Do Modern Laptops Have M.2 Slots?

[SquirrelMadness]

I wanna get a laptop to replace my huge PC and pop the same Win 10 M.2 into it.

Is this possible on the newer slim laptops?

It's a full size M.2 Samsung 970 Pro.

Anything I should look out for in order to not accidentally overwrite it in the process?

I expect it to just boot straight into the Win 10 already installed on the drive at launch.

 

[d_brennen]

That's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question. Some will, some won't. Also, expecting it to just boot is squirrel madness. It might, it might not

 

[Tetras]

At the very least, if your laptop has an equivalent M.2 slot that can support your drive, do a backup of all your important data.

Also, if you have a TPM & bitlocker enabled you may need to disable these to minimise trouble.

 

[dave28]

You have to look at the Spec sheet for the individual Laptop, and make sure to check the length of your Nvme drive is compatible.

 

[SquirrelMadness]

At the very least, if your laptop has an equivalent M.2 slot that can support your drive, do a backup of all your important data.

Also, if you have a TPM & bitlocker enabled you may need to disable these to minimise trouble.

Thinking about the ZenBook 14

Also is backing up as simple as connecting the m.2 to my PC, making all hidden files visible and copy pasting the whole content into a backup folder or is there more to it?

 

[Tetras]

Also is backing up as simple as connecting the m.2 to my PC, making all hidden files visible and copy pasting the whole content into a backup folder or is there more to it?

Assuming there's no encryption on the drive: yes. BUT, that would (rather inefficiently) only create backups of your personal data, rather than replicate a bootable drive/OS.

 

[SquirrelMadness]

Assuming there's no encryption on the drive: yes. BUT, that would (rather inefficiently) only create backups of your personal data, rather than replicate a bootable drive/OS.

That's what I mean, I'm guessing I need to use software to duplicate a bootable drive.

 

[Tetras]

That's what I mean, I'm guessing I need to use software to duplicate a bootable drive.

Yeah, you can't do that with copy and paste.

 

[Snapshot]

Thinking about the ZenBook 14

Also is backing up as simple as connecting the m.2 to my PC, making all hidden files visible and copy pasting the whole content into a backup folder or is there more to it?

There's a hidden partition or two before the data partition that enables the drive to boot and a recovery partition after it. Have a look in Disk Management and you'll see (most of) them. You need cloning software to make a complete bootable copy of the disk.

You might find the laptop will take a maximum of a 2242 M.2 so your 2280 won't fit.

 

[Mercutio]

Thinking about the ZenBook 14

Also is backing up as simple as connecting the m.2 to my PC, making all hidden files visible and copy pasting the whole content into a backup folder or is there more to it?

From the Zenbook 14 spec sheet:

Storage
512GB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 3.0 SSD
Expansion Slots (includes used)
1x M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0x4

So it's a full sized M.2 it takes.

i've managed to get a windows 10 install to WORK between intel>amd systems but it had some major issues and eventually got flattened for a fresh install.

 

[hornetstinger]

Do a google search for "open up zenbook" and use crucial site to determine if full size card can be used.

 

[SquirrelMadness]

The ZenBook wouldn't boot the Win10 SSD "inaccessible media" so I just cloned the original Win11 onto it.

Even if I got past the boot apparently it would still have issues with drivers for touch pad etc...

 

[Mercutio]

1x M.2 2280