, if looking on your own you have two options:
#1. Buy a pre manufactured external drive, more seamless and integrated into itself with warranties and such but tend to cost a bit more than option #2 depending on where you live and what is available for good prices.

#2. Buy an external hard drive enclosure and the drive separately, then put it together yourself.
Doing it this way can possibly be cheaper than option #1 depending on where you live.

But also, it allows you a few couple of freedoms:
#1. to decide between 2.5" and 3.5" as your hard drive format.
3.5" will be thicker than 2.5" but, the benefit is that you can get larger capacities at lower cost compared to a 2.5" hard drive of the same capacity.
(For example, a 2TB 3.5" drive can end up costing about the same as a 1TB 2.5" drive making it the same price but definitely giving more storage.....)

#2. In the event that the hard drive starts going bad and because of age and/or heavy usage, you can simply back it up, and swap out the drive itself with another one without needing to buy a whole new all in one unit, allowing you to reuse the enclosure, or even, use the enclosure as an adapter of sorts and have more than one drive storing data and having them put away in some kind of storage container and you can simply swap them out when you need to get to different data (not hot swappable though, drive needs to be properly ejected and unplugged first)

 

[M316]

Yeah I was thinking going the external hdd way but my main concern that it may get corrupt one day, but it is what it is, also my country is Egypt.

OK, so as far as I can dig up, no, this laptop model never once has had support for a 2.5" upgrade.
So where you got your "supposedly" from has given false information.
This device was built for M.2 storage upgrades only.

I am trying my best to locate if this board has a thin header connection port on it for adding a 2.5" SATA connector, but it's not looking good.

If you want integrated storage, then you'll have to look into M.2 options.

If you want cheap storage, then you will need to go the route of external hard drive using USB 3.0 or Type C (the Type C port is located on the back)

If you want to look into external storage on your own that is fine, otherwise I might be able to help if you tell me what country you're in.

Otherwise, if looking on your own you have two options:
#1. Buy a pre manufactured external drive, more seamless and integrated into itself with warranties and such but tend to cost a bit more than option #2 depending on where you live and what is available for good prices.

#2. Buy an external hard drive enclosure and the drive separately, then put it together yourself.
Doing it this way can possibly be cheaper than option #1 depending on where you live.

But also, it allows you a few couple of freedoms:
#1. to decide between 2.5" and 3.5" as your hard drive format.
3.5" will be thicker than 2.5" but, the benefit is that you can get larger capacities at lower cost compared to a 2.5" hard drive of the same capacity.
(For example, a 2TB 3.5" drive can end up costing about the same as a 1TB 2.5" drive making it the same price but definitely giving more storage.....)

#2. In the event that the hard drive starts going bad and because of age and/or heavy usage, you can simply back it up, and swap out the drive itself with another one without needing to buy a whole new all in one unit, allowing you to reuse the enclosure, or even, use the enclosure as an adapter of sorts and have more than one drive storing data and having them put away in some kind of storage container and you can simply swap them out when you need to get to different data (not hot swappable though, drive needs to be properly ejected and unplugged first)