Solved M.2 NVMe will not install

fenpeppertree · Jul 24, 2025

I have just purchased a new Acer Aspire 3 Spin S mode laptop from Amazon.

I used the included 256gb m.2 NVMe ssd to update the laptop and disable S mode.

Then, when I tried to install a PNY 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, I got something saying Repairing pc, but it didn't get repaired. It said, Repair was unable to repair your pc. Then there were options for the usual blue screen things, which don't help, that I know of.

I also entered the BIOS but couldn't get anywhere helpful.

hsehestedt · Jul 24, 2025

Could you clarify this scenario a bit?

Does that laptop have a second NVMe slot and you added the 500GB drive as a second drive or were you replacing the existing drive? Any further details on precisely what was done would be appreciated.

If you could also note the full model number of the laptop that might also be helpful.

fenpeppertree · Jul 24, 2025

This is a link to the laptop I purchased on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 Convertible Laptop | 14" 1920 x 1200 IPS Touch Display | Intel Core i3-N305 | Intel UHD Graphics | 8GB LPDDR5 | 128GB SSD | Wi-Fi 6 | Windows 11 Home in S mode | A3SP14-31PT-37NV : Electronics

www.amazon.com

This is the model number:
‎Model: NX.KN1AA.004

I am trying to upgrade the existing 256gb drive to a 500gb drive.

On the Amazon sales page, it says the sdd is 128gb, but it is 256gb.

BamaInArk · Jul 24, 2025

Sounds like you're going to have to either reinstall Win11 clean or do an Image of the original drive then do a Restore. For a Windows system you simply cannot remove the Boot drive and replace it with a new empty drive and expect the system to boot as there is NO/Zero operating system on the new drive.

Update to add: I myself have a quazi similar Acer Spin but mine is a Chromebook so different OS. That one does have the capability to do a Recovery with internet access. I upgraded the preinstalled 256 GB M.2 drive to a larger 500 GB one. Then used their published method of getting the Chromebook in Recovery mode and it went out and grabbed the Chrome OS via the internet connection. Shortly it was up and running with a new fresh install of Chrome OS. Not sure if Acer has a function like that for Windows or not.

XxXxX · Jul 24, 2025

make sure you have seated the new M2 drive correctly.
remove the drive and re-seat the drive then check to see if the drive is recognised.

best of luck, Steve ..

RD Mercer · Jul 24, 2025

Sounds to me like you will need to clone the original drive to the new 500 Gig. I don't know anything about that laptop, if you have 2 M.2 slots and a USB port, you can probably do it with a cloning software, or if not, I use a M.2 duplicator it works great for this.

fenpeppertree · Jul 24, 2025

Yes, cloning. It's been a while since I've done this type thing.

I think I remember, now, that this is how I've done this in the past using Macrium Reflect.

I have a couple of M.2 NVMe external adapters, so I'll use one of those.

Oops, I seem to remember there may be a problem if the drives are not the same size (GB).

I guess I would have to reallocate the missing gb on my 500gb drive somehow, right.

There's only one drive, not two.

bobkn · Jul 24, 2025

fenpeppertree said:
This is a link to the laptop I purchased on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 Convertible Laptop | 14" 1920 x 1200 IPS Touch Display | Intel Core i3-N305 | Intel UHD Graphics | 8GB LPDDR5 | 128GB SSD | Wi-Fi 6 | Windows 11 Home in S mode | A3SP14-31PT-37NV : Electronics

Amazon.com: Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 Convertible Laptop | 14" 1920 x 1200 IPS Touch Display | Intel Core i3-N305 | Intel UHD Graphics | 8GB LPDDR5 | 128GB SSD | Wi-Fi 6 | Windows 11 Home in S mode | A3SP14-31PT-37NV : Electronics

www.amazon.com

This is the model number:
‎Model: NX.KN1AA.004

I am trying to upgrade the existing 256gb drive to a 500gb drive.

On the Amazon sales page, it says the sdd is 128gb, but it is 256gb.

That's the part number. The model number is A3SP14-31PT-37NV.

I may be wrong, but a quick Web search indicates that the laptop has a single M.2 slot. Please tell us the details of how you are attempting the upgrade.

As I was posting this, Post 8 appeared. I suppose that you're imaging the OEM drive to an external drive, swapping in the new M.2 drive, and restoring to it. Right?

fenpeppertree · Jul 24, 2025

Not restoring; cloning the 250gb that came with the laptop to a 500gb drive.

Well, this is what I'm planning to do, haven't even started, yet.

I think I sort of thought if I just installed the 500gb drive and started the laptop, Windows 11 would auto install itself, but I guess that isn't something that works.

bobkn · Jul 24, 2025

fenpeppertree said:
Not restoring; cloning the 250gb that came with the laptop to a 500gb drive.

Well, this is what I'm planning to do, haven't even started, yet.

I think I sort of thought if I just installed the 500gb drive and started the laptop, Windows 11 would auto install itself, but I guess that isn't something that works.

If I understand your post, that's wrong. (Hard to put it more politely.)

What I believe you need to do:

Use Reflect (or equivalent) to image the C: drive to an external drive. (I hope that you have one of those.)

Create a USB rescue drive (from Reflect).

Swap M.2 drives.

Connect the external drive.

Boot the laptop from the rescue USB drive.

Restore C: from the image. I think that Reflect can resize the partitions to use the space in the larger drive.

The result: a clone of the original drive.

You could do a direct clone if you had an external USB M.2 adapter or enclosure. I've used one of these:

Amazon.com

spapakons · Jul 24, 2025

Since the laptop is new, you can just reinstall Windows 11. If you have any data, put the old disk in a USB adapter which you said you have and copy your data. If you decide to clone the old disk, in Macrium Reflect drag all partitions to the empty new disk. When you drag the Windows partition right-click and select to resize it. Calculate the space you need for the remaining partitions and expand the Windows partition leaving that space at the end. Drag the remaining partitions and apply.

MisterEd · Jul 24, 2025

I have an Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41G-R6MP) laptop. It came with a 256GB M.2 SATA SSD. A few months later I cloned the SSD to a 500GB M.2 SATA SSD. This laptop only has one M.2 slot. I used an external enclosure for the replacement SSD. I booted the cloning software from a flash drive and did the cloning. When done I switched SSDs. It booted normally with the replacement SSD.

Note the cloning software I used automatically resized the C: partition so that when done the entire 500GB was used. Some cloning software doesn't do that. That is OK because the C: partition can be resized manually using Disk Management.

BTW, a year later I cloned that to a 1TB M.2 SATA SSD. Like the other the C: partition was automatically resized so the whole 1TB was used.

spapakons · Jul 24, 2025

MisterEd said:
I have an Acer Swift 3 (SF315-41G-R6MP) laptop. It came with a 256GB M.2 SATA SSD. A few months later I cloned the SSD to a 500GB M.2 SATA SSD. This laptop only has one M.2 slot. I used an external enclosure for the replacement SSD. I booted the cloning software from a flash drive and did the cloning. When done I switched SSDs. It booted normally with the replacement SSD.

Note the cloning software I used automatically resized the C: partition so that when done the entire 500GB was used. Some cloning software doesn't do that. That is OK because the C: partition can be resized manually using Disk Management.

BTW, a year later I cloned that to a 1TB M.2 SATA SSD. Like the other the C: partition was automatically resized so the whole 1TB was used.

I don't have such a computer, but I did the same in my main PC. First clone the mechanical hard disk to a SATA SSD. Next time the SSD to a larger SSD and so on. After cloning you just swap with the new disk and boot. It is simple. Also a great way to upgrade an old laptop. Just replace the old disk with a SATA SSD to make it seem like a faster new model.

hsehestedt · Jul 24, 2025

There are a few ways to go about this. If you are having difficulty cloning, you could try this:

Rather than cloning, create a disk image backup instead using your Macrium Reflect. Remove the 256GB SSD and replace with the 512GB SSD, boot your Macrium Reflect recovery disk and restore the disk image backup to the new SSD expanding the Windows partition to make use of the additional space.

Method 2

Create a Windows installation UFD (USB Flash Drive) from which you can install Windows.

With your 256 GB SSD still installed in the system, backup all of your drivers like this:

Insert the Windows Installation UFD that you created and create a folder on it called Drivers_Backup. I don't know what drive letter your UFD will have, but I'll assume D: in my example below. Use the correct drive letter for your case. Open a command prompt and run this command using the correct drive letter for your UFD:

pnputil /export-driver * D:\Drivers_Backup

Replace the 256 GB SSD with the 512 GB SSD, boot from the Windows installation disk and install Windows. When done installing Windows, open Device Manager. At the top of the device tree, right-click on your computer name and choose the option to add drivers. Point to the Drivers_Backup folder on your UFD and make sure the option to include subfolders is checked. All of your original drivers will be restored.

fenpeppertree · Jul 24, 2025

It's all good.

Used Macrium Reflect, and the option to "shrink or extend to fill the target disc", which kept all the 500gb.

Sorry for the bother.

OAT · Jul 24, 2025

fenpeppertree said:
It's all good.

Used Macrium Reflect, and the option to "shrink or extend to fill the target disc", which kept all the 500gb.

Sorry for the bother.

Nothing to feel sorry about.
Happy it all worked out in the end.

RD Mercer · Jul 24, 2025

No bother, we all do things differently. I personally like the duplicator's, they have worked great for me, 100% of the time, with no failures.

Megahertz · Jul 24, 2025

Glad you found a way to clone the default drive into the new one.

Please mark this thread as solved.

Solved M.2 NVMe will not install

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