It is running out of space. Which SSD for Acer Aspire E5-575G-54GA M.2 SSD Upgrade?

nickita_chiquita
nickita_chiquita Member Posts: 3 New User
edited July 23 in Aspire Laptops

Hi everybody,

since the current M.2 SSD in my Acer Aspire E5-575G-54GA only has 128 GB but is running Windows and has a lot of programmes installed, it is running out of space. Therefore, I'd like to switch to another M.2 SSD with more space (whether the new SSD will run any faster than the current one is secondary). From what I've read online so far, it should be possible to replace the original M.2 SSD with an SSD of up to 512 GB if the laptop's CPU is 7th generation which applies to my laptop. However, I'm still unsure if there are any other limiting factors in choosing the new SSD. I've been thinking about buying a Kingston NV2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Internal SSD 500GB M.2 2280 - SNV2S/500G but I'm not completely sure if it is compatible with my laptop.

I'd really appreciate if somebody could help me out with this compatibility question.

Thank you very much in advance.

[Edited the topic title to include the topic issue.]

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,414 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/709611/which-ssd-for-acer-aspire-e5-575g-54ga-m-2-ssd-upgrade

    I am afraid a Gen4 NVMe SSD is not recommended as NVMe SSD uses PCIe 3.0x4 and your PCIe port has only 2 lanes (x2). You can install the Samsung Gen3 970 Evo Plus up to 1TB but that will run at half the rated speed in a PCIe x2 slot.

  • nickita_chiquita
    nickita_chiquita Member Posts: 3 New User
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1287942#Comment_1287942

    Thank you very much for your recommendation.

    I was a bit hesitant to respond immediately because I was hoping to successfully test the Samsung Gen3 970 EVO Plus first and give a detailed summary of what I did to make it work in case other users would ask the same question in the future.

    Unfortunately, I haven't been able to boot successfully from the new Samsung SSD so far after trying to clone my old SSD to the new SSD and, according to some research I did, this seems to be a common problem but there's a variety of reasons that could cause the SSD not to boot.

    So here is an explanation of what I've done so far:

    • Backed up all relevant data from my old SSD drive
    • Connected the new M.2 SSD (Samsung EVO 970 Plus 1 TB) to my laptop via USB adapter (because my laptop only has one M.2 slot), while Windows 10 was running on the previous M.2 SSD (Kingston, 128 GB)
    • Cloned all partitions from the previous system SSD (EFI, Recovery etc.) to the new SSD with Macrium Reflect
    • All partitions were left in the same size as they were on the previous SSD, only the partition that can be seen as the system drive C was enlarged so that the storage space of the new SSD is fully utilized by the sum of the sizes of the individual partitions. The order of the partitions was not changed.
    • Cloning completed without any error message
    • Removed the old SSD and installed the new SSD in the M.2 slot
    • Removed the HDD data drive, which is also in the laptop, to make sure it doesn't interfere
    • Set the new SSD to the first place in the boot priority order in BIOS
    • Result: Laptop cannot boot from new cloned SSD, although it recognizes it in BIOS where it says "HDD1: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB"
    • Problem cannot be resolved even with repair options that are offered after three unsuccessful boot attempts
    • Windows can still boot from the old SSD

    Possible causes I could imagine:

    • Boot problems due to the enlargement of the C partition
    • Missing driver for the new Samsung SSD
    • Windows 10 installation on old SSD might have been corrupt already and was transferred in this way but why can the old SSD still boot then?
    • There might be system data on the HDD as well but I also tried booting with the new SSD and the HDD inserted and it still didn't work.
    • GPT / MBR
    • UEFI / Legacy
    • Outdated BIOS

    I'll continue trying to make it work, otherwise another option might be a clean install of Windows 10 on the new SSD. Maybe someone encountered the same problem before and has an idea what might ultimately cause this inability to boot.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,414 Trailblazer
    edited August 8
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1290866#Comment_1290866

    Hi, I suspect that the cloning failed. Personally, I backup up and restore with Windows7 BU Image file creator in Control Panel and never use Macrium, mainly because I don't understand the program, and never had issues with W7 Backup (Fail Safe). but clean installing Windows is a good idea. If you want to redo your disk transfer to the Samsung 970 Evo Plus but with an external USB backup drive and W7 backup VHD image file program in your Control Panel I can help but I know nothing about cloning or Macrium Reflect so in that case wait till someone else responds. I leave this W8 tutorial for reference: You backup your complete HDD (all 3 volumes are recognized by Windows) to an external USB drive with the W7 backup Image File creator (see picture) and then restore with the Windows USB recovery flash drive that the program will make after the image file has been saved: System Image Recovery - Restore Image on Computer in Windows 8 | Windows 8 Help Forums (eightforums.com) That Windows VHD image backup file can also be mounted in File Explorer (W10-11) to browse and copy your folders.

    Backup.jpg

  • Wasihales
    Wasihales Member Posts: 3 New User
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1290866#Comment_1290866

    Common issues with booting from a cloned SSD include:

    1. Boot Configuration Issues: Check if the cloned SSD has the correct boot configuration. You may need to repair the bootloader using a Windows installation media (bootrec commands).
    2. Partition Alignment: Ensure partitions are properly aligned. Sometimes cloning can cause issues with partition alignment that affect booting.
    3. UEFI/Legacy Mode: Verify that the BIOS settings match the partition scheme (UEFI for GPT, Legacy for MBR).
    4. Drivers: Make sure that your BIOS and SSD firmware are up-to-date, and check if Windows needs additional drivers for the new SSD.

    If these steps don’t resolve the issue, a clean install of Windows 10 on the new SSD might be necessary.

  • nickita_chiquita
    nickita_chiquita Member Posts: 3 New User

    The problem appears to be solved. I have no logical explanation why the new cloned SSD is able to boot now but it works. Earlier today, I inserted the new SSD again (I had used the old one yesterday for work) in the same state that I had left it in after using Macrium Reflect and just thought I'd give it one more try before overwriting the drive with the backed up system image. It immediately worked whereas two days ago I had tried booting from the new SSD about 10 times without success.

    @Puraw @Wasihales Thank you very much for your efforts!

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