acer aspire 3 a315-54 upgradeability

Hi
i have the laptop as linked here https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/model/NX.HG0EK.001
that i purchased from currys
my question is does it support adding a second hdd so i can have a ssd as boot and retain the supplied 1tb hdd?
there are no upgrade doors so does the whole back come off?
the system comes with 8gb ram, how do i add more?
can i also add intel optane memory?
does it support m2 ssd drives?
if it does support 2 hdd how hard is it to clone the 1tb to a new ssd as boot including all the recovery data?

not sure if im brave enough to take the back off but id like to know for future reference!

many thanks

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brummyfan2

Hi,
Yes, you can install a M.2 NVMe SSD, transfer your HDD contents to it and use as the boot drive, HDD can be used for storage, you have to take off the back cover to install M.2 SSD and memory module.
I think M.2 SSD route is better than Intel Optane.
As for the memory, you have (4GB on-board memory +4GB), you can replace the 4GB with a 16GB module to make the maximum total memory of 20GB.
You can check the configuration by installing CPU-z, run it and get the specifications of 4GB removable RAM.
You can use Minitool Partition wizard for migrating the HDD contents to M.2 SSD.
https://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Acer/aspire-a315-54k
https://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/partition-wizard-home.html
https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/migrate-os-to-ssd-hd.html
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Jimw123

Thank you so much!
can it migrate the windows install etc? Is it pretty simple to do? Hardware install etc?
do acers have the ability to make a recovery dvd to boot from and reinstall everything should the hdd break? I was thinking that be easier to reinstall windows and the recovery partition to the ssd

are there any pics or videos you can link showing how i disassemble it?

brummyfan2

Hi,
No problem, yes the easiest method is using Minitool Partition wizard free, I have briefly explained the procedure below:
1.Download and install Minitool Partition Wizard.
2.Install the M.2 SSD.
3.Power on the laptop, run Minitool Partition wizard, select Migrate Option.
4.Select the source drive(HDD) and select the destination drive(SSD)
It will transfer everything from HDD to SSD.
Then you can go to BIOS, move to Boot tab and change the boot order to make new SSD as your first boot drive, you could even remove the HDD, once you make sure that everything is fine with the SSD, you can format the HDD and use it for storage(Pic, Docs and videos etc.)
As for the installation of SSD, I couldn't find any videos as your model is very recent, however, I have attached a video of similar model, I would suggest using an old credit card to release the plastic tabs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0S9BIghFnU

Jimw123

Hi
thank you again for your detailed response
my laptop definately will take the ssd in that port? I dont want to open it and find its not there
is the hdd transfer program free?
thanks

Jimw123

And is it m2 sata or nvme m2 it supports?

Jimw123

Hi again
ive have done it all installed!
one thing though, within windows 10 im missing acer erecovery management and i wanted to create a set of restore dvds or a usb stick.
how can i acheive this?