Upgrade Lenovo Yoga 300-11/BY storage ftom 32Gb eMMC to SATA SSD

Upgrade Lenovo Yoga 300-11/BY storage ftom 32Gb eMMC to SATA SSD hard disk.

As supplied, this PC has only got 32Gb of storage, which isn’t enough to run Windows 10 and store lots of stuff too. The storage is eMMC which is fixed to the processor board and is not upgradeable.

Fortunately, it has an unused space inside for a 2.5 inch SATA hard disk and a socket on the board, but doesn’t come with the cable or the support tray.

I have just upgraded by own laptop, after a lot of false starts, a hard to get cable and bad information, so here is how I did it :-

What you need :-

 A 2.5 inch SATA SSD hard disk – 7mm thick (I used a Crucial BX200 SSD, which is 240Gb), available from Crucial website.



Cable to connect new drive to system board -- HDD Cable B Flex3-1120 – part number

5C10J08424. These are really hard to get. I got mine from America, and had to buy a whole box so they would process the order . I am selling the rest on ebay – search for the part number -- £23 delivered. Not cheap, but no choice.

 Temporary cable (SATA to USB) – 22 pin (15 + 7) – this is to externally connect your new hard drive whilst you set it up. These are cheap off ebay.

 Double sided tape.

 Small screwdriver.

Procedure I used.

My laptop was already upgraded to Windows 10, with ‘recovery’ partition minimised to get most use out of the 32Gb, but if yours is still 8.1 then some of the windows commands may be a bit different.

The main thing to know is that this laptop will only recognise 1 hard disk at a time, so as soon as you connect the new drive internally, the 32GB will be unrecognised, unless you unplug the new drive again.

Create bootable USB stick, in case something goes wrong.

 Internet – go to Windows 10 or 8.1 download site.

 Download tool now

 Start tools

 Create installation media for another PC

 USB flash drive

If you are short of space on the existing C drive, this may not work, so either move some files across to another USB, or delete some. Don’t forget that deleting stuff from your onedrive will lose it when you resynch later – better to move across to USB, then bring back later. Also, empty recycle bin to create more space.

Prepare new Drive for use

 Plug new drive into laptop externally using the SATA to USB cable.

 In Windows – go to ‘disk management’ (right click on bottom left corner in Windows 10).

 Select the new drive

 Initialise drive – choose GPT option.

 Right click in ‘unallocated’ area and create a ‘new simple volume’ then give it a name.

Create a ‘clone’ of the old drive onto the new drive.

This is an exact replica of the old drive, so that the new drive will just work when you install it inside.

 New drive is still plugged in externally to the USB.

 Internet – search ‘macrium reflect’

 Download tool and choose free option.

 Open Macrium by clicking icon.

 Follow instructions from Macrium website, but it’s really easy.

 Double check that the old disk information is displayed in the window.

DON’T create an ‘image’ of the old disk – make sure you select ‘clone this disk’

 Then select the new drive as the destination for the clone data. Double check that you have the correct drive selected as the destination – it should be the same name as your drive model. Don’t try resizing partitions or anything at this stage – just do a straight ‘clone’.

 Do the ‘clone’.

If you get an error saying ‘chkdsk C: drive’ , then exit Macrium,

Get a command prompt (right click start button / command prompt (admin) in Windows 10) chkdsk c: /f

Then press enter and shut down – check and fix will be done as you restart

Start Macrium again and try again for the clone – it should work now.

Install the new hard disk

 Unplug new drive from USB.

 Unplug laptop from mains.

 Turn over and remove 10 screws

 Unclip bottom cover from hinge side first, then sides then cover will open and come off.

 Either make sure you are connected to something large and metal to prevent static, or touch an unpainted water pipe or something to discharge yourself.

 Fit 5C10J08424 cable to hard drive, then stick drive down into space using 4 small double sided tape pieces (one each corner). This avoids having to buy a support tray.

 Plug the other end of the SATA cable into the socket on the system board (fiddly) – with the spot uppermost. Use the sticky patch provided to go across the joint to stop it coming apart in use.

 Refit the cover in reverse order.

Get to boot up.

 To get to the BIOS, use a paper clip to push in the little button inside the hole on the RHS of the laptop, which will give you some options. Choose ‘boot menu’

 Make sure the new drive is selected as 1 st choice (you will see the model number) – it may also have ‘windows boot manager’ next to it.

 Try and start the laptop.

 If still won’t start, use the paperclip again and go to the BIOS.

 Move across to the BOOT tab and again check that the new drive is top – to move it up press

Fn and the relevant function key.

 Should now start up, but may hiccup first time.

Rsize C: partition (volume)

 Check the C drive in file manager – should look the same as before, with very little spare space.

 Don’t worry – this will now be the new drive, so we have to expand the C partition.

 Go to ‘disk management’ (right click start button in Widows 10)

 Right click on the C partition, then choose ‘expand volume’ and choose the default maximum it gives you.

 All done.

If you make massive errors and new drive doesn’t work at all then you can always go back to using the old one whilst you think what to do. Just remove the rear cover again, discharge static and unplug the SATA cable from the system board. The laptop will now recognise and go back to using the old drive.

No guarantees that this procedure will work for you, but it did for me and I hope you get the benefit too.