Do you want to upgrade the SSD in your notebook?

Why upgrade SSDs?

We've all heard of "Cask Theory," and for computers, too. The performance of a computer is often not dependent on the most powerful parts, and the computer's use of the device is mostly based on the part with the worst performance. So, for a typical notebook, CPU and memory, etc. are often not the direct cause of the slow running of the computer, but are responsible for the storage of mechanical hard drives, especially those 5400-turn notebook hard disk.

We all know the "Moore's Law" of the chip world, CPU and memory and so on chip products follow the development of the law in the continuous improvement of performance, and as a storage part of the hard disk, because of its storage media, is not part of the chip products, so that its performance improvement compared to the CPU and so on the promotion appears slow. Not only that, because the hard drive works, it causes it to read and write data, there is a search time, which also greatly increased the delay in reading scattered files, and the poor ability to read the fragmented file is the key to the slow running of the computer. So we say, now the bottleneck of computer hardware is the traditional mechanical hard disk.

That being the case, we can see that improving the performance of the hard drive can improve our experience of using the computer, so SSD turned out. SSD because of its storage medium and principle and traditional mechanical hard disk is completely different, so greatly improve the read and write speed and greatly improve the random read and write performance, this is a leap for the computer to improve the same. So, want to restart the old computer, upgrade an SSD is the most direct and most effective way.

Confirm Required SSD type, select Upgrade scheme

Upgrade SSDs The most important thing is to determine whether your notebook can upgrade SSD, currently on the market there are mainly two types of SSD, that is, the traditional 2.5-inch SATA interface solid-state hard disk, as well as the mSATA interface of solid-state drives. There is no difference in performance between the two SSD, the main difference is the difference of its interface. In recent years, notebook products are basically equipped with SATA disk interface, so can upgrade SSD, and the previous old computer is generally IDE interface, there is no need to upgrade, so, in preparation for the upgrade, you can download a disk tool Crystaldiskinfo detect whether the AI machine is a SATA interface , if it is, then peace of mind to upgrade it, in addition if you will dismantle the machine, the hard drive down to see also can know is not a SATA interface.

Since the notebook itself has a hard disk, and the average laptop only has a bit of hard disk, so if we want to upgrade SSD, there are three ways:

Method 1: Install directly. If the notebook has an additional mSATA interface, directly install the mSATA Interface SSD (mSATA interface SSD); If the computer has an additional SATA interface hard drive bit, install the SATA interface SSD directly (using SATA interface SSD). This is undoubtedly the best way, you can not involve the original hard drive under the premise of the implementation of the upgrade SSD, it does not involve data migration issues.

Method 2: Replace the old hard drive (using SATA interface SSD): This method is the most convenient, any support SATA interface notebook can be upgraded, but the disadvantage is that if the purchase of SSD capacity is less than the original mechanical hard disk, it will appear data migration and computer disk space becomes smaller problem.

Method 3: Use the optical drive tray to install in the optical drive location (using SATA interface SSD). This is also the result of a compromise on the price and capacity of SSDs, after all, SSD prices are still more expensive, and the optical drive has become a basic device that we no longer use, so replace it with SSD is the most widely used approach to upgrade SSDs today. But if you have a computer with no optical drive and no mSATA interface, you can only use Method 2. So, depending on whether your laptop has an additional mSATA interface or an optical drive, choose which SSD to buy.

Part II: Installing SSDs

Method 1: This is for the installation of a computer with an additional mSATA interface or a hard drive bit. All you have to do is prepare a screwdriver and a brand-new Sata/msata SSD.

The above figure for example, open the computer back cover, exposing the hard drive bit or mSATA interface location, if the SATA interface SSD is installed on the SATA hard disk bit, that is, the red box part of the figure. If the mSATA interface is installed on the mSATA interface, that is, the yellow box part of the diagram, the SSD is installed. The idea is that most SATA drives are plugged in, and do not lift them up from the root to prevent damage to the interface. After installing the hard drive, you need to tighten the screws to prevent the hard drive from falling off.

Method 2: This method is also relatively simple, you need is only a screwdriver and a new SATA interface SSD.

The above picture for example, open the computer back cover, exposing the computer with the original hard drive, that is, the yellow box part of the picture, and then carefully remove its fixed screw one by one, you can unplug the hard drive, and then the newly bought SSD installed on it. The idea is that after installing the hard drive, you need to tighten the screws to prevent the hard drive from falling off. Also note that most SATA hard drives are plugged in, and do not lift them up from the root when installing to avoid damaging the interface.

Method 3: Our goal is to install SSD on the optical drive, not the original hard drive, so all we need is a screwdriver, a brand-new SSD and a corresponding optical drive carrier.

All we have to do is load the SSD onto the optical drive tray, and the general optical drive Tray will have a detailed installation method. Then remove the optical drive of the notebook and plug the optical drive tray into the optical drive interface. Although simple to say, but in fact, there are some difficulties in the removal of the optical drive, where the small series on the emphasis to remind you a few points:

1. Before removing the optical drive, eject the optical drive, then turn off the machine and power off;

2, on the motherboard to find the optical drive fixing screws, and remove it. Generally only one screw, and the screws are indicated next to, and then you can remove the optical drive;

3. Remove the front bezel of the optical drive, then install the baffle onto the optical drive tray;

4, the CD-ROM drive tray installed back to the hard disk.

Step three: partition, format, and install the system

After the computer upgrades the SSD, first the SSD should be formatted and partitioned, then the system will be installed. The format and partitioning of SSD are similar to common mechanical disk, and the method is basically the same. It is only necessary to pay special attention to 4K alignment due to the characteristics of SSD.

For method 1 and Method 3, because the original hard disk is still in, so you can enter the original system for SSD format and partition. The format and partition in WIN7 and WIN8 systems can be entered into the disk Management system through the Control Panel in the system, where the SSD is partitioned and formatted directly. Partitioning and formatting process, the system will automatically choose the best way, so do not need to manually 4K alignment, just to confirm it. After that, you can install the system normally.

And for the method is said, you need to install SSD before the SSD partition and format, and then through the ghost software, etc. to clone the entire system disk to the SSD. Not only fast but also authentic, maintain the original appearance, no need to reinstall the system, drive and a variety of software.

One thing to mention here is that because SSD has many new features, XP and older systems do not fully perform SSD performance. So if you want to experience the real refreshing of SSDs, it is recommended to install Win7 and newer systems.

From left to right: Desktop machine hard drive/ordinary SATA SSD/msata SSD Drive