hard drive upgrade Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Can I install an SSD in my laptop?

Posted on September 3, 2021

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Question from Seth: Hi Rick. I have an old ASUS ROG G750JW laptop and I’d really like to replace the hard drive with a 1 TB SSD if it’s at all possible.

I love this machine and I want to keep using it as long as I can.

My problem is, I know zilch about the technical aspects of computers. I just know how to use them to do the things I need to do.

What I need to know is a) will this laptop take an SSD, and b) if it will, where can I have one installed in Conway, SC?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: What’s an easy way to clone a laptop’s hard drive?

Posted on April 30, 2021

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Question from Shelley V.: Hi Rick. I bought a 1TB solid state drive (SSD) to replace the aging 500GB drive in my laptop.

I read your post about using Clonezilla to clone the contents of the old drive onto the new one, but I know from one of your other posts that I’ll need to buy a SATA to USB adapter too.

That all seems like it would be too complicated for me. Is there a simpler way to do this?

[Read more…]

Review: Apricorn EZ-Upgrade SATA Notebook Hard Drive Upgrade Kit

Posted on December 21, 2019

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Regular readers of this blog know that upgrading the hard drive in a notebook PC is a fairly straightforward process because I have written about it several times in the past.

Simply connect your new drive to the PC with a USB to SATA adapter cable, use disc cloning software to copy the contents of the existing drive to the new one, then remove the old drive and replace it with the new drive.

Sounds simple, right? Well, it really is pretty simple IF you’ve done it before AND you feel comfortable with the process. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I clone a large hard drive to a smaller SSD?

Posted on January 31, 2019

Question from Cade L.: My dad bought a 500GB SSD to go in his PC but he ended up deciding to install a 1GB SSD instead.

He gave me the 500GB SSD and I’d like to use it to replace the 750GB hard drive in my laptop.

The hardware swap will be easy so I’m not really worried about that. But how do I clone the hard drive to the smaller SSD? Any suggestions?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to replace the hard drive in a laptop

Posted on November 26, 2018

I have written several posts that discuss either replacing a bad laptop hard drive with a new one or upgrading the system with a larger drive or an SSD.

Last night I was answering a reader’s question about a hard drive upgrade when it occurred to me that I’ve never really explained how to physically swap out the drives.

Replacing the hard drive in most laptops is almost as easy as selling popcorn in a movie theater. Just follow the simple steps listed below: [Read more…]