Can I fit a double sided M.2 SSD into the Acer Aspire 7 A715-71G-50WU Gaming Notebook?

be4con · November 2020

I bought a Corsair MP 510 960Gb drive for my son's laptop as it was a great deal, not realising that it was double sided. I have yet to open the box so can still return it, but want to be sure I need to.

Can anyone definitively tell me whether a double sided M.2 SSD will fit in this laptop, or is there only space for a single sided?

be4con · November 2020

Thanks again Jack. Still no response from Acer and I was running out of time to return the item so I just bit the bullet. The good news, I can definitively confirm, is that the double sided SSD fits perfectly with bags of room (in my laptop, on my mainboard... other experiences may vary it seems). It's recognised by the laptop and seems to function as expected.

The only issue now is to find free software that allows migration - Minitools, EaseUS and Aomei have all locked down their free versions removing SSD migration unless you cough up. Any suggestions?

JackE · November 2020

Thanks for reporting back. I don't get an AOEMI lockdown notice for the standard backerupper edition. I just used it. Do the full AOEMI backupper clone, not the individual partition clone. Try this download here. https://www2.aomeisoftware.com/download/adb/AOMEIBackupperStd.exe

Jack E/NJ

JackE · November 2020

>>>Can anyone definitively tell me>>>

Sorry, not definitively unless someone chimes in here has done it on your exact same mainboard (which can vary for this model). Double-sided m.2s are usually better suited to desktops or very large laptops that have more room to mount the m.2 socket higher off the mainboard. So unless someone responds, you're on your own to open it up and try it or not. Jack E/NJ

be4con · November 2020

Thanks Jack. I feared that might be the case, but I really didn't want to break the seal on the SSD if I could avoid it. I have also asked the question of Acer directly with my S/N as reference so, hopefully, they will be able to answer definitively. Seems to be taking them a long time to respond though...

JackE · November 2020

>>>definitively. Seems to be taking them a long time to respond though...>>>

Heh-heh. It's the word 'definitively' that's probably holding things up. If it was my decision and I bought the thing from Currys or Amazon, I'd hafta open it open and try it. Then report back here on my success in either getting the thing to work or getting a refund from Currys or Amazon.

Jack E/NJ

be4con · November 2020

Thanks again Jack. Still no response from Acer and I was running out of time to return the item so I just bit the bullet. The good news, I can definitively confirm, is that the double sided SSD fits perfectly with bags of room (in my laptop, on my mainboard... other experiences may vary it seems). It's recognised by the laptop and seems to function as expected.

The only issue now is to find free software that allows migration - Minitools, EaseUS and Aomei have all locked down their free versions removing SSD migration unless you cough up. Any suggestions?

JackE · November 2020

Thanks for reporting back. I don't get an AOEMI lockdown notice for the standard backerupper edition. I just used it. Do the full AOEMI backupper clone, not the individual partition clone. Try this download here. https://www2.aomeisoftware.com/download/adb/AOMEIBackupperStd.exe

Jack E/NJ

be4con · November 2020

When I went to install Aomei from their site the installation splash indicated that the SSD migration was for Pro only. I'll try the one you linked though and see, thanks.

Commodore_1995# · November 2020

You can also check this link: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/610886/guide-how-to-back-up-a-system-or-clone-a-drive-with-macrium-reflect#latest

JackE · November 2020

I think the Pro's migration tool(vs cloning tool) is really for automatically cloning a bigger drive (if the C : \ drive isn't full of data) onto a smaller drive. With the freeware version, this isn't automatic. You manually have to first shrink the C : \ partition volume on the bigger drive, so they'll fit on the smaller drive during the cloning process. It safest running Windows diskmgmt.msc to shrink C : \ Jack E/NJ

be4con · November 2020

Thanks both. Still no reply from Acer which is pretty poor customer service, given I bought a pair of these laptops from them, even if it was just a reply to tell me they couldn't answer the question.

JackE · November 2020

>>>Still no reply from Acer which is pretty poor customer service>>>even if it was just a reply to tell me they couldn't answer the question.>>>

Hey!!! I got an idea. Maybe you could give ACER's poor customer service the answer. Then ACER's poor customer service could claim they got good customer service.....from a good customer. As you can tell, sometimes I can't myself.

Jack E/NJ