How to Install an SSD in Your Laptop
Check the upgradeability of your laptop to see if you can access and remove the hard drive through a removable panel on the bottom of your laptop. If your laptop has a sealed bottom panel, then the process is more difficult. Consult the laptop’s manual to find out how to access the hard drive. Upgrading from a hard drive to a solid state drive is among the best things you can do to make your laptop faster. The whole process of installing an SSD can be overwhelming. It may take a little time, especially during the backup and restore process, so be patient.
The Items You Need to Install a New SSD
You’ll need the following:
The SSDA small Phillips-head screwdriverA separate external hard drive (optional).
The available storage space on the SSD must be at least large enough to accommodate the operating system partition and any required system recovery partitions. A 250GB or 500GB SSD should do. While you’re at it, purchase a SATA to USB adaptor or an external enclosure for your SSD for the cloning process. The small Phillips-head screwdriver is for opening the back panel on your laptop, and the separate external hard drive is for any large folders you may want to back up that won’t fit on your SSDs. The external hard drive is also be useful for creating a full backup of your system.
Make Sure the New SSD Fits Correctly
Find an SSD that’s the right fit for your laptop. Most laptops will take a 2.5-inch hard drive, though the smaller ones take 1.8-inch disks. Thickness is also a factor, with most hard drives being either 7mm or 9.5mm thick. As for the interface, there are the SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) and IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) interfaces. SATA is the more modern one, while the IDE interface is more commonly found in laptops made before 2008. Most laptops will take a 2.5-inch SATA disk, but check your laptop’s manual to be sure. A 7mm disk will fit in a 9.5mm slot, plus you can add spacers to give it a tighter fit.
