Introduction
I bought a Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 in January 2022. At the time, I only got a 512 GB SSD for my boot disk, because who's ever going to use 512 whole gigabytes of disk space, right?
In September 2024, I was suddenly out of disk space. I needed a bigger boot disk. You know, the C: drive. The only disk most users have in their computer. I found lots of helpful information on the Internet, but I couldn't find a grand unified do-it-yourself "how-to" on upgrading the boot disk.
So after all of the research, and after going through it myself, I decided to document it all in one place. If this helps you, great. If you find problems with it, please add a Comment describing the problem (and your solution, if you find one). If you have questions for me, I'm sorry, but I probably won't be able to answer them. This worked for me. Your mileage may vary.
Before you start: Things to worry about
Bitlocker
This may come up at the end of the process, so I want to tell you now. That way, you won't need to panic when it comes up on your PC.
Windows 11 allows you to lock your disk, so that nobody else can get into it. This happens more or less automatically. This locking mechanism is called Bitlocker. You're supposed to copy the Bitlocker key to a secure location when you first start up your PC or install a new disk. The problem is that you do it once and forget all about it, because you'll probably never have to do it again.
Probably.
Microsoft warns you that they can't recover your Bitlocker keys if you use them.
Fortunately, when you first set up your computer or your disk, MS offered to recod your Bitlocker keys in your Microsoft account. I know, I know, Microsoft warns you that they can't recover your Bitlocker keys. But you can look them up at this web address: https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey . Just smile and enjoy the contradiction.
Tools and things
You will need some really small Philips screwdrivers, and a guitar pick or other prying tool. I recommend the tools in the IFixit Pro Tech or Essential Electronics toolkit.
I recommend also getting a grounding strap or antistatic wristband. You can get one from Amazon, Sparkfun, Adafruit, or your local electronics store. The IFixit Pro Tech toolkit includes a grounding strap.
Planning it out
The research
I did several web searches, using terms like "Dell Inspiron 16 7610 upgrade ssd" or "... upgrade boot disk". I learned that "upgrade" wasn't doing it, so I tried "clone" instead. I found some helpful articles on:
- Tom's Hardware (one of my favorite tech do-it-yourself sites)
- Reddit's r/Dell subreddit
- Dell's own support pages.
But none of them had a complete step-by-step how-to. I'm sure I wasn't the first person to go down this road, but nobody had actually documented it from beginning to end.
You can find the service manual for your PC online. I found and downloaded the Official Service Manual for this computer. Here's the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 Documentation page. Here's the link, on that page, to the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 Service Manual in PDF form.
The Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 has two PCIe/NVMe slots (don't shoot me if I get the terminology wrong). Slot 1 is a 2230/2250/2280 slot, and Slot 2 is a 2230-only slot. The number 2230, etc., refers to the physical size of the SSD module: 22 mm wide, and 30, 50, or 80 mm long. Normally, the PC ships with the SSD installed in Slot 1, and Slot 2 is empty.
The Inspiron 16 can manage up to 2 terabytes (TB) of disk space between the two slots. This will be important. You can't put the half-ton 2230 SSD in Slot 2 and a two-ton 2280 SSD in Slot 1, because that's 2.5 TB, which is more than the PC can handle.
Getting the Pieces
The SSD
First, check Windows 11 Device Manager to see what kind of SSD you currently have. Right-click on Start > Device Management, or type "devmgmt.msc" in the Search window and press Enter, to open the Device Manager. Expand the Disk Drives section, and you will see that your half-ton SSD is an "NVMe BC711 NVMe SK hynix 512GB".
SK Hynix is a perfectly acceptable South Korean semiconductor memory manufacturer. You can use an SSD module from SK Hynix, Crucial, Western Digital, Micron Technology, or several other semiconductor companies. I'm conservative enough to stick with SK Hynix, if I can.
A search for "bc711 nvme sk hynix" on Amazon.com reveals that the current SSD still sells for $85.88 (mind you, this is September 22, 2024, and Amazon's inventory may have changed by the time you read this).
Suggested 1 TB SK Hynix upgrades are the Gold P31 Gen3 for $85.99, and the Platinum P41 Gen4, for $94.99. The difference between the two is that the Gold P31 Gen3 can read/write up to 3500 MB/second, and the Platinum P41 Gen4 can read/write up to 7000 MB/second.
Sooooo ... Gen3, or Gen4? Well, the original BC711 reads/writes up to 1,344 MB/second. If that has served you just fine, then just get the Gen3. On the other hand, if you noticed that disk read/writes were slowing you down, then spend the extra ten bux and go for the Gen4.
The Dell service manual says that the PC can handle Gen4 SSDs, like the P41, and it recommends that "you may order a copper thermal shield from Dell support for better thermal performance." With that recommendation, it doesn't give you a part number, a webpage, or anything. See below.
The External SSD Case
I was stuck in the old way of thinking: If you're going to clone a hard disk, you start with the new hard disk in an external case, connected to your PC via USB 3.x. So I looked on Amazon for an external SSD case. I ended up buying this one from SSK because it was cheap, less than $20.00. DON'T BUY IT.
First of all, you won't need it. With the half-ton BC711 and the one-ton upgrade that you're buying, that's less than 2 TB of SSD, and you can use the PC's own internal SSD slots to do the cloning – no need for an external case.
Second, it doesn't work. I tried it. See below.
The Copper Heat Shield
DO GET IT. Even if you're using the P31 like me, not the P41, it will be worth the money (less than twenty bucks). The cooler semiconductors are, the faster they run, and the longer they last.
I got one from Amazon.com. Searching Amazon for "dell inspiron 16 7610 copper heat shield" gave way too many hits, so I'm going to save you the trouble. Just buy this one here. I don't know if it was a genuine Dell part, but it had a Dell part number and Dell barcode on the inside packaging. Don't worry about the picture on the Amazon page. The one they ship you is copper-colored.
Cloning software
What I wanted to do is called cloning: a bit-by-bit copy of one SSD onto another. This copies the boot stuff, the operating system files, the recovery partition, and all of my data files and installed programs, in such a way that I could boot from the new SSD and it would look just like the old one.
I found some good articles about cloning boot disks, and they recommended a very small number of good cloning software packages. These packages all use the latest software payment model: they have a free trial that comes with some limitations, and they offer a Pro version that you have to pay for, and instead of a one-time payment, it's so much per year.
Sigh. I'm only going to need this software this once, if it works, and then I won't need it again until I have another PC. That's four or five years down the road. I don't want to pay for five years of nothing.
Here are the highest rated cloning solutions.
- Macrium Reflect (or this link)
- $50/yr
- Free trial
- Everybody recommends this one. I'd say it's the most popular. It would have worked great, but I didn't like the yearly payment model.
- Clonezilla
- Free and open source
- Linux-based: you create a USB boot device, containing a Linux OS and Clonezilla, then you boot from the USB stick and do it that way.
- I love Linux and I don't love Windows, but this was more complicated than I wanted to deal with.
- Acronis True Image
- $40/yr
- It may also have a free trial
- Again, I didn't like the yearly payment model.
- There was some other reason to prefer Macrium over Acronis, but I can't remember what it was.
- But Acronis is still highly rated, and it's good software.
- AOMEI Backupper
- $40 for the Pro edition. At first I was excited because this looked like a one-time payment.
- Free trial version also, but again I was leery of limitations.
- It turned out that that $40 is $40/yr, just like all the others, and it autorenews yearly, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. So as long as I cancel before Sep 23, 2025, I should be okay.
Doing It
First Try: Using the External SSD Case
Second Try: Using the Dell itself
Short Intro: Here's What I'm Going to Do
I had seen this suggested on the r/Dell subreddit. As mentioned above, the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 comes with two SSD slots. The boot disk is in Slot 1, and Slot 2 is empty. As long as the boot disk is a 2230 SSD (the short one), I should be able to move it to Slot 2, install the new 2280 SSD in Slot 1, boot from the original, and do the cloning with both SSDs in place.
This turns out to be slick, speedy, and successful.
Put the Dell into Service Mode
- Disconnect the AC adapter from PC, and disconnect anything plugged into it: USB, display, anything else. Make sure that all ports are empty.
- Shut down the PC like normal.
- Hold down the <B> button, then press the power button for 3 seconds or until the Dell logo appears on the screen
- Press any key to continue.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
- At some point, the computer will give three short beeps and shut down again. It's now in Service Mode.
- Plug in the AC Adapter.
- Turn on the PC.
Open the PC
Wear Your Antistatic Wristband!
Move the 2230 SSD from Slot 1 to Slot 2
- Remove the metal shield covering Slot 1. Save the screw; you'll need it again.
- Lift and wiggle the M.2 2230 adapter bracket to remove it from the system board. It will require some careful wiggling.
- Remove the metal shield covering Slot 2. Again, save the screw.
- The 2230 SSD will pop up at an angle. Holding the SSD by the edges only, remove it from Slot 1.
- Push the 2230 SSD into Slot 2 at an angle. Push it down into place, replace the metal shield on top of it, and attach the screw to fasten both the SSD and the shield into place.
- Note that the metal shield has two clips that snap onto the M.2 connector.
Install the New 1TB 2280 in Slot 1, with the New Copper Heat Shield
- Make sure your grounding wristband is still on your wrist, and still clipped to bare metal on the computer.
- Carefully remove the 2280 SSD from its storage bag, handling it by the edges only.
- Push the SSD into Slot 1 at an angle. Push it down into place, then place the new copper thermal shield on top of it, and attach the saved screw to fasten both the SSD and the shield into place.
- Like the Slot 2 thermal shield, this shield has two clips that snap onto the M.2 connector.
Note to self: Use an air jet to blow the lint off the dual fans before replacing the base cover.
Close the PC: Replace the Base Cover
Lay the base cover back in place. Starting on one of the bottom corners, gently but firmly press on the edges to re-engage those plastic tabs and snap the cover into place. Replace the seven loose screws first, then tighten the two captive screws.
Now you can take off the antistatic wristband.
Turn on the PC
Run Your Cloning Software
It doesn't ask you for the source drive. It assumes that you want to clone the boot drive, because of course you do. Why else would you have bought a cloning app? But it does ask you to choose a destination drive.
You will notice that the boot (or source) disk is a GPT drive. The new SSD is listed as an MBR drive. How are you going to convert it to GPT? I dunno. Just click on it and see what happens. So you click on it, and AOMEI asks if you want to convert it to the same format as the boot drive. Yes, definitely. That was easy!
Make sure to enable the option along the bottom of the window to expand the clone, so that it uses all available disk space. If you don't select this, AOMEI will create a clone only as big as your old SSD, wasting all of that new space. Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
AOMEI Backupper displays a nice progress graphic while it works. Grab a cold drink, but don't go too far. Working on the internal busses like this makes the cloning process go really fast.
Rebooting
Shut down the PC, then press F2 repeatedly while restarting, to enter the bootloader again. Go to the Boot Sequence section. Select the up-arrow and down-arrow icons to reorder the boot sequence so that it will attempt to boot from the new SSD first before the BC711. If you're feeling brave, you can remove the BC711 from the list. I recommend leaving it there for now, just in case the cloning didn't work. Make sure to Apply Changes, then Exit. It will try to boot, and it will probably fail with an ominous blue screen. Keep reading
Bitlocker
If you have Bitlocker enabled, you will find yourself at an ominous blue screen telling you that you need to enter the Bitlocker number for your SSD.
It gives you two options:
- to press Enter to go back to the boot sequence. Warning: You can try it, but you will probably end up at this screen again.
- to press ESC to enter the Bitlocker recovery key. Warning: The Bitlocker key entry screen has a timeout, so after 10 seconds of inactivity it goes back to the first blue screen.
You may now panic. All is not lost, but it's perfectly acceptable to panic.
The blue screen suggests that you look at these two webpages: xxx and yyy. Sorry. I didn't capture those links fast enough. But I believe that xxx points to this one: Find your BitLocker Recovery Key. Scroll down to the section entitled "Where can I find a Bitlocker recovery key?"
If you expand that first section, called "Attached to your Microsoft account," it contains a link to log into your Microsoft account. If you are doing this upgrade work on your own Windows PC, which you bought and set up yourself, then you definitely have a Microsoft account. If not, well, you may still have a Microsoft account. Click on the link, and try to login.
If you're as lucky as I was, it will come up with a table listing all of your Bitlocker devices. There's a good sample illustration on that Find your BitLocker Recovery Key webpage.
You will see your original boot disk on the list, with a 10-character ID number and a registration date that corresponds to the date you first booted your computer. You will also see your new SSD, with a 10-character ID number and a registration date that corresponds to the date you installed the SSD and it was recognized by the bootloader and the Device Management tool. (Probably today's date, the day you're reading this.)
The Bitlocker recovery key is the long string of hyphenated numbers on the right. Go back to the blue screen, and press ESC to go to the Bitlocker key entry screen. The screen will give you the ID number of the disk it wants you to unlock. Use the keys on the numeric keypad, or keys F1-F9 (and F10 for zero) to enter the Bitlocker key. I believe you have to press Enter at the end.
Then you should be as good as gold. That will unlock the SSD and your PC will boot into Windows 11 like before, only this time it's booting from the new SSD
Checking That It Worked
Use File Explorer > C: > Properties to confirm that you're booting from the new SSD. It should show a full 1 TB of space, with less than half of it used.
If your original BC711 disk is installed in Slot 2, you can use File Explorer to look at its properties or to list its contents. It may ask you for the Bitlocker key for this device. Follow the instructions above to find and enter the key, only this time you can use the regular keys 1-9 and 0 instead of F1-F9 and F10.
What to Do With the Old SSD
I intend to wait a few days and make sure the new SSD is working. Then I will back up critical stuff from the old SSD onto the cloud and onto my external backup HDD, reformat the old SSD, and use it as a half-ton D: drive.
