Replacing the HDD in a laptop with an SSD - instructions. Comparison of HDD and SSD. How to change a hard drive to an SSD. Full analysis: Is it worth replacing the hard drive with an ssd?

SSD solid state drives hit the market computer components recently. But even despite the still relatively high price, they have already gathered an entire “army” of admirers who actively rushed to install them on computers and laptops, replacing HDDs with SSD drives. It is true that this technology also has opponents. Moreover, battles between representatives of these two groups, actively listing the advantages and disadvantages of the new product, do not fade away on the forums. In this post I will try to show what the fundamental difference between HDD and SSD is, collecting the pros and cons new technology. And you can already make a conclusion for yourself - is it worth switching to a solid-state drive and transferring Windows to an SSD, or can you still take your time and stay on a classic hard drive.

Pros:

Read and write speed SSD drive significantly higher than that of a regular hard drive. This is achieved through the use of a completely different technology for working with information, which is used on flash drives that are familiar to us. For example, I was shocked when I saw that Windows 10 could boot in 8-10 seconds. Impressive, right?!

Significantly lower energy consumption and low operating temperature. Indeed, an SSD disk does not have a drive, which means it does not need a “powerful” power supply circuit. Accordingly, there is nothing particularly hot.

Small dimensions and light weight. If for normal desktop computer This is not a particularly significant plus, but for portable equipment - laptops, netbooks and ultrabooks - this is already a critical parameter. Replacing HDD with SDD on a netbook can significantly reduce its weight.

No moving parts, parts or mechanisms. A classic hard drive uses magnetic plates that are rotated at a certain speed by a special motor—the drive. Nanometers from their surface there are needles that read data. It's difficult, isn't it? An SSD doesn't have any of this. It's just a set of chips. No mechanics, all electronics.

Resistance to mechanical stress and overload. Due to the fact that SSD drives have no mechanical parts, they are insensitive to vibrations and small shocks. If you accidentally drop it, then nothing special will happen, while if you drop an ordinary hard drive, you can immediately say goodbye to it. And the new product is more resistant to different temperatures, tolerating both high and low temperatures much better.

Minuses:

- Price. Unfortunately, for some time SSDs will be more expensive than HDDs of similar capacity. But the faster technology develops, the sooner prices will drop.

— Limited number of rewrite cycles. On the first models of solid-state drives, this parameter was very low and greatly frightened users. Now he has already grown significantly. But nevertheless, there are many discussions and disputes online regarding this point. In particular, some sites categorically do not recommend placing a swap file on such screws, as this significantly reduces the life of the device. Whether this is true or not, no one can say for sure. However, it is still optimal not to use SWAP on an SSD, compensating for this by increasing the amount of RAM.

— Difficulties with information recovery. In general, the process of recovering data from damaged hard drive- This is a very complex process that requires sophisticated equipment and is therefore very expensive. So, in the case of a new product, even more technically advanced equipment is needed. The second point is that if an entire memory chip fails, then often nothing can be pulled out of it even using very technically sophisticated means. And the third point - as a rule, if one chip fails, then the entire drive collapses, while an ordinary hard drive “crumbles” gradually and parts of the information can still be pulled out.

- Marriage. As sad as it is to say, a large percentage of defects are still allowed in the production of SSDs. Of course, manufacturers are trying to fix this as best they can, but for now the fact is the case.

Many laptop owners encounter a problem when the operating system stops loading or freezes. Advanced users begin to reinstall Windows, but they fail, and the message about the absence of a hard drive makes them panic. What to do and how? Change the hard drive on a laptop? But what happens to the data that remains on it?

Don't despair! If you do not have enough knowledge and skills to repair the breakdown yourself, you can take the device to specialists. They will be able to change the hard drive on a laptop in a short time. The price will be significantly higher, because you will have to pay not only the cost of the hard drive, but also the service to replace it. It is quite possible that the technician will charge a fee for diagnosing and finding problems. And if it is necessary to restore information, this will also lead to costs.

Hard drives differ in capacity, speed, cache size, form factor and interface. Main parameter- this is capacity, that is, the amount of stored information that can fit on it. An interface is a type of connector for connecting a hard drive to motherboard. Form factor is the size (for 2.5-inch laptops). Cache volume is a place to store temporary information. And an important parameter is the disk rotation speed, which determines the speed of operation.

In what cases is it necessary to replace a hard drive?

The reasons for changing the hard drive may be the following:

• hard drive failure;
• lack of memory;
• disc wear to avoid breakdown;
• slow operating speed.

How much does it cost to replace the hard drive on a laptop?

If the replacement is made by a master, then the price will depend on the list of services that he will perform. You need to immediately decide what kind of hard drive you will need (with a large amount of memory or not), what speed of the hard drive is optimal, and also understand how much you want to spend. On average, the price of a hard drive starts at 2,000 rubles and can reach 20,000 or more. The cost of replacing it in Russia is 300-500 rubles.

Thus, you can replace the hard drive on a laptop inexpensively. However, everything depends on financial capabilities. Is it possible to change the hard drive on a laptop, and are there such services in the city? It is not difficult to find out about this, since now this information is available to everyone, and you can find a specialist in almost any locality.

Disassembling a laptop

How to change the hard drive on a laptop without the necessary knowledge? Everything is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. The whole procedure takes a maximum of 15-20 minutes. The first thing to do is turn the laptop over and unscrew the screws holding the back cover. Depending on the model of the device, there may be several caps on the bottom. In this case, you need to know which one to unscrew and where the hard drive is located. Before unscrewing, the laptop must be unplugged and the battery removed. Then wait until all the elements have cooled down. Next we will look at an example of how to change the hard drive on an HP laptop.

Removing the Battery

To remove the battery from an HP laptop, you need to turn it over and click the latch into the “open” position. Then lift the front edge of the battery and remove it from the laptop.

The battery is inserted in the reverse order: you need to insert the front part into the connector and press the inner edge until it clicks.

Removing the Hard Drive

After the battery has been removed, you need to unscrew the cover at the base of the laptop. A Phillips screwdriver is used for this. The screws holding the cover must be loosened. After this, the cover should be moved to the edge of the case, lifted and the protrusions removed. This way it will be disconnected.

Here is a hard drive connected by a cable to the board. This cable must be disconnected by pulling the black loop. After this, you can remove the hard drive from the bay. Then you should remove the hard drive cable and remove the rubber stops from its edges. Here you need to remember that these rubber stops are different, and you need to remember in what position to insert them back.

The next step is to unscrew the four screws from the hard drive and save them so as not to lose them. Now you need to remove transparent panel from hard drive. The hard drive must be placed in antistatic packaging.

Installing a new hard drive

First you need to screw the hard drive to the panel with four screws that held the removed disk. In this case, the hard drive should be installed with the label facing down. Next, you should attach the rubber stops to it and connect the cable to the corresponding connector. Then you need to place the hard drive in the compartment on the laptop case and connect the cable to the board. Next, close the lid, tighten all the screws and put the battery in place.

If you follow these instructions, even the most uncomprehending user will not wonder how to change the hard drive on a laptop.

If the hard drive was removed in order to repair it, then after fixing the problem, you can put it back in the same order. Please remember that information on a faulty hard drive can be restored. But it is not recommended to do this yourself, as you can accidentally destroy all the necessary data. This should be done by a professional.

What to do with the old hard drive after you succeeded in replacing the hard drive on your laptop with a new one? If it is working properly, then it can be used as an external storage device to retrieve or store information.

It's important to remember that new hard the disk does not contain operating system, and you will have to install it again. This can be done either independently or by contacting a service center.

Shouldn't present any difficulties. A typical case has plenty of space so you can install multiple drives, and the motherboard has at least four SATA ports so the drives can run simultaneously, allowing you to clone the system or install everything from scratch.

In the case of a laptop, certain difficulties arise because, as a rule, only one SATA port and one 2.5” drive bay are available. So, to transfer data from one drive to another, you will need a good USB drive. Of course, the problem becomes less relevant if the laptop has space for two 2.5” drives (or one 2.5” and one M.2).

Replacing a hard drive in a laptop

Installing a system from scratch is easy: just replace the old disk with a new one and reinstall the system from disk or flash memory. It is more difficult in the case of cloning.

One disk space

If your laptop has only one 2.5” drive bay, and there is a working system disk, a USB housing should be used.

You can already close the lid and turn on the computer. If there is a problem starting the system, it is almost certain that the source is an incorrect disk cloning. Replace the disks, repeat all the steps with slightly different program settings (for example, change the partition structure) or use a different cloning tool.

If after several attempts the cloning replacement fails, you may have to install the operating system on new disk from scratch.

There is room for a second disk

Many modern laptops have space for a second drive, such as an M.2 connector. It is so small that it does not require the manufacturer to increase the size of the computer, and its presence greatly facilitates the transition to an SSD.

Clone or install

In order to moving to a new hard drive was the least difficult, you can clone the contents of the old disk to the new one. After a correctly completed operation, you will receive your system and data, as well as the entire partition structure, including recovery partitions, etc.

Several SSD manufacturers package their products good tool Acronis True Image HD. We can also recommend Ashampoo Backup Pro.

Replacing the drive can also be considered an opportunity to reinstall the system. Thanks to this, you will have the guarantee that the distribution of data in individual sectors is optimal for the SSD (not every cloning tool does this well), you will also get rid of unnecessary data (this is also a relief for SSDs).

In addition, you get a guarantee that the system will fit on the new drive, which in the case of cloning does not always work because SSD drives often have less capacity than HDDs.

Unfortunately, laptop owners often do not have the opportunity to install the system from scratch, because manufacturers do not supply installation media - the system distribution is located only on the recovery partition.

Replacing a PC hard drive

In this case, there is so much space in the case that you can install any SSD without any problems. Even if there are no pockets, the SSD can “hang” in the case on the wires - this does not pose any threat to it.

Disable defragmentation!

Defragmenting an SSD increases wear on memory cells, so Windows 7 (and later) SSD installation automatically turns it off. However, when cloning, it may happen that defragmentation is enabled. To change this, open Windows Explorer, and in it is a list of disks. Right-click on any drive in context menu select Properties. Go to the tab Service and press the button Run defragmentation. In the next window, click the button Set up a schedule. You can completely disable defragmentation by unchecking the option Execute according to schedule.

I'll show you how to change the hard drive HDD to high-speed SSD disk. I bought an SSD Samsung drive 850 Evo 250 GB. and installed it on my laptop. Then I installed Windows and all programs on the new SSD drive.

I bought my SSD drive Samsung 850 SSD EVO 120 GB SATA III on AliExpress . At first I wanted to order this Samsung 750 SSD EVO 120 GB SATA III (it is 120 GB and cheaper), but in the end I ordered 250 GB, although I could have done with 120 GB. The Samsung 850 EVO SSD arrived after about 12 days (the fastest product that came from AliExpress).

The parcel is well packed and sealed with polystyrene foam. Inside the box is plastic, and in it is an SSD drive.

Here are the specifications of this SSD drive. My reading speed tests, notes at the bottom of the page.

1. Copy all the information you need from your disk

If you, like me, have only one hard drive space in your laptop, then first copy all the information from your hard drive to yours. external drive or to another computer. Or buy . So that you can then connect your removed HDD drive via USB and download everything you need from it to your new SSD drive.

Here is a visual video of this adapter.

2. Remove the hard drive and install the SSD

Turn off the laptop, unplug the laptop from all wires, turn it over and remove the laptop battery. Now on back cover laptop, look for the inscription HDD - this is the place where your hard drive is installed. I have on Samsung laptop NP-R560 is on the bottom left. The hard drive is closed with a cover with two screws.

We unscrew these two screws securing the laptop hard drive.

Remove the cover covering the hard drive. There should be arrows on it showing in which direction you need to pull to move the cover.

Here is the hard drive of my laptop. It has an aluminum lid to help dissipate heat and has a pull tab to make it easier to remove. Simply grab this tab and pull it to the left to disconnect the hard drive from the connector.

Done, the hard drive is disconnected from the laptop and connectors. We lift it and put it aside.

This is what a laptop looks like without a disk.

Now insert the SSD disk in place of the HDD disk.

Carefully insert it in place of the old HDD drive. I also installed an aluminum plate from the old HDD on the new SSD.

Close the hard drive cover.

Tighten the screws of the lid.

Ready. Now we turn the laptop over, insert all the wires into it, put the battery back and turn on the laptop.

3. Install Windows on the new SSD

On the new SSD drive there is nothing and there is no OS (Windows) either, so now you need to install Windows on it. You will receive this error when you try to boot from a new SSD disk that does not yet have a Windows operating system.

Partition table invalid or corrupted. Press any key to continue…

You need to insert your bootable USB flash drive and boot from it.

If you don’t have a bootable USB flash drive yet, it’s time to make one.

Here is a video on how to configure the BIOS for Windows installations from a bootable flash drive.

Now that there is bootable flash drive and loading occurs from it, then install Windows on the new SSD. We select our SSD, it will be marked as “Unallocated space on disk 0” and click “Next” and install Windows.

Copying will begin. Windows files, then prepare for installation, install components, install updates, complete. The computer will restart several times. After the first reboot, you can remove the bootable USB flash drive.

If you have never installed Windows via BIOS, then you will find a video on this topic.

After installing Windows on the new SSD drive, change the boot priority in the BIOS so that first Windows boot loader I searched on the SSD drive. Although if everything loads and works, then you don’t have to change anything. I'll go to BIOS, Boot - Boot Device priority.

And using the F5 or F6 key I will move the SSD disk to the very top so that it is searched first boot sector on the SSD disk, and then on other disks, if it was not detected on the SSD.

4. Comparison of SSD speed with HDD and USB drives

Using the CrystalDiskMark 3 program, I measured the writing and reading speed of my HDD drive even before removing it and replacing it with an SSD. The reading speed from it was approximately 100 MB/sec. when reading and writing sequentially.

Welcome to the site! When the time comes to change the hard drive to a more capacious and faster one, beginners simply install the system from scratch. You have to reinstall programs and games. Copy documents to a flash drive in advance, and so on. All this is certainly good, the new one works better and is more pleasant. The disadvantage of this solution

- you have to spend additional time restoring your contacts, mail programs for work, bookmarks, access to instant messengers or social networks. For those who want to learn how to save absolutely all data, today's release.

How to replace the hard drive on a computer without uninstalling Windows yourself?

Indeed, replacing a hard drive shouldn't take much time. If time plays a role, then everything needs to be done so that the process takes no more than an hour and a half. The result should be like this - you replaced the hard drive with a new one, turned on the computer and continued to work as before the replacement, with full preservation of your system and data.

Where do we start on the computer? First, download the program from the Acronis package for HDD cloning; it is included in the image for repair and recovery. You need to write it down on the image and put it aside for now. Disconnect the computer from electricity and remove the side cover on the system unit:

We need to install a new HDD in the system unit. Do not forget about spare data cables and you need to check the availability of additional power connectors on:

Hard drives can be connected to the motherboard in different ways, it all depends on the model and age of your computer. Only the disk size matters - the new disk must be larger in size than the old one or at least the same, otherwise you will lose data.

After completing all the manipulations with cables and connectors, we connect the computer to a power outlet and boot from our stored flash drive. If you just purchased the disk, you must first initialize it using the program Acronis Disk Director:

Select the desired disk, right-click to open the menu, select “Initialize disk”, and then at the very top click “Apply pending operations”:

The next stage is cloning. Launch our Acronis True Image. I used it, but you can use another similar program. Go to “Tools and Utilities”:

Then select “Disk cloning”:

I choose manual mode:

Now is the most crucial moment. Select the original (old) hard drive. We check the numbers so as not to confuse them:

We indicate the “One to One” flag if the volumes of both disks are the same, “proportionally” if the target disk is larger in volume than the source. You can try the “Manual” option if the target disk is smaller in size than the target disk. But here you need to know the size of the occupied and free space. I don’t recommend it unless absolutely necessary!

Once the operation is complete, the computer will turn off. Now you can detach the old drive if it is . Or, format it and turn it into additional storage. First, let's set it up loading Windows from a “new” disk if you have more than one HDD on your computer.

Changing the hard drive on the computer in the BIOS (changing the boot drive)

Most often, the key is used to enter the computer BIOS Del at the very beginning of the download. Then, look for the Boot section and look for the item “ hard disks"(Hard Drives):

On modern computers, the BIOS entry key can be F2, and the menu itself can be configured so that everything will be in Russian. You can also select a device from the list of disks; it will appear if you use the F11 or F12 keys at the very beginning of boot.

How to change hard drive on the command line if you have more than one?

It all depends on what you are going to do. To operate on disk partitions, use the command diskpart

To view connected disks and partitions, use the command List disk

To select the desired disk, use the select disk command and the disk number:

Now using the command list partition You can get a list of partitions of the selected disk and perform various operations with them. Another case is if the drive partition letters are already known, then you can use commands to work with files and folders on these partitions (view, copy, delete, etc.). Simply enter the Latin letter of the desired partition with a colon, for example D: Below is an example of switching from drive C: to drive D: and then viewing the disk folders using the DIR command:

So, nothing complicated, and command line You can work with disks if necessary. You need to know the list of commands and enter them manually. This is how people worked in the days of MS-DOS. Many commands from it still work in the modern command line.

How to change the hard drive on a laptop without losing data?

Common reason HDD replacement on laptops - you need a more capacious drive or it fails due to overheating. There is always only one disk in a laptop; it is impossible to connect another hard disk there. Therefore, you need to disassemble the laptop. This is the main difficulty, because the models are different. Sometimes to replace memory modules and hardware. disk on the bottom cover there is a special cover, it is on separate screws...

... and often there is no such cover. More modern devices require complete removal of the bottom cover. This requires certain skills; There is no need to rush and it is better to stock up on instructions for disassembling your model in advance (youtube):

The further replacement process without loss of information will take place in a similar way as described above. You need to hang the new and old laptop drives in system unit computer:

And start the procedure. It has been noticed that after transferring the laptop, the operating system is often restored to start if it was damaged. This good way! Good luck everyone!