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I own this laptop: HP Envy 15-108el
It comes with 1TB Hard disk and the following mSata drive:

smartctl 6.4 2014-10-07 r4002 [x86_64-linux-4.2.0-23-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-14, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     ADATA AXM21S3-24GM-B
Serial Number:    2E1220002978
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000000 000000000
Firmware Version: 168b-HP
User Capacity:    24.015.495.168 bytes [24,0 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Form Factor:      < 1.8 inches
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Wed Jan 13 13:37:58 2016 CET
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

I would like to upgrade the mSata drive, replacing it with a Crucial MX200.

  • Will it fit inside the laptop?
  • Can I use it to boot windows? Is there any way?

I'm not scared of "strange" ways.

JTL
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Vey
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1 Answers1

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Yes, the new drive can replace the existing drive. There are a couple things to note though:

  • The Crucial drive is SATA 3. Newegg says that the drive you have is SATA 2. If you assume that the controller can only support SATA 2, you won't get the full transfer speed the Crucial drive is capable of, but SATA is backward compatible and will work.
  • It will fit. Both drives are the same standard physical size.

You can boot to Windows using this drive. Assuming that Windows is currently installed on the drive you are replacing, you'll need to either:

  • Completely reinstall the operating system once the new drive is installed. You'll want to ensure you are installing it on the new drive and not on the 1TB drive.
  • Utilize HP's recovery options once the new drive is installed. Doing this may require that you create the recovery disks prior to removing the old drive.
Andy
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  • this is the output for sata check: [ 1.548444] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300) [ 1.552474] ata2: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)

    so it supports SATA 3 on mSata.

    Anyway, i saw lot of peoples having problems with Envy notebooks because it doesn't boot without placing boot partition on the HDD. That's why i asked.

     – Vey Jan 13 '16 at 14:17
  • In that case, your controller will support SATA 3. – Andy Jan 13 '16 at 14:17
  • Yeah i know that but, will it work with windows?

    I saw a lot of people having problems because boot partition needs to be on main HDD (i can't switch boot device because of "stupid" bios). I'm pretty sure it could work on linux placing grub on /dev/sda (hd) but what can i do for windows?

     – Vey Jan 13 '16 at 14:22
  • Ah. I didn't understand that from the question. Unfortunately, that's headed toward the "technical support" realm and we don't handle that on Hardware Recommendations. Personally, I'd guess it's possible, but without a machine in front of me to play with, I wouldn't be able to guess at the steps needed. Sorry. – Andy Jan 13 '16 at 14:24