Re: nvme screw?

On Mon, 1/19/2026 1:02 PM, T wrote:

> 
>   The "Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tower Gen 2 (Intel) Workstation"
> mounted NVMe drive comes with a super tiny screw.
> 
>   Lately, I have been presented with old computers they want
> upgraded to something better and faster.  They have a ton
> of specialty software on them.  This mean "Key codes?  Source
> codes? Disks?  You've got to be kidding me!"  It is an
> impossible assignment.
> 
> But, being one clever SOB, pull the NVMe drive out of the new
> computer, put it in a USB3 carrier, plug it into the old
> computer, fire up Clonezilla in rescue mode to copy past
> bad spots, and clone the old computer to the new NVMe drive.
> Put the NVMe drive back in the new computer, upgrade to W11
> and presto.  They are back in business.
> 
> Problem, the micro screw.  It is very, very easy to lose.
> I take it out with a magnetic screwdriver, leave it on a
> magnet until I have to reinstall it.  One wrong shake of
> eh hand or bump of the table and it disappears forever.
> 
> I can not tell it the turkey is an M1.2, M1.4 or the
> larger M2 or if it is ever a metric screw or not.
> 
> -T
> 

The local computer store has a "kit" with studs, but also
a bag of "M2x2.7mm", which is roughly 0.10" of thread. It's
a flat head, as you need the flat head to act as a shoulder
over the U-shaped cutout in the PCB. The cutout is intended
to be grounded. The bag of screws includes 9 screws, which
are likely to be SS metal or chrome-steel. The studs are
usually made of a softer metal.

    NVMe M.2 SSD Mounting Screw Kit

The fastener store, does not usually carry #2 or M2.
If you want those, they're a custom order and a box of 100
or so. When you buy 100, you usually get them cheaper,
so it does not follow that a huge financial hit is there.

Buying these small kits at the computer store, while
convenient, is not good usage of money -- the kit above
includes a screwdriver, mainly to justify a higher
sticker price.

It was like resistors at Radio Shack. The blister pack with
two resistors was $1.00 . The "resistor kit" having fifty
resistors in it was $2.50 . The resistor kit was Noahs Arc,
having two resistors of each value. You were getting
twenty five different values from 1 ohm to 10 megohms or so.
I think you can imagine how many blister packs I bought,
after the Noahs Arc version showed up (0!).

So while you might solve the immediate problem at the
local computer store, buying a box of those for $10 to $15
is likely a better long term deal.

I can see in laptop design, why the product would be
designed that way. In a desktop there is more room for innovation.

    Paul