Replacing the HDD in a laptop with an SSD - instructions. Comparison of HDD and SSD. Heart-to-heart conversation: installing an SSD in a computer. Is it worth installing an SSD? Personal experience

Every day more and more users are thinking about the question: how to replace the HDD in a laptop with an SSD? This topic is especially relevant now: the hard drive, like in a mobile computer, is becoming obsolete.

To change or not to change? That is the question

For many years there has been a debate about whether the hard drive will be replaced by solid-state drives or not. Power users value SSDs for speed and reliability. However, any medal has two sides, so it should be noted that the reactivity of the drive is very expensive.

The high cost of SSDs for the most part prevents them from becoming widely used. Many owners of PCs and laptops, whose activities require the best performance indicators, still renounce HDDs.

Pros and cons of SSD and HDD

The fact is that HDD has a number of disadvantages compared to SSD:

As a rule, it is because of them that many decide to replace them, while one cannot ignore the advantages of hard drives over solid-state drives:

• Volume. At the moment, ordinary users have access to from 320 GB to 10 TB. And the same SSDs in regular stores can be found with a maximum capacity of 2TB. We are not talking about drives for industrial or server equipment, but only about those that can be bought at the nearest computer market.
• Price. She is much lower. If you compare the cost of a popular 2 TB hard drive with an SSD of the same capacity, it turns out that a solid-state drive is 16 times more expensive than an HDD.
• With SSD, it is almost impossible to recover deleted data due to the storage method. The maximum that can be done is to take the drive to a laboratory where the necessary equipment will be available.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the speed and security of data is more important than its volume. Do you value low power consumption? You can safely switch to an SSD drive.

What HDDs are used in the laptop?

Currently, laptops use 2.5-inch hard drives. This means that inside there are “pancakes” of this exact diameter. Some MacBooks have 1.8″ hard drives, but this is a separate topic and we won’t talk about them.

Each disk has a set of characteristics, such as:

• manufacturer;
• volume: the amount of data that can be stored, usually in GB;
• buffer memory: fast memory or cash;
• rotation speed: the number of revolutions per minute made by the spindle;
• connection interface: connector through which the drive is connected to the board.

The price of the HDD depends on the set of these characteristics and their quality. The most common hard drive option at the time of writing has:

• connection interface - SATA III;
• volume - 2 TB;
• - 5400 rpm;
• buffer memory - 32 MB.

What SSDs can be installed instead of a hard drive?

The main difference between a solid-state drive and an HDD is that data is written non-mechanically. Simply put, information is recorded on microcircuits. Due to this, high and low noise levels are achieved.

Such drives have 4 common form factors:

• PCI-E AIC (add-in-card);
• M.2 2280;
• mSATA;
• 2.5 in.

In the context of this article, which is devoted to the question of how to replace the HDD in a laptop with an SSD, all attention will be paid to drives of the latest format, i.e. 2.5 inches. They and the HDD have the same shape and SATA III connection interface. A similar view allows you to remove the disk and install an SSD in its place, screwing it to the same slide and closing it with the same lid.

SSD form factor mSata

Some laptops also support mSata. They have a special III on the motherboard and two places for screws to secure the drive. Such SSDs can be used either as independent storage devices or in combination with one, depending on the design of the laptop.

In many Lenovo models, such an SSD drive acts as additional storage media (as a cache). There are laptops that have mSata installed in conjunction with the hard drive and used as a system partition, that is, nothing is installed on it except the operating system. Thanks to this solution, the loading of the OS is accelerated, and the data storage volume remains quite large, since the information is written to disk.

SSD form factor 2.5″

To successfully replace an HDD with an SSD, you must choose the right drive. At the moment, we managed to decide that it should be 2.5 inches and connected via SATA III. It is also worth paying attention to the thickness of the SSD, since for hard drives it ranges from 5 to 9.5 mm. If you buy an SSD that is too thick, the disk lid on your laptop may not close properly.

Then it's a matter of taste. For home use, 100-300 GB is considered sufficient. According to Tom Hardware, the best SSD for users is recognized with its affordable price of less than $100 and has excellent characteristics. If you are an inexperienced user, just look for something similar in description and you won’t go wrong.

Replacing an HDD with an SSD in a laptop

The process of changing a hard drive to an SSD is the same as installing a new hard drive.

The first thing to do if the old hard drive is working is to copy the information from it to another medium. Important data must be transferred to the cloud, to a USB flash drive or removable drive.

You can buy a case for HDD 2.5, install the old hard drive in it and use it in the future as a mobile storage medium.

Replacement process

First you need to remove the battery. If it is non-removable, turn off the computer, remove the cover, and remove the battery connector from the motherboard.

1. Unscrew the screws that hold the disk cover in place and remove it.
2. Remove the screws holding the hard drive slide.
3. Pull the slide away from the connector to disconnect the HDD and remove it from the case.
4. Remove the screws securing the drive to the slide and remove it.
5. Take the drive, install it in the slide in the same way as the hard drive was, and tighten the screws.
6. Lower the SSD and carriers into the case and slide them into the slot to connect the drive.
7. Screw the slide fasteners into the housing.
8. Close the cover and tighten the screws.
9. Connect the battery in the same way as you disconnected it and close the cover if necessary.
10. Turn on the laptop and check the functionality of the SSD.

The minimum check would be to go into the BIOS or UEFI and see how the drive was detected. In most laptop models, this can be done by pressing the DEL or F2 key (in some Enter) immediately after turning it on.

If the drive is working and installed correctly, its name and serial number will be indicated in the information section. Additionally, you can run tests using the utility and check other things, for example, recording speed.

The first thing to do is copy the information. This is written above. The principle of operation for all computers in this regard is the same.

1. Disconnect the battery from the HP laptop. If the battery is removable, like this model, then you can do it simply:

• unlock the battery lock;
• pull the second lock;
• remove the battery from the connector.

2. Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the screws that hold the hard drive cover in the case. In most models it is small, about ½ of the entire back surface. Remove the cover; you may have to apply a little force, as it may be secured with additional latches from the inside.

3. Unscrew the screws that hold the hard drive carrier. There may be 2 or 4 of them. Move the hard drive away from the connector to disconnect it.

4. Pry up the mount and remove the screws. If the hard drive is disconnected from the connector, this will be easy to do.

5. Unscrew the screws that hold the HDD in the slide. Usually they are located at one end and the other, 2 pieces each.

6. Install the SSD in the carrier instead of the hard drive and tighten the screws on both sides.

7. Install the disk mount along with the drive into the case and push it into the slot. Screw the slide screws back in.

8. Close the housing cover and install the screws in the same order in which you removed them.

9. Connect the battery, that is, install it until it clicks. Push the battery lock back into position.

10. Turn on the laptop and check that the SSD is detected in the system; you can perform additional testing.

This is how the HDD in a laptop is replaced with an SSD. In the vast majority of models, this work is done the same way. The differences usually lie in the way the battery is disassembled and disconnected.

In this section, we will look at options for upgrading a hard drive to an SSD drive in laptops manufactured by Acer. For clarity, an example will be given of a model in which the battery is built-in, and almost complete disassembly is required.

First of all, we still copy important data. Here the amount of information was small, so the transfer was made to a USB flash drive. Turn off the laptop and start replacing.

1. It is necessary to remove the back cover of the case. To do this, remove all the screws from the back side.

2. Remove the back part, carefully prying it around the perimeter. If the cover does not budge on any side, stop and check that all screws are removed.

3. Disconnect the battery; to do this, remove the cable from the connector by gently pulling it towards you. Do not break the plug, otherwise you will have to completely replace the battery.

4. In this model, the hard drive is not secured in the slide, but is simply inserted into the connector on the board between the case mounts. In order to replace the HDD with an SSD in a laptop, just remove the old disk by pulling it away from the connector. Then put the drive in its place.

5. Reconnect the battery. Make sure that the connector is straight and not damaged.

6. Replace the housing cover and tighten all screws. Make sure that the back does not pinch the wires.

7. Turn on the laptop, check the functionality of the solid-state drive in any way. If the computer does not respond to the power button, you will have to disassemble it again to check the battery.

In this way, the HDD in a laptop is replaced with an SSD in some models from the manufacturer Acer. You can rely on these instructions if you need to update other computers with a built-in battery.

Replacing HDD with SSD in Lenovo laptop

You won’t be able to find a big difference here from the previous two options. It can be noted that replacing the disk with an SSD drive in this option combined the two previous ones. This Lenovo model has a removable battery, but the HDD mount is located under the back of the case. There is no separate cover here.

Following the main principle, you need to transfer the necessary data to another location or prepare an HDD case to mount your old disk into. This time we won’t copy anything, we’ll insert the hard drive into the Case and start using it as a portable “flash drive”.

1. First you need to disconnect the battery. The battery of this model is removable, so you need to remove the lock and remove the battery.

2. Unscrew all the screws located at the bottom one by one. Be sure to check if your model has additional screws on the side.

3. Carefully remove the cover, unsnapping each fastener one by one. If the case does not budge, check that all screws have been removed.

4. Remove the screw that holds the hard drive carrier. In this example there is only one. Lift the HDD mounts and remove it from the laptop.

5. Use a screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the slide to the hard drive. In this model, the mounts have shielded foil, which protects the disk controller from shorting to the case.

6. Install the new SSD drive into the HDD mount and return it to its place, securing it with a screw.

7. Close the laptop with the bottom of the case, carefully snapping all the fasteners into place. Tighten the screws in the same order and connect the battery.

8. Turn on the laptop and test the drive in Bios or with some utility, for example, Victoria.

The ways to change an HDD to an SSD in a laptop can be listed endlessly. The fact is that each model has its own disassembly principle. Therefore, if you are not qualified and have no experience in this matter, it is recommended to turn to professionals.

Replacing your hard drive with a solid state drive will increase your laptop's performance by an order of magnitude. However, be sure to take into account the processor parameters and the amount of RAM. If you have a very weak CPU installed and no more than 2 GB of RAM, then the system will slow down in any case, even with an SSD.

Evaluate your computer adequately, make only the necessary changes to it, and it will serve faithfully until you buy a new one.

How to connect an SSD to a computer as a worthy alternative to a classic hard drive and increase data reading speed, as well as reduce power consumption. Solid state drives (literal translation from the English abbreviation SSD) can greatly increase the service life of the device. Their affordable price today, compact size and simplicity of the device allow you to upgrade your desktop computer or laptop yourself at home.

Preparing the location for installing the drive

Like any work related to upgrading an electronic device, installing an SSD requires some preparation. It consists of the following features and depends on the type of gadget:

1. Laptops already have a standard 2.5-inch disk connector, which matches the format of most types of solid-state drives and there are no problems with installation on them. Many models are equipped with a separate compartment for hard drives, which greatly simplifies the installation procedure.
2. Desktop computers are equipped with 3.5-inch disks, and installing an SSD requires preparing a certain place for it. To do this, you need to purchase a special adapter in advance, which will ensure a reliable connection and fixation.

A user who decides to install an SSD on his own must have the knowledge and skills to reinstall (install a new) operating system, using third-party software that will help quickly launch Windows on new hardware.

Installation procedure

Due to the fact that the SSD device has no moving parts, and therefore does not create vibrations and noise, it can be installed almost anywhere in the system unit. The only condition is reliable fixation, which is necessary in case of transportation (rearrangement) of the computer. If it hangs freely on the connection wires, it can touch and damage other parts.

The classic and most convenient installation option is a hard drive bay with a standard size of 3.5 inches. Therefore, we first prepare (purchase if it is not included in the kit) a special adapter (sled). The installation algorithm will look like this:

• The device is disconnected from the electrical network and the back or top cover is removed.
• The SSD is pre-attached to the adapter (sled) using the four screws included in the kit (the fit should be tight, the screws should be tightened without much effort).
• The slide with the solid-state drive is installed in the bay for a 3.5-inch drive and is secured in it with screws.
• The cable connection of an SSD device to a computer is carried out in the same way as connecting a standard hard drive, using 2 SATA cables (with a wide and narrow adapter for connection). In this case, the wide one is connected to the power supply unit of the system unit, and the narrow one to its motherboard. Please note that the SSD is connected to the motherboard via the SATA 3.0 port, which has a corresponding designation or is distinguished from SATA 2.0 in a different color.

Connecting specifically to the SATA 3.0 port of the motherboard will allow you to make the most of the working potential of the solid-state drive and provide up to 600 Mbit/second. Don’t be afraid of incorrect connections; all connectors have individual sizes and you won’t be able to mix them up, even if you wanted to.

At this point, the installation and connection procedure is considered complete. Check again the reliability of the drive's fastening and the quality of the wires, after which you can install the cover on the system unit, and then connect the power supply with all the necessary equipment.

Initial launch and preparation for work

Initialization of new equipment (solid-state drive), if there is an operating system installed on the device, will take place automatically immediately after switching on. After this, you need to carry out a number of actions:

• Through the “Disk Management” settings (opened by pressing the WIN + X key combination and entering diskmgmt.msc in the window that opens), format the installed drive.

• Divide the disk into several parts (if necessary).
• Change the letter or cluster size of the new disk.

The procedure can be carried out using the device settings menu. Login by right-clicking on the “My Computer” icon and going to the “Disk Management” section.

After this, you should reboot the device. Uninterrupted normal startup will mean that the disk is ready for use and can be filled with the information the user needs to the full extent of its capabilities.

Preparation and use as a boot disk

Installing a new or reinstalling an existing operating system after installing the drive is done through the BIOS. The procedure is simple and looks like this:

• After starting the computer, you must press the Esc or F1 key.
• In the settings, select SSD loading.

If any difficulties arise, you must use the instructions for the motherboard or laptop.

Go to the Boot menu using the arrow buttons on the keyboard. In the Boot Device Priority item, you must indicate the loading of the solid-state drive. To simplify the procedure, the necessary explanations about the algorithm of actions will be placed in the right column of the BIOS, indicating the keys that need to be pressed.

After completing the installation procedure, you must press the F10 button and reboot the device.

This method will help many users to perform a fairly effective upgrade of their computer or laptop and even give new life to a hopelessly outdated device.

rmozov. All this is very annoying, as it does not allow you to work in normal mode. You can fix such problems by installing an SSD drive. It can be used as a backup or main storage location for information. However, most users are interested in using it as a system disk, as this makes it possible to significantly speed up the system.

Purchasing an SSD drive for a laptop is an important procedure for increasing system performance. On such drives, accessing various files is much faster.

Moreover, replacing an outdated HDD with a more advanced model will allow you to get a significantly greater increase in power compared to installing a new processor model or expanding the memory capacity. That's why, V which laptops can install ssd An extremely pressing question for many users.

The main advantages of an SSD drive for a laptop:

• All programs launch and operate much faster,
• the modest dimensions of such units allow them to be easily selected for any laptop model,
• light weight, this nuance is especially relevant when used on a portable device,
• Energy consumption is significantly reduced - this will have a positive effect on the overall operating time of the device.
• high level of reliability and long service life.

All these advantages fully justify the curiosity, how to install ssd drive in laptop and its further operation.

Features of choosing the optimal SSD drive model

When choosing a solid-state drive, you need to rely on its size and capacity.

In terms of laptop sizes, choose 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch models. There are even smaller options, but the final choice depends on the model of your device.

Volume is a little more complicated. The most affordable models are from 60 to 120 GB. They are quite enough to accommodate the system and store documents. More spacious models cost a pretty penny, and not everyone can afford them.

In terms of form factor, the most popular options are mSATA and M2, but most often how to install ssd msata in laptop users want to know.

How to install an ssd drive in a laptop

If you have already chosen the appropriate SSD drive model and purchased it, then all that remains is to carry out the entire set of steps to install it. Depending on the laptop model, several options for installing the drive may be used.

How to install ssd instead of hdd in laptop

To replace the hard drive with a more advanced model, you will need to partially disassemble the laptop. To do this, you need to use the appropriate screwdriver. In almost all laptops the hdd is located immediately behind the lid. That's why how to install ssd instead of hdd in laptop Usually the owner of the device sorts it out on his own. Having removed the back cover, carefully remove the HDD; to do this, pull it in the direction indicated by the arrow. We install the SSD in the 2.5 slot for the hard drive and fix the laptop lid. In this case, the installed drive acts as the main storage.

Current technologies and the presence of special equipment make it possible to insert an SSD instead of a disk drive. How to install ssd in laptop instead of dvd Find out below. First of all, you will need to purchase a special adapter - SATA 2nd HDD Caddy for Laptop. Just when making a purchase, be sure to make sure that it is compatible with your laptop model.

To install the adapter, you will need to unscrew the back cover of the device. In some laptop models, access is very limited; a comprehensive disassembly of the device will be required. Having removed the drive, we connect an adapter that works with 2.5 form factor drives.

By the way, all actions aimed at how to install ssd in laptop correctly instead of a disk drive are fully justified by the advantages of this operation. It becomes possible to use information from an old HDD drive, and the space on the laptop is significantly increased.

Purchasing a special case

In this case, you will need to purchase a special case to make the SSD external. The device is connected via a USB connector, but this option has several nuances.

Firstly, this option is much more expensive, and there is no option to install the disk inside the device. Secondly, before you think about is it possible to install an ssd in a laptop external element, make sure you have USB 3.0 or 3.1. Outdated connectors will not allow you to get the desired result, but on the contrary, performance can only worsen.

Features of setting up an SSD drive

After the replacement has been completed, you will need to make the appropriate settings in the operating system. If the drive is used as a disk for the operating system, you need to make changes to the disk loading. To do this, launch the BIOS and go to the BOOT category, where we move the required disk to the main position. Now Sony laptop upgrade with ssd installation will be completed in full.

Disable some services in Windows

The Windows operating system is fully configured to work with HDDs, which have certain differences in the operating principle of SSDs. To improve the performance and service life of a modern drive, certain changes will need to be made:

• disable hard drive defragmentation,
• disabling the paging file,
• launching the TRIM function,
• disabling file indexing.

Therefore, after how to install ssd in asus laptop or in any other model, you will need to carry out all these manipulations. This way, you significantly optimize the operation of the installed hard drive.

How to install an ssd in a lenovo laptop and use it correctly

Once the installation of the ssd is completed, it must be divided into several partitions. The operating system will be stopped on one, and all the others will be used to store less important information.

There is another rather interesting option and it is the most profitable and convenient. How to install ssd in lenovo laptop you can use it to launch the operating system, and store all other files on the HDD drive. This optimization will significantly increase the lifespan of the ssd.

If the solid-state drive is small in volume, then it is advisable to periodically clear it of unused files. We avoid working at the limit of its volume - this has a serious impact on performance and service life. A number of utilities are now available that allow you to quickly remove all unnecessary junk from a disk.

It is necessary not only to know, but also how to properly care for it, configure it, and much more. Only correct settings will allow you to achieve the desired result in increasing performance, but will also significantly extend the life of the SSD drive.

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Both on YouTube and I was asked the question: is it possible to replace a regular HDD drive with a modern, significantly more productive SSD drive? Of course you can, but why? Not in the sense that for some reason I am an opponent of new technologies, but it seems to me that a stereotype of thinking has already formed: throw away the hard drive, install a solid-state drive in its place, and grace will come. So it is, but everything is a little more interesting. Installing an SSD in a laptop can be done in several ways. Let's figure it out. Let's look at laptop hard drive interfaces, their options and capabilities.

HDD vs SSD

There is no point in describing the advantages of solid-state drives over conventional hard drives. The advantages and disadvantages of each are well known to anyone who distinguishes “the note C from the note F,” or, in computer terms, a processor socket from a disk connection interface. I want to talk about something a little different. In order not to be unfounded, let’s take as an example a couple of modern SSD drives belonging to different classes, from budget to top-end productive devices. Well, for the company - an ordinary hard drive, just for comparison.

I’ll make a reservation right away that I will choose SSD drives with a capacity of 256 GB, because I think that at the moment this is the optimal volume both in terms of money and in terms of sufficient space for installing the operating system and the necessary programs. I'll take a hard drive with a capacity of 1 TB. For our discussion, disk capacity is not important. I will immediately give some characteristics of each model, in particular, the peak read/write speed. The remaining parameters are not of interest to us at the moment.

Have you noticed a pattern among all solid-state drives? The maximum read/write speed is almost the same for all. Despite the fact that prices differ several times. Of course, other disk parameters, such as the controllers used, the type of installed flash memory, random read/write speed on blocks of different sizes, etc. will vary. Why is that?

The answer lies in the interface used to connect the drive, be it a hard drive or an SSD for a laptop or desktop computer. We will talk about interfaces further.

SATA, mSATA, M.2

Modern laptops, like desktop computers, have at least one, but more often, several SATA connectors for connection. You can also find an mSATA connector, or M.2. How do they differ, what can they offer in terms of speed and ease of use? A little theory.

I’ll warn you right away that we will be using approximate figures that give a correct idea of ​​the interface’s capabilities, but do not complicate the calculations. For simplicity, we will count 1000 bytes in a kilobyte.

SATA

This interface replaced the PATA, which had already become a thing of history. Now there is already a third version of this interface. Let us briefly mention the characteristics of each version:

1. SATA 1. Specification introduced in 2003. The bus frequency on which the controller operated was 1.5 GHz. This allowed us to achieve a throughput of 1.5 Gbit/s, or approximately 150 MB/s.
2. SATA 2. The bus frequency was doubled to 3 GHz, which doubled the bandwidth to 3 Gbit/s, or 300 MB/s.
3. SATA 3. The controller bus frequency increased again and reached 6 GHz. Bandwidth – 6 Gbit/s, approximately 550-600 MB/s.

The question may arise: if there are 8 bits in a byte, then the throughput should be higher than indicated, because if you divide 6 Gbit by 8, you get 750 MB/s. The fact is that when transmitting data, the “8b/10b” coding system is used, in which each byte of data is accompanied by two bits of service information.

Considering that SATA 3 is actively replacing older versions, it is the most interesting one. If you look closely at the given throughput characteristics, you will notice one interesting thing: it is approximately equal to the read speed of SSD drives. Or rather, it should be said the other way around - modern SSD drives have reached the ceiling of the capabilities of the SATA 3 interface during sequential read operations.

As for ordinary hard drives, there are actually a lot of SATA 2 versions for them. No hard drive is able to reach its data transfer limit. What can we say about SATA 3. The advisability of its use lies only in reading/writing to the hard drive buffer. Mechanics still do not allow achieving such transmission speeds.

mSATA

This is a kind of modification of regular SATA for use in laptops and other similar devices. It allows you to connect a compact SSD drive. Fundamentally no different from the same SATA 3, using the same controller with the same characteristics. Its presence in the laptop allows you to connect an additional solid-state drive paired with a regular hard drive or a 2.5-inch solid-state drive that replaces it. Installing an SSD in a laptop of this form factor will still provide a noticeable gain in speed, and can be a very useful procedure for not the most modern computers.

M.2

Let’s look at this interface for connecting drives in a little more detail. It replaced mSATA, has a different connector, and serves the same purpose - connecting compact SSD drives. By the way, not only them, this interface is suitable for installing expansion cards, for example, Wi-Fi modules, Bluetooth adapters, etc. Now we are interested in connecting drives.

And it’s interesting because even though drives are connected to it, it differs significantly from SATA. And not just the connector. The beauty is that in addition to the SATA controller, the PCI-Express bus, which is more powerful in terms of speed characteristics, is used. This bus has also reached the third version, which allows the M.2 interface to use 4 PCI-Express bus lanes.

If we translate this into numbers, then:

• PCI Express 2.0 with two lanes (PCI-E 2.0 x2) provides throughput of 8 Gbps, or approximately 800 MB/s.
• PCI Express 3.0 with four lanes (PCI-E 3.0 x4) gives 32 Gbps, which corresponds to approximately 3.2 GB/s.

As you can see, there is a significant difference compared to SATA. True, a reservation should be made. The connected drive can use either the SATA interface or one of the PCI-Express options. In addition, it is important that the motherboard manufacturer ensures that the specifications for this interface are met.

Let's explain the table. The drive from Plextor uses the SATA interface, which imposes its own limitations on the speed of exchange between the drive and the controller. Opportunities are fully utilized. Kingston runs on a different bus, PCI-E, which significantly affects performance. Unfortunately, the price too, but that’s another topic.

Continuing the conversation about the M.2 interface, we cannot help but mention the differences in the connectors of this interface, which consist in the options for the location of the keys, i.e., cutouts. The connector format comes in the following types:

Key type	B key (M.2 Socket2)	M key (M.2 Socket3)
Scheme
Key location	Contacts 12-19	Contacts 59-66
Supported Interfaces	PCIe ×2, SATA, USB 3.0, Audio, PCM, IUM, SSIC and I2C	PCIe ×4 and SATA

Accordingly, SSD drives also have several types of connectors:

Key type	B key	M key	M&B key
Scheme
Key location	Contacts 12-19	Contacts 59-66	Contacts 12-19 and 59-66
Supported Interfaces	PCIe ×2, SATA	PCIe ×4, SATA	PCIe ×2, PCIe ×4, SATA

As you can see, SSD drives are produced not only with B or M, but also with a universal M&B key, which allows you to install such a drive in any slot with a B or M key.

It immediately becomes clear why the M.2 connector is better than SATA, to which we are all already accustomed. The name of the latter speaks for itself - there is only one disk connection interface, SATA, and there are no options. At the same time, M.2, having all the characteristics of this interface, is capable of working on another bus, i.e. PCI-Express, and this, as they say, is completely different money. Or rather, completely different speeds.

It should be said that the M.2 connector is very versatile and is used to connect a wide variety of devices. The device type is determined by the location of the key, which prevents installation of an unsupported device in a given slot. For example, M.2 with key E (pins 24–31), like key A (pins 8–15), is used to connect Wi-fi and Bluetooth adapters and a number of other devices, but is not intended for connecting SSD drives.

Moreover, the specification reserves keys that are not currently used, but may be in demand in the future. Key F is planned for use with future memory interfaces, and keys C, D, G, etc. are also provided.

Finishing with the markings, let’s mention this: the specification of the connector on the motherboard often contains numbers, for example, “supports devices 2242, 2260, 2280.” There is nothing wrong with this marking. It's simple. These are the dimensions of the drive for which there is a fastener, i.e. a platform into which a screw is screwed to secure the drive. It turns out that if support for 2280 drives is declared, this means that their dimensions should be 22 mm wide and 80 mm long.

Selecting and installing an SSD in a laptop

What to look for when choosing an M.2 SSD?

Firstly, on the type of key, although most models are offered with a universal M&B.

Secondly, the interface used by the disk. If this is SATA 3, then the exchange speed of approximately 550 MB/s is the ceiling. If PCI Express is used, then it is more interesting, but also more expensive.

Questions about which controller is better, what memory is used, whether there is support for TRIM commands and other characteristics of specific drives are a topic for another discussion.

Conclusion

Let's summarize. Laptops, due to their compactness, do not provide much choice in upgrading the disk system. It was always possible to replace the installed disk with a more capacious, productive one, or even replace it with a solid-state one, losing in capacity, but significantly gaining in speed.

The presence of an M.2 connector in the laptop is a pleasant bonus, providing an interesting opportunity to change the configuration and, most importantly, significantly increase the exchange speed with drives. Several options are possible.

Option 1

Do not touch the hard drive, especially if it has a capacity of 1 TB or even higher, but install an M.2 (or mSATA) SSD drive as the system drive. What do we get? After transferring the system to this disk, we have a fast bootable media with a full set of programs critical to the performance of disk operations. These can be graphics packages, video editing programs, and even “heavy” games. The hard drive remains as a file dump and for installing programs that do not require high exchange speed with the drive. Thus, at the same time we save the resource of the SSD disk.

What are the disadvantages of this option? Oddly enough, increased power consumption. This is relevant for those who often work autonomously, without connecting to the network. It would seem that SSD consumes a lot? A little, but that's another matter. The hard drive doesn’t go anywhere, and still “eats” the battery. Replacing it with a solid-state one slightly increases battery life. But it reduces the usable capacity of the disks.

In my opinion, this is the most optimal solution. Installing an SSD in a laptop is done as an addition to the hard drive and an SSD. That's exactly what I did.

Option 2

Use the smallest SSD for caching disk operations. A budget solution, a kind of half-measure, but the computer will work faster.

Has the right to exist.

Option 3

Install an M.2 SSD, but do not make it a system one, but use it to run programs that require high disk performance.

M.2, perhaps, to some extent, is also a transitional stage in anticipation of the next generation of storage interface. Well, for now... For now, you should take advantage of what you have, use the M.2 connector to install an SSD drive, which is quite capable of overtaking the coolest 2.5-inch drive that can be installed instead of a traditional hard drive. The interface allows this!

Modern technologies do not stand still. More modern devices are constantly appearing, which are distinguished by a greater range of capabilities, better quality and higher performance. One such device is a solid-state hard drive. In this regard, the question often comes up: how to install an SSD in a computer?

But before we proceed with the installation, let's figure out what it is and why this device is needed?

What is SSD

SSD stands for Solid-State Drive, which translated into Russian roughly means a solid-state hard drive. But why is it needed? This is a new type of hard drive that is characterized by high speed of reading and writing information. In other words, if you compare SSDs with older HDD drives, the former have much higher data transfer rates.

This, in turn, increases PC performance and reduces operating system boot time. But there is also a drawback. Such drives have certain restrictions on the number of writes and deletions of files. In other words, if you constantly copy and delete various files on an SSD hard drive, it will fail after some time, which cannot be said about HDD drives.

But still, even with such restrictions, the service life of the drive is quite long. And the performance increase, even in games, is quite noticeable. It is worth noting that modern HDD drives have the same connection interface as their solid-state counterpart, making installing an SDD drive into a computer easy and quick, without much expense or difficulty.

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How to choose a solid-state hard drive

So we come to the question of how to install an SSD in a computer. Everything is simple in principle. First, let's look at what the interfaces for connecting a hard drive can be. There are several of them:

• ATA (the so-called IDE) is an outdated interface that has not been used for quite some time. The data transfer speed in this case is low, and if you have an outdated computer model that uses such a connector, there is simply no point in buying an SDD.
• SATA is a newer interface that replaced the previous one. It has a higher information transfer rate. In turn, SATA is divided into three types:
  • SATA 1.
  • SATA 2.
  • SATA 3.

These types also differ in the speed of data exchange. For example, the speed of SATA 2 is higher than that of SATA 1, and SATA 3 is the most modern and fastest interface.

Thus, before buying an SSD, you should find out which connector is available in your PC. For example, there is no point in taking an SSD with a speed rating of 600 MB/s if it is connected to SATA 1, since the connection itself will limit the speed to 150 MB/s.

It is worth noting that all SATA interfaces are interchangeable. This means that if the motherboard is equipped with SATA 2, then you can connect a SATA 3 or 1 cable to it.

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How to install SDD

So, we have made our choice. Now you can move on to the question of how to install an SDD in a computer. What does this require? First of all, you need to make sure that the interface controller is operating in AHCI mode. This can be done in the BIOS, in the SATA Mode item. .

If your computer has the ability to use additional hard drives, then you just have to disassemble the system unit and connect the SSD to one of the SATA interfaces. Most likely, Windows will require you to format the new drive. This is necessary because during the formatting process, Windows writes the file system to the drive for further work with it.

In this case, you can boot the operating system and copy all the necessary data to the new hard drive. However, due to the fact that SDD has the above disadvantage, it is not recommended to use it for storing files. Typically, it is used to install the operating system. In this case, in order not to reinstall Windows after replacing the hard drive, you can install it on a solid-state analogue.

Thus, you will be able to use your usual and customized system, but on a new, faster and quieter SDD drive. If the computer does not provide the ability to use several hard drives at the same time, as, for example, in most laptops, then you will have to perform certain actions.

In the case of a laptop, you will have to disconnect the old hard drive from the computer interface. We see that the device is located in a special housing. We need to remove it and replace it with a new solid-state analogue. As a rule, the housing is secured with 4 bolts. After reinstalling the case, insert the hard drive back in the same way as you took it apart, only in reverse order.

This is complete. No special drivers are required. The operating system already contains all the necessary software. After the first boot, Windows will detect the new device and automatically install the driver. After this, the system will ask you to restart your PC.

How to install an SSD hard drive in a computer: Video