Dell XPS 14 (L421x) - Help & Guidance needed re some repairs/upgrades

I have been fortunate to have been given a Dell XPS 14 (L421X) [i5 version] by my son as unfortunately the Samsung 350V5c, fixed thanks to help from here, is sadly no longer a laptop needing a separate monitor and keyboard to work !!! Unfortunately the Dell developed a keyboard fault whilst he was working abroad and even though it was under warranty Dell were only able to source a local keyboard as they weren't able to get the UK one which was needed.

Moving forwards I intend to do 3 things,
1) replace the keyboard (this has already been sourced from a Dell reseller),
2) increase Memory to 8 Gb (this has been received direct from Dell) and
3) replace the HDD with a similar sized SSD (500 Gb) Samsung 850 EVO or Pro, removing the m-SATA drive at the same time.

I would just like to know the correct order in which to do these upgrades/repair. My assumption is that I need to:
1) Create a Boot DVD as I want to reset it to factory defaults then all his stuff is cleared off (I have an external DVD writer already).
2) I would then open up the laptop and replace the keyboard. Sounds simple I know but having downloaded a copy of the owner's manual, I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
3) At this stage I would replace the HDD and remove the m-SATA SSD as it is now surplus to requirements. Are there any settings that need changing in BIOS as a result ?? Also what is the best BIOS to run as remember seeing something somewhere about the latest BIOS mucking about with SATA III ??

Once everything is back up and running I may well then upgrade to Windows 10 as Windows 8 is the default on the Laptop and I don't really want that.

Has anyone got any experience of what I am trying to achieve or suggestions ? All help and guidance is very greatly appreciated.

 

Well I have replaced keyboard and upgraded RAM to 8Gb. So my final and most important upgrade awaits namely the hard drive. Any suggestions can I replace the 32Gb mSATA SSD with a 500Gb one (say) and keep the Hard Drive, switch from (I think) RAID to AHCI and move the boot drive to the SSD? If so what is the best way ?

Currently it runs Windows 8 so looking to upgrade before end of the month so any assistance very gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

edited for typos

 

Try macrium reflect - I'm not sure if reflect will recognize the RAID as 2 devices or 1. I suspect it will be one. In that case, you can just make a bootable USB and image/restore the image of the old drive to the new SSD.

As for going to AHCI, that won't be a problem. You may just need to turn the BIOS to ahci after installing the new SSD, then run a Windows 10 install (yes you'll just overwrite it later) to install the needed drivers and partitions. Then you can restore your old HDD image to replace the main data partition of your new SSD (that one that has windows installed on it)

 

Thank you for your quick reply. I think the RAID in BIOS is purely for IRST purposes and as it's essentially a cache drive nothing more. I recall seeing comments not to use the Intel AHCI drivers but stick to the MS AHCI drivers. I had always envisaged swapping out the HDD for a 2.5 inch SSD and it hadn't occurred to me to replace the mSATA SSD. Would performance be better with a single "full-size" SSD though ?

 

The performance will depend on the interface first and the drive second. Both the drives are probably SATA III interface, as only newer laptops have NVME. Any drive with 500 read/write will saturate the interface

 

Many thanks for the advice and sorry for the delay. Have upgraded to Windows 10. Still think there's a load of junk in there from when my son had it but it is now responsive. Yeah realised only SATA III interface; as usual just waiting on me to bite the bullet and knuckledown and do the job