The next step is to identify the M.2 slot on the motherboard. The M.2 Type-2280 (80mm) drive in our notebook is about the size of a stick of chewing gum, highlighted at the lower right corner of.
M.2 Type 2280 Ssd Slot Driver
'I am running a 128GB SSD on my laptop. Now the disk is getting full with more and more data. So, I buy a 250GB M.2 SSD and want to use it to replace the existing 128 SSD. I don't want to reinstall the operating system as well as the installed programs, or manually migrate the files. Someone told me that I can do it by cloning the 128GB M.2 SSD to 250GB M.2 SSD, but I don't have a clue. Is there anyone can help?'
Clone an M.2 SSD to a larger M.2 SSD with disk cloning software
The system files, installed applications, and personal data can easily eat up your M.2 SSD space and slow down your PC, especially when you are using an M.2 SSD with small storage capacity. When the low disk space appears, you need to clone an M.2 SSD to a larger M.2 SSD to upgrade the disk for better performance. But how can you do this job without encountering an issue that cloned SSD won't boot? What will you need to clone one drive to another?
Actually, it is quite easy! No technical skills or professional knowledge is required. Just a powerful and easy-to-use SSD to SSD cloning software can do it for you. EaseUS Todo Backup is the program you need. Its advanced and flexible clone feature and wizard-like interface can do you a great favor.
Try to conduct the overall process like this:
1. Install the M.2 SSD
Before you install the SSD drive though, first make sure that the SSD drive you bought is compatible with your laptop motherboard.
On a laptop
- Open M.2 slot
- Slide the M.2 SSD drive inside slot
- Screw the SSD drive in
- Finalize and cover
On a desktop computer
- On the motherboard, look for an M.2 connector, usually labeled with 'PCIe'.
- Carefully insert the M.2 SSD into its slot and then secure the M.2 SSD using the mounting screw.
2. Clone via EaseUS Todo Backup
Make sure that both the SSDs are recognized by your computer. Download and install the essential disk cloning software, or you may treat it as an M.2 SSD to M.2 SSD duplicator.
To clone one M.2 SSD to another larger M.2 SSD, follow these steps:
Step 1. Launch EaseUS SSD cloning software and choose 'Clone' to start cloning one SSD to the other larger SSD.
M 2 2280 Ssd
Step 2. Choose the smaller SSD as the source disk and click 'Next'.
Step 3. Choose the larger SSD as the destination disk. Here, we highly suggest you tick the option 'Optimize for SSD' within 'Advanced options' in the bottom left corner. Click 'OK' and then click 'Next'.
Step 4. If nothing's wrong on the disk layout, click 'Proceed'. It won't take long to clone a smaller SSD to a larger SSD.
3. Boot from the cloned M.2 SSD
At last, if you cloned the operating system to the new SSD and wish to boot Windows from it, try to disconnect the old SSD from your computer. This way ensures you to boot from the SSD after cloning without failure.
M.2 Ssd Slots Type 2280
Many Z97 motherboards have M.2 connectors, so you can install a small yet fast SSD right onto the motherboard. Pretty convenient, isn't it? There are 2 kinds of M.2 drives - PCIe and SATA. And M.2 connectors on motherboards support both modes. Except when they don't.
I'm preparing for an upgrade, so I was gathering information on modern motherboards. And I stumbled upon something I didn't know was possible: the M.2 connector on the Asus Z97-A works only in the PCIe mode, which renders it incompatible with many M.2 drives. Apparently, they ran out of SATA ports on this motherboard. The first reason it's so surprising is that it's rare - most motherboards with M.2, including cheaper models from ASUS, support both modes. The second reason is that it's buried deep in the specifications on the official site and isn't reflected at all on the sites of some retailers, including Newegg. Didn't expect this kind of thing from ASUS, so beware.
One more aspect with M.2 drives is length, with 2280 being the longest. Some older motherboards don't support 2280.
Edit: Oh, one more thing that bothered me - probably even more problematic, but easier to notice. Many motherboards have the second PCIe x16 slot, running at x4. It's easy to notice - except there may be a line buried in the specifications: 'The PCI Express x1 slots will become unavailable when a PCIe x4 expansion card is installed'. So if I get it right, add a PCIe x4 expansion card, and you can't use even something as pedestrian as a PCIe sound card, rendering two slots useless. That's on lower end Z97 boards from Gigabyte. And here's the line from ASUS: 'The PCIe x1_1, PCIe x1_2 slots share bandwidth with PCIe x16_2. The PCIe x16_2 slot runs at x2 mode as default.' So you're getting PCIe x16 running at x4 - except not necessarily. Again, many retailers simply say 'PCIe x4'.