CHEAP SSD UPGRADE! - Adding 1TB to a Surface Pro 9

[@GrantSR]

Why can't ALL KZbin videos be this straightforward?

[@habilain]

Worth noting: the SSD heatsink is actually useful. I upgraded to an SN740 and I noticed that the fan on the SP9 was going pretty much continuously; before the upgrade it would turn off when idling. Transferring the clip on heatsink, and a fresh application of thermal paste, dropped the temps of the SN740 by ten degrees, which was enough to let the fan turn off. My *guess* is that SP9 wants to keep the SSD below 60 degrees, and without the heatsink it struggles to do it. Sure, it's a convoluted route for the heat to take (chip->paste->top of heatsink -> bottom of heatsink->SP9 chassis), but it seems to work just about well enough.

[@habilain]

@@Sidb26 The heatsink? It's clipped on. You can just carefully bend the collar a bit and it should come apart into two easily, then bend it back to put it together. Just be careful not to bend it too much otherwise it may not go back together. Also don't worry too much if the plastic bit doesn't go back in - didn't on mine, doesn't appear to have any actual purpose.

[@habilain]

@@Sidb26 Nice!

[@davidmartin3255]

thanks for sharing!

[@sibbyzee]

I’m something in the region of an accountant, to paint a picture of how non-tech I am. Yet I managed to do this upgrade today without any assistance other than this video. Great video and instructions!

[@misterstratocaster]

Just a couple days ago, I upgraded both of my SP9s using 512GB SSDs that were pulled from Surface Laptops. Tried your method (and the MS recommended procedure) and I would have had to reinstall everything. Not what I wanted. By the way, you can go to About in Settings and copy the serial to paste into the page rather than try to look at the miniature typeface MS uses. As I do computer repair, I had an external case for M.2 SSDs - cloned the old drive to the new using DiskGenius and set the partition to use the whole drive.

[@WiikLyID]

I want to buy an sf9 in 2024 for my light video editing needs, is this device still relevant? Give me a review of your daily use, thank you.

[@philv1839]

A little late to the surface pro party, but this was an awesome way to break this process down. Very straightforward especially for those looking to avoid insane up charges for better storage. Cheers 🤙

[@malch2843]

It looks like it is a very similar procedure for a Surface Pro 8 too. I might give it a go.

[@stevejones9044]

You are showing exactly what I was looking for. I am planning on getting the Surface Pro 9 i7 with the smallest SDD drive and upgrading. MS like other mfgs are notorious for overcharging for products like drives and memory that are no different or often less quality than what you can get yourself. Thanks for the straightforward tutorial on swapping drives. Really no different than any other laptop drive swap but I wasn't sure. The beauty in all this is if for some reason the new drive doesn't work or the OS installation to it failed you still can drop in the original SSD and start over.

[@Bonesince1997]

Plus, at the time I was looking, only the Platinum color was coming with the 1tb.

[@fruitsnackia2012]

i waited for the 256 model to go on sale and did the same thing to mine :P

[@Bonesince1997]

I'm about to do this myself! So I thank you. It doesn't help that the manual says to replace with a like capacity drive. Clearly you can increase. I think it's shady on Microsoft's part for essentially lying in their manual. But I appreciate the confirmation to the opposite. I hope it goes smoothly for me.

[@stickgarrote8582]

The screw was a T3 torx for me. Just FYI, they might vary.

[@ConstantGeekery]

Good to know 👍🏻

[@mscargill1]

All the videos I have seen say Torx T3

[@RiCorr]

The Surface manual recommends a Torx Plus 31P driver for removing the screw attaching the SSD disc to the Surface Pro. BUT 'Torx Plus' is different than 'Torx' (both screwdrivers have six stars but Torx Plus have slightly rounded-off star points). Notwithstanding this very clear video, I'm reluctant to take on this job myself without using the recommended Torx Plus 31P. I live in the UK and it seems impossible to find a Torx Plus 31P driver. I've found a company that sells the individual bit, but they don't sell the screwdriver handle in which to fit the bit. Could I buy a cheap generic screwdriver to hold the bit? The only thing I've found is a company selling on Amazon that includes a Torx Plus 31P driver as a 'Vessel Set of 5 Precision Torx Plus and Torx Screwdrivers' - but this is for £53! I'd be grateful if someone could link me to somewhere that I could buy this simple tool as a reasonable price. It seems people are simply using the T3 Torx Screwdriver (and mostly getting away with it?) rather than the recommended Torx Plus 31P drive, but someone on Reddit says this resulted in stripping the threads, which makes me nervous.

[@kalamazpi]

I tried a T2, but it felt a little like I was going to strip the screw. T3 worked perfectly.

[@bryans8656]

Although I use a Mac as my primary computer these days I also have a Windows PC I use for certain applications. I really enjoy how easy it is to upgrade the Windows machine.

[@WiikLyID]

Do you use surface pro 9?

[@bryans8656]

@@WiikLyID Nope.

[@WiikLyID]

@@bryans8656 I want to buy it but honestly It's so hard to find the latest sf9 review in 2024

[@robynberkel565]

did this first try thank you for the video! I replaced the heat spreader/heatsink

[@davidmartin3255]

thanks pretty straight forward! thanks for sharing

[@Dragonblaster1]

I'm an electronics engineer with a background in bodging circuit test boards with very static-sensitive components. This doesn't look hard at all. I have a 128GB 5G Surface Pro 9 on the way, and the thumb drive, heat spreader material and screwdriver set are standing by, along with a 1TB WD SN740, as you did, which I had bought before watching this excellent vid. It only cost me just over £70, which I regard as a real bargain.

[@farishanafiah8461]

As much as I like the easy SSD upgradability, I'm not sure about having the OS installed in that one SSD. I don't mind having a soldered SSD for the OS and leave the rear slot empty for additional self upgrade.

[@freedonx]

It's not great at the end. I have a surfae pro 6, having an additional microSD. Occasionally the microsd disconnects from windows, leaving me WITHOUT access to that drive. So I could either leave it with the soldered, or better yet have the whole drive upgraded

[@aelaan12]

Why Apple is not offering this is quite simple, they cannot move away from SOC and painted themselves in that corner. It is still possible to upgrade the internal storage if you have the skills but man that is a worrisome process. Otherwise it is on the dongle and hope for the best. This SP9 is indeed the much better, future proof option for storage. It is a fine machine, I have one at work for work in the datacenter - it is an SP7 - very happy with it.

[@codenamegrs9278]

the reason they can't move away from soldered SSDs is because of greed ... they have literally tons of money in cash offshore. 2TB of Soldered SSD @ Apple 800$ ; 2TB on Amazon of Samsung/ Sabrent / Seagate / Kingston etc costs 200$ roughly. Apple is charging 4x the price. At the same time if your Mac's SSD dies (and your warranty is expired) you'll pay 50% of what you paid for your mac because the way they go about your "repair" is by replacing the whole motherboard (CPU , RAM , SSD , Wifi card and ALL other components) Do you find that Normal , mr Al van der Laan? :)

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

Sure, you can upgrade the storage but do you really want to run an outdated CPU after a while when better/faster/lower power systems are avail? Upgradeability is overrated.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

@@codenamegrs9278 Apple actually embedded their NAND controller in the Apple SoC hence it's not as simple as a SSD swap. The SSD is a proprietary NAND chips.

[@codenamegrs9278]

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu but i definitely don't wanna pay 800$ for 2TB soldered when ALL other SSD manufacturers offer 2TB for 200$. Thass MAD 🤣⚰️☠️⚰️☠️⚰️☠️⚰️

[@codenamegrs9278]

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu i know this and i also know it makes it more secure cause how can you trust someone else's chip ? u dunno what that chip can do behind the scenes ... but charging 4x more is an abomination that Apple is guilty of. they also removed the headphone jack with the iPhone 7 and after 1-2 weeks they put out their 250$ airpods . they are very greedy bro and lack consideration towards their customers.. they are like that bratty kid that never listens to anybody ... that can be right but more times wrong 😑

[@HR-wd6cw]

I'm surprised the SSD is sort of exposed like that? I thought there was a cover that had to be removed to access the SSD (not just the stand).

[@downtttempo]

Excellent. Followed along once, got it done, rocking 1 TB 😎.

[@MannyNegron]

Thank you for the detailed instructions... Western Digital is running a sale and so does bestbuy... The drive is 79.99 for the 1TB and 169.99 for the 2TB. Have you had any issues with heat? Someone mentioned that the heatsink does make a difference.

[@ConstantGeekery]

I haven’t noticed a problem. I’m not throwing particularly data heavy workloads at it, but it’s been fine for me.

[@MannyNegron]

Thank you

[@synetic]

There's nothing wrong with the WD claims. You're limited by the chipset on the surface.

[@nlab97]

Exactly, their NVMe SSD model is intended to be used with PCIe 4.0 and the surface is limited to PCIe 3.0

[@maks_zbogar]

This is the best tutorial video I have ever seen! THANK YOU!!!

[@donmatheo717]

Why is Surface Pro 9 running SSD on PCIe 3.0 instead of PCIe 4.0...?😬 Maybe that's why the WD drive performed so poorly.

[@edwinfernando11]

Hey did you back up to a external drive or did you insert the new ssd to your usb c hub and back up the system directly to the new SSD?

[@reddlief]

Clever, to the point, entertaining presentation.

[@Hard_7_Iron]

Let us know if the new drive heats up more than the old drive…will you? I had no idea I could upgrade my SSD….thanks! ❤

[@ConstantGeekery]

Will do. It has been completely fine so far 👍🏻

[@saleemalkalbani3046]

Thank you... very helpful

[@WildHorseProductions]

Thank you! This worked perfectly.

[@AddaiSamuel]

Great video. Does this process work for Surface Pro 7+ ?

[@stellijer]

Nice, but I was hoping to port my windows and apps on my laptop not start over

[@hdsunny1]

Professional Instructor, thank you!

[@generalshakewell]

Man. If MS did this with the RAM too, it would be a gamechanger.

[@papa-dt1cv]

Original keyboard skin, so easy affected by wear and tear faster than other keyboard..?

[@sullfolife]

AH! was looking into this but wanted to get 32gb of ram, and turns out it's already maxed out to 1tb

[@ArturFejklowicz]

Great video. Why didn't you choose 2TB? Do you think SN740 2TB 2230 would also work with Surface Pro 9?

[@ConstantGeekery]

Thanks 😊 I don’t need that much space. Most of my stuff is in cloud, so it’s just for apps and temporary working space. 1TB is fine for me. That 2TB drive should work fine. 👍🏻

[@matthewwhitted9179]

hello is the bitlocker key transferred to the new drive when you do the recovery

[@iainattenborough2582]

Thanks for the video. Just installed a 2TB WD sn770m. FYI: it's a torx3 screw not torx2.

[@ConstantGeekery]

👍torx 2 on mine.

[@iainattenborough2582]

@@ConstantGeekery oh, sorry - how odd. Thankyou again!

[@ConstantGeekery]

@@iainattenborough2582 glad you found it useful. I wonder if Microsoft changed the spec, because it would be easy to strip a T2 if you over-tighten it. Apparently T3 is good for double the torque... I just looked it up... clearly I need to get out more! 😂

[@iainattenborough2582]

@@ConstantGeekery - I pulled out the T2 and thought ... my my that is small. Then tried the T3 and it fitted. 2 hours later Windows 11 has finally finished installing the millionth patch and update. Teams refusing to install due to MS driver signing thing.. oh well :) - thanks again

[@jacobwanno3119]

I’ve done this but for me the install2 file is not copying to my recovery drive. It seems corrupted. I’ve tried this on 2 laptops and the surface pro. But it keeps giving the same issue. How can I resolve this?

[@louismartini6983]

Great video. One question. Did you check to see if you have access to the entire 1 TB of the new drive or did the recovery process only format 256 GB?

[@ConstantGeekery]

You can see the capacity in the final speed test. The recovery process doesn’t pay any attention to capacity - it just formats the SSD and copies the setup files over. From there it’s just like when you fire up the device for the first time. Hope that makes sense 😁

[@NOYFB]

Why do PC makers insist on making most of their range with a storage size of up to 512 MB? And why does the 1TB option cost $1000s more, when you can buy a 1TB ssd for $100 more than a 512MB one?

[@AceDaysPro]

Why is mine only a 9.5 gb download for the surface recovery image?

[@Mingbell]

I have just ordered the same WD SN740 1Tb SSD. Many thanks for the clear instruction. One question, will the third-party Windows applications, e.g. VLC, Adobe PDF, which were installed on the old SDD be transfered and continue to work in the Windows on the new SSD after the upgrade?

[@ConstantGeekery]

Only if you clone the drive. If you do a fresh install you’ll need to download them again.

[@Mingbell]

@@ConstantGeekery The Windows 11 on old SSD has the most recent Windows updates. Do I have to re-download and install these same Windows updates after upgrade to a new SSD?

[@ConstantGeekery]

@@Mingbell If you are cloning the drive, then your new drive will be an exact copy of the old drive. You’ll need to Google instructions for that. If you do what I did in this video, you are starting from scratch, so there will be some updates to download afterwards.

[@Mingbell]

@@ConstantGeekery Many thanks for the clarification. I will re-update the Windows after the upgrade as you have demonstrated. Have a nice day.

[@todd0530]

great video, I had Surface pro 8 the same surface pro 9 with PCIE 3.0, but SN740 is PCIE 4.0. I try to upgrade surface pro 8 with SN740. but it show blue screen “ CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT”. I don’t know how to fix it.

[@OTNaugrim]

u can't. pcie 4.0 has fundamental backwards compabitbility issues on surface pro 8 and older. dude above and everyone shilling 4.0 drives for surface pro 8 need a reality check... ur much better off with pcie 3.0 drive,s ry mate for the bad news

[@f1racer908]

some users swapping the m.2 had experienced driver, lockup, and rebooting issues, due to the upgrade to PCIE Gen4 M.2, did you have any issues similar after upgrade?

[@ConstantGeekery]

I haven't had any issues at all.

[@Longstuff]

Fantastic video!!!!!!✌

[@PAE47]

Excellent, Thankyou ,

[@juliussmanzanoo5707]

LINK to download the ISO of the surface, the option to choose the model of my SURFACE does not appear, LINK PLEASE.

[@ConstantGeekery]

support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface-recovery-image

[@aulbam]

I have upgraded the SSD with a TeamGroup 1TB SSD, but after installation my surface temperature rose to 53 degrees Celsius, is it safe?

[@DavidM2002]

There are a few other comments here that talk about how to get the temp down by using the case / heat sink and thermal paste on the new SSD. Well worth a read. Hope that helps.

[@dii36000]

Do you still have to do partitions on the ssd after all the installation?

[@ConstantGeekery]

Depends how you do it. If you do a fresh install, the partitions will be done as part of the install process. If you clone an existing smaller drive, you'll need to resize (grow) the main partition afterwards.

[@laurakeating6049]

What happens if I buy brand new and simply swap in the 1 TB before I turn it on and do the initial setup. Will it work?

[@ConstantGeekery]

Unfortunately not. The new drive won’t have anything on it. You still need to download and install Windows. Good time to do it though.

[@laurakeating6049]

@@ConstantGeekery Thank you. Great video

[@benjiebarker]

Is there an M.2 splitter? I want to connect an external gpu dock that uses M.2 link

[@ConstantGeekery]

I'm not aware of any. The latest Surface Pro has Thunderbolt and can be used with an eGPU, though that won't help you if you have a specific model that uses M.2

[@TheCagande]

hello, will this work in Surface Pro 9? GPD M.2 2230 1TB PCie Gen 3X4 NVME SSD for GPD Win Max 2

[@ConstantGeekery]

I don’t see why not. If it’s a standard 2230 NVMe drive it should work fine.

[@DanieleCaruso]

Is the ssd you suggest compatible with surface pro7plus i7?

[@ConstantGeekery]

It should be backward compatible with PCIe 3.0, but I’ve not personally tested it.

[@kuauth]

Is it necessary to use the recovery drive? Can I clone the old ssd drive to the new one?

[@ConstantGeekery]

You can clone the drive if you have a suitable external enclosure for the new drive, and the right software to do it.

[@kuauth]

@@ConstantGeekery thank you!!

[@kungfooman]

My god is MS too stupid to share an ISO?! I'm on Linux and just wanna use `dd if=... of=...` to create a bootable USB drive. I can't use a freaking ZIP file.

[@sharonb.9128]

Great video. I think it’s fantastic that Microsoft allows buyers to upgrade the SSD. I also believe it’s alright that Apple doesn’t. Plenty of people, myself included will never do it. We THINK we will. I’ve probably owned 8-9 PC’s and I’ve never unscrewed the case and upgraded anything. I’ve accepted I’m never going to be iFixit’s target customer. A company can follow any business model that works for them…or go out of business. Apple’s not bringing back the iPhone’s headphone jack either. I buy my Windows and Apple devices based on my reality. Now, if I can just stop convincing myself I’ll use the Apple Pencil.

[@mikldude9376]

That suits you and thats fine ,, but many people do repair and upgrade their own machines , and some of apples business practices in the past like making it impossible to replace and install proper apple original parts even to the point of making the machine unusable for the most simple job unless its taken back to apple really are pretty shonky business practices . And in my view , if only one small cheap component of my machine needs a replacement that will happily keep the machine running for years longer , why should i have to pay apple half the cost of the original machines cost to have an apple tech do a simple repair that most hands on people could do for a mere fraction of the price.

[@sharonb.9128]

@@mikldude9376 I think you have choices. With cars for example, if you hate a CVT, find a manufacturer who makes a 9 speed. I think all manufacturers, INCLUDING Apple make products that are easier for them to make. M1’s existence proves Apple engineers are moving in a different direction than “modular”. This meme of Apple solely designing products to rake in repair dollars is beyond paranoid. I would put Apple’s priorities of build quality and design philosophy ranking before “making repair money”.

[@jordankuo6662]

Does windows still stay activated after this upgrade?

[@ConstantGeekery]

Yes

[@morishakoori1940]

My Brother, Western Digital is not cheap But thanks

[@ConstantGeekery]

At the time of publishing this video, this was the cheapest main brand 2230 1TB SSD available in the UK, by some margin.

[@tomaszmarsza6742]

Cool

[@tonyburzio4107]

Did anyone see the emergency note to immediately turn off WiFi phone calling on Android phones that came out this morning? Turn it off, NOW!