Upgrade or replace?

sydthebeat

Hi all, i would appreciate any advice anyone might want to offer on the following question

i have a HP Omen 870-160na desktop, which i use everyday for work. The PC is about 5 year sold at this stage.

https://support.hp.com/ie-en/document/c05352539

My biggest issue with it is the size of the SSD drive @ 119 GB. Its a struggle to keep enough space on it for upgrading, new software etc.

Ive loads of space on my SATA drive (only about 50% full)

im happy enough performace-wise with it. It gets fairly intensive usage with Autocad 2022, office 365 etc but ive no really issue how it handles multitasking

so my query, should i look to replace the whole machine?

can i update the SSD to a large drive? if i do this what happens to the software, windows etc that are on the existing c: ?

is it worth updating RAM?

thanks in advance for any suggestions

Spear

If you're not gaming, you don't need the latest and greatest.

A new SSD would be cheap, and there's plenty of software which will mirror your current drive contents on to the new one.

And more RAM would be cheap too, something that productivity software tends to like.

Cordell

The only thing is migrating to a larger SSD needs software that either costs as much as the new SSD, or free software like Clonezilla which is anything but user friendly - you need to go advanced mode to clone to a larger drive.

K.O.Kiki

You can just add a 1Tb SSD to the system as a 3rd drive.

Also +1 to RAM. You can get a 32GB kit for €79 + 16Gb kit for €40-45 + cheap 1Tb SSD for €60ish.

Just install the software there instead of to C:/

minitrue

If you follow their link you will see it only has 2 slots which support 4GB or 8GB DIMMs so upgrading to 2x8GB for 16GB is the only memory upgrade option.

I'd also say just clone onto a new decent 500GBish ssd but then again I also would just be doing it on a command line from any old live Linux usb so I appreciate my idea of user friendly might not match up with everyone else's ;) A quick look though suggests you could just use clonezilla in easy mode and then use windows own disk management to easily expand the partition into the free space.

sydthebeat

Thanks all, so upgrading the SSD and ram is the way to go? Thanks.

I didn't realize you could clone a whole drive and the software would continue to work without issue. Good to know.

How "easy" is that exactly?

Cordell

It's easy as connect the new SSD, boot Clonezilla from a bootable USB, clone and resize the old SSD, replace the old SSD with the new one, done. It's much easier and faster than setting up a new drive or a new PC with windows and all your software and files.

You need to be careful with Clonezilla parameters, use disk to disk cloning option, make double sure that source drive is the old one and destination is the new one. Then select the expert mode, set 2 and only 2 extra options, one for resizing the file system, the other for resizing proportionally the partition table.

The Continental Op

Check the make of SSD you propose to get and then see if they provide a free copy of a commercial cloning program.

For example with Crucial drives you can download Acronis for free https://www.acronis.com/en-gb/promotion/crucialhd-download/ and they have detailed instructions if you need them https://eu.crucial.com/support/ssd/ssd-install/ssd-install-steps/part-1-prepare

Then if you are cloning a laptop (not this case obviously) and need an USB to SSD connector then most of the Sabrent brand ones also have free Acronis cloning software https://sabrent.com/pages/acronis

Western Digital drives are also licenced to you a free version of Acronis https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/10346

Note the cloning software only works if you have the brand its linked to installed.

sydthebeat

Thank you very much both.

sydthebeat

hi all, two follow on questions if thats ok. im scrapping two old machines (towers) and i have the following hard drives:

are these all 3.5" sata drives?

can i get one external hard drive enclosure which will read each if these?

something like this?

https://pcmaestro.ie/product/orico-3-5-toolfree-hard-drive-enclosure-usb-3-0-sata-iii-hdd-ssd-caddy-case-reader-with-12v-power-adapter-support-auto-sleep-mode-on-windows-linux-mac/

also, are ddr3 2 x 8GB ram of use to anyone?

The Continental Op

I'm looking for some DDR3 memory so feel free to pm me a price including postage.

Your SATA hard drives will all work in an external caddy. This is a random one that came up as a sponsored listing on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tccmebius-TCC-S863-UK-Enclosure-Tool-free-Installation-Black/dp/B078M8DPH5/ . The one you listed is just as good. Only downside I find with those 3.5 inch enclosures is that you need another power socket as they all have a wall wort to power them.

If you computer has room you can always mount them internally or just hang them off a spare SATA port and SATA psu connection if you only need to connect them very occasionally.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120291397#Comment_120291397

Not worth keeping the small drives in my opinion..

The enclosures will work ok.

sydthebeat

hey lads, back again.... hopefully someone can tell me what im doing wrong trying to read these hard drives using a dynamode enclosure:

www.currys.ie/products/dynamode-2.5-usb-3.0-sata-hard-drive-enclosure-10159106.html

theres power going to the drives, ive connected them with usb 3 to usb 3 cable to teh PC... and im getting nothing. So im assuming theyre not plug and play?

i got a weird usb cable as part of the dynamode kit, but ive no idea what its to connect to.

any help would be appreciated please.

i want to try to consolidate the info on each drive onto one HD

Flinty997

Is this a new drive?

Spear

The one that's split into two, is a USB type B micro super speed. It's not that common, some external drive enclosures like to use them.

With the drive connected, check under Disk Management and see if it's being detected.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310001#Comment_120310001

no

ive 4 drives from old machines. i want to get some info (doc photos etc) off them and put them onto one drive

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310009#Comment_120310009

its not, ive checked a few time with different drives

Flinty997

SO you connected USB to USB and your using a AC power connector?

Your photo doesn't match the product photo. That said there probably lots of variation in these products.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310037#Comment_120310037

yeah teh link doesnt match teh product sent out.

https://www.ijtdirect.co.uk/product_detail/22337/Dynamode-3-5-SATA-USB-3-0-Hard-Disk-Enclosure/

this is closer to it, though its hard to make out the photo. essentially it has a AC power input, a read/write led indicator and a usb 3.0 port.

and yes, i connected usb 3.0 on the enclosuer to my usb port on the PC, and the ac power connector.

ive tried both a usb 3 to usb 3 cable, and ive tried a usb 2 to usb c as well

Flinty997

Make sure the drive is fully pushed into the enclosure. Many are poor fitting.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120309982#Comment_120309982

Its as simple as plugging in the old hard drive in the caddy powering it up and connecting the cable. The cable required is a USB 3 A to USB 3 A cable but a USB 2 A to USB 2 A should work. The other cable is a red herring makes me wonder if someone else had it before couldn't get it to work and returned the wrong cable?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310180#Comment_120310180

I thought the same..

sydthebeat

no joy im afraid... ive a drive fully in the enclosure, screwed in, power on and usb connected, and still nothing

The Continental Op

That funny ended connection would go into the caddy on some external drives. I've got 7 of them sitting in some Western Digital Portable HDDs I have on my desk. I've never seen that connection on a PC only on a USB 3 caddy but mostly on portable drives. It shouldn't be in the box so I'd take it all back and explain it doesn't work and includes spurious bits.

Edit> Funny now I come to think about it I had one of those - exact same, it worked as I said it should but dropped it on the floor from my desk, just the electronics that plug into the drive not the whole thing and it never worked again. Drive was still OK.

sydthebeat

so do you lads think the enclosure i have is just simply not working?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313983#Comment_120313983

Try a different hard drive in it.

Have you another computer you can try it in. Do you have smart TV or console you can plug it into.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313983#Comment_120313983

If its the enclosure itself then you may be able to see whats going on in Device Manager when you plug it in.

If you can't easily find Device Manager then open the Run command dialog box and type devmgmt.msc then hit return.

With Device Manager open plug your device (USB HDD enclosure) in. A new device should appear under the Disc drives sub section. If it doesn't then the problem is most likely the enclosure. If a device does appear then we can troubleshoot further.

sydthebeat

hi lads, im back with this.

i dont think the enclosure is the problem, i think its the PC.

ive gotten another sata enclosure and the same thing is happen ie nothing.

ive opened device manager, and plugged in the hard drive while its open and nothing is registering, nothing opens. nothing appears Under "disk drives" or "usb ports"

i know for certain that the usb port im plugging into works.

anyone any thoughts please?

Flinty997

What do you see in Disk Management.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/overview-of-disk-management

sydthebeat

screengrab

Flinty997

I would take the drive out of the enclosure and connect it internally.

I have no idea why your having so much bad luck with this.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120407336#Comment_120407336

thats an idea.

ive 4 drives that im trying to get data off though, and i was going to be using my internal sata drive as the depository. hopefully theres a second sata drive connection inside

Flinty997

I mean go back to basics. Connect the drive internally see it works then try it in the enclosure.

Occasionally you have problems with drives that came from different machines because the permissions conflict. But you should at least see them in drive manager.