Questions regarding the M.2 SSDs and the T440s (And other new Haswell Lenovos)

No because your SSD would be faster and therefore it wouldn't need the 16GB CACHE drive. it would still work as a 16GB Storage drive however.

You can still use the slots for whatever you want but kinda pointless if you have a 2.5GB SSD in there.

 

I have an L440 on order (ships on Monday) and was wondering about getting a small (16-24gb) drive to use for the page file. I have a 255gb SSD from my old laptop that I'll install as the main drive, and even though I will either reuse my 16gb of ram or upgrade, I also expect to be doing a lot more virtualization, and could benefit from a fast page file for overprovisioning memory on the guests. Moving the page file would also free up some space on the main ssd.

 

Hi! I plan to install 256gb M.2 onto the empty slot for windows and programs and replace the HDD with MX100 Crucial for data. I don't know how to handle the M.2 16gb that is under the battery. I plan not to use it but save it, so I could revert back to it's original configuration (putting back the original HDD). If I simply remove the cable that connects the M.2 16gb card to motherboard, do I need to disable any cache software? I am afraid that simply remove the ssd but not the software, it will keep looking for it and slow everything down. Please kindly shed some light.

 

You can just remove the cable. I did it and nothing happen.

There is an option where you completely wipe out the drive and reformat to use as another drive. I did that and it works like a charm. I combined it with bitlocker encryption and now have a safe place to store highly sensitive files and nobody would bother to look for a drive under the battery.

 

Thank you so much phamhlam. I wonder how the cache software works. Have you come across how the cache is implemented? I am curious if simply removing the cable, That cache software must still be loaded in the memory and simply take up RAM and it should keep polling if SSD is presence so it can cache. In your case if you wipe out and reformat the drive, how could you reinstate the cache and put back the HDD to return to its original state? your input is highly appreciated....

 

Pardon my ignorance, I have found it on lenovo site the Expresscache software. It could be removed just like any other program and re-install when needed. I think I will just pull the cable and uninstall Expresscache and then leave the 16gb in the machine unless I want to gain 16gb of storage (then I have to reformat the 16gb) Thank you.

 

I have a T440s that was mistakenly ordered without the 16gb cache card. I do not want to return it for service. It also does not have a Smart Card, which I believe is why it doesn't have the cache card.

I already have a 480gb SSD in the main HDD slot and a 256gb SSD in the m2 slot next to the LAN card. I would like to add the extra m2 slot to put a third SSD into the machine. Does anyone know whether I can simply purchase a Smart Card part and install it? Lenovo has been rather useless in answering this question.

thanks