How to Add a Second Drive to a Lenovo M710s: Storage Upgrade Guide

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M710s is a small form factor (SFF) desktop — compact enough to sit behind a monitor, but capable enough to handle real storage expansion. Adding a second drive is one of the most practical upgrades you can make, whether you're running out of space, want to separate your OS from your data, or need faster storage alongside a high-capacity backup drive.

Here's what you need to know before opening the case.

What Storage Options the M710s Actually Supports

The M710s ships in several configurations, so the starting point matters. Most units come with either a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, a 3.5-inch SATA HDD, or an M.2 NVMe SSD as the primary drive — sometimes a combination.

The key expansion slots available on most M710s units include:

• One M.2 slot (typically M.2 2280, supporting NVMe or SATA M.2 drives)
• One 3.5-inch HDD bay (SATA)
• One 2.5-inch drive bay (SATA, often used via adapter bracket)
• SATA data and power connectors routed from the motherboard and PSU

Whether those slots are already occupied depends entirely on how your unit was originally configured. Before buying anything, physically open the chassis and audit what's installed and what's free.

Opening the M710s Chassis

The M710s uses a tool-less side panel on most revisions — there's a release latch or thumb screw at the rear. Once the panel is off, the interior is well-organized for a compact desktop. You'll see the drive bays toward the front of the chassis, typically stacked or positioned along the lower section.

Ground yourself before touching internal components — static discharge can damage the motherboard or existing drives. A simple anti-static wrist strap or touching an unpainted metal surface before handling components is enough.

Adding an M.2 NVMe or SATA M.2 Drive

If the M.2 slot is empty, this is the cleanest upgrade path. 🔧

M.2 drives install directly onto the motherboard with a single screw — no cables required. The process:

1. Locate the M.2 slot on the motherboard (usually labeled on the PCB)
2. Insert the drive at roughly a 30-degree angle into the slot
3. Press it flat and secure with the retention screw

NVMe vs. SATA M.2 matters here. The M710s motherboard supports both protocols on its M.2 slot in most configurations, but verify your specific board revision. An NVMe drive will offer significantly faster sequential read/write speeds than a SATA M.2 drive — relevant for heavy file transfers or running applications from that drive. For bulk storage or a secondary data drive, SATA M.2 is often adequate and typically less expensive.

Adding a 2.5-Inch or 3.5-Inch SATA Drive

If the M.2 slot is already occupied — or you want high-capacity storage that M.2 drives don't cost-effectively provide at larger sizes — a SATA drive in the secondary bay is the alternative.

The M710s has a secondary 3.5-inch bay that typically accommodates a standard HDD. A 2.5-inch SSD can be mounted using a 2.5-to-3.5-inch adapter bracket, which is inexpensive and keeps the drive secure.

Installation steps:

1. Slide the drive into the bay and secure with screws or the tool-less retention clip (varies by chassis revision)
2. Connect a SATA data cable from the drive to an available SATA port on the motherboard
3. Connect a SATA power cable from the PSU to the drive

Check that your PSU has an available SATA power connector before purchasing a drive. In compact systems like the M710s, the number of free power connectors can be limited.

Making Windows Recognize the New Drive

Adding a drive physically doesn't automatically make it appear in File Explorer. A new, unformatted drive needs to be initialized and partitioned first.

1. Right-click the Start menu → select Disk Management
2. Windows will prompt you to initialize the new disk — choose GPT (for modern systems)
3. Right-click the unallocated space → New Simple Volume
4. Follow the wizard to assign a drive letter and format as NTFS

Once complete, the drive appears in File Explorer and is ready to use.

Variables That Affect How This Upgrade Works for You

The process described above covers the standard path, but several factors shift what's actually optimal:

How Different Users Typically Approach This

A user adding a secondary data drive for documents, photos, and media will often go with a large-capacity SATA HDD in the secondary bay — it's cost-effective and the speed difference is unnoticeable for file storage.

Someone who wants faster application loading or a secondary OS partition will lean toward an M.2 NVMe drive if the slot is free.

A user doing video editing or working with large project files might prioritize an NVMe drive specifically because read/write throughput affects workflow speed in a measurable way.

And someone inheriting a pre-configured M710s with both the M.2 slot and 3.5-inch bay already occupied may find the only remaining path is replacing an existing drive rather than adding a new one — which changes the planning entirely. 💾

The right approach depends on what's already in your machine, what you actually need the second drive to do, and how that fits against the physical and budgetary constraints of your specific setup.