Moving from HDD to SSD on a single-slot laptop
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SneeakyAsian
CTFG Vanguard
So I was lucky enough to snatched a new 1Tb SSD for $30 and decided to replace my crappy 5400 RPM HDD in my laptop with it. However, from what I've read about my laptop ( haven't opened it yet since the SSD isn't here yet), the HP Envy 15, is that it only has one 2.5" slot. What would be the best way to switch this? Would I simply copy and paste all my files from one to another? And how would I do that if I don't have access to a computer that can hold multiple 2.5"s?
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Taz_9000
Cafe Regular
SneeakyAsian wrote...
So I was lucky enough to snatched a new 1Tb SSD for $30 and decided to replace my crappy 5400 RPM HDD in my laptop with it. However, from what I've read about my laptop ( haven't opened it yet since the SSD isn't here yet), the HP Envy 15, is that it only has one 2.5" slot. What would be the best way to switch this? Would I simply copy and paste all my files from one to another? And how would I do that if I don't have access to a computer that can hold multiple 2.5"s?buy an external enclosure, you can by a cheap one of ebay,
stick your ssd into the enclosure and connect it to your laptop and transfer your data.
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The way I see it you have two choices to choose from.
1. You need to get an external drive with a USB connection, this is basically just a big memory stick where you can save everything you want to keep, and then transfer it into the new SSD once that is installed.
Cons:
- You need to buy/borrow an external drive. I'd say they cost around 60$ for a 1TB drive.
- If you don't have an OS you need to buy that too
Pros:
- Very easy method I personally recommend
- You get an expansion drive which you can use to backup your pc and use as extra storage
2. However, it is possible to clone your laptops HDD straight to the SSD, so that the laptops OS, apps and files act as though the old HDD is still installed. But in this case you will also have to buy additional hardware and software. What you need is a drive enclosure and software to clone the content.
The way you clone it is temporarily putting the SSD into the drive enclosure and connecting the enclosure to the laptop over USB. This way both HDD and SSD are connected at the same time and solves the problem of only having one slot.
Then you have to launch the cloning software and that's pretty much it. When it's done you can change the drives and it should boot up.
pros:
- You don't have to buy a new OS
- If you use the old HDD with the drive enclosure afterwards, you get an external drive you can use for backups and extra storage.
- You don't have to buy the software, but free ones are often harder to use compared to the paid ones.
cons:
- You have to buy a drive enclosure which I think cost around 40$
- I would say it's a bit harder to do this compared to the first option
Final Verdict:
- I don't really recommend the second option unless you really want the machine just like you're used to.
- The first choice lets you start all fresh and clean, all junk files and unnecessary apps gone. I would say that opportunity alone, is worth going for the first choice. And I personally prefer to install my OS from scratch, that way I'm 100% sure it's configured properly and ready to go.
1. You need to get an external drive with a USB connection, this is basically just a big memory stick where you can save everything you want to keep, and then transfer it into the new SSD once that is installed.
Cons:
- You need to buy/borrow an external drive. I'd say they cost around 60$ for a 1TB drive.
- If you don't have an OS you need to buy that too
Pros:
- Very easy method I personally recommend
- You get an expansion drive which you can use to backup your pc and use as extra storage
2. However, it is possible to clone your laptops HDD straight to the SSD, so that the laptops OS, apps and files act as though the old HDD is still installed. But in this case you will also have to buy additional hardware and software. What you need is a drive enclosure and software to clone the content.
The way you clone it is temporarily putting the SSD into the drive enclosure and connecting the enclosure to the laptop over USB. This way both HDD and SSD are connected at the same time and solves the problem of only having one slot.
Then you have to launch the cloning software and that's pretty much it. When it's done you can change the drives and it should boot up.
pros:
- You don't have to buy a new OS
- If you use the old HDD with the drive enclosure afterwards, you get an external drive you can use for backups and extra storage.
- You don't have to buy the software, but free ones are often harder to use compared to the paid ones.
cons:
- You have to buy a drive enclosure which I think cost around 40$
- I would say it's a bit harder to do this compared to the first option
Final Verdict:
- I don't really recommend the second option unless you really want the machine just like you're used to.
- The first choice lets you start all fresh and clean, all junk files and unnecessary apps gone. I would say that opportunity alone, is worth going for the first choice. And I personally prefer to install my OS from scratch, that way I'm 100% sure it's configured properly and ready to go.
0
If you purchase a Samsung SSD, they actually come with a rebranded cloning software (forget the company) that takes care of shrinking and moving partitions for you and clones your stuff over to the SSD (given you use a usb to sata adapter as other's have mentioned).
Do keep in mind though that the Samsung software appears to fill up your system reserved partition with logs and other junk that actually interferes with the Windows 10 upgrade so if you still haven't done that it'll pose an extra step down the road.
Since you have a 1TB drive however unless you have a larger than 1TB HDD which you probably don't, you don't have to worry about shrinking partitions (for the most part). You can burn an iso of Clonezilla to a CD/USB, and boot to it while your HDD and SSD are both attached, and from there it's a straightforward process to create a copy of your drive's current contents and partitions onto the SSD. Afterwards just swap out your HDD with the SSD.
Another note, after cloning and booting on the SSD you may have issues running windows update or other functions with windows may act erratic due to windows not liking changes in storage device sector sizes. If such is the case, just reinstall Intel RST drivers from HP's site for your model.
Do keep in mind though that the Samsung software appears to fill up your system reserved partition with logs and other junk that actually interferes with the Windows 10 upgrade so if you still haven't done that it'll pose an extra step down the road.
Since you have a 1TB drive however unless you have a larger than 1TB HDD which you probably don't, you don't have to worry about shrinking partitions (for the most part). You can burn an iso of Clonezilla to a CD/USB, and boot to it while your HDD and SSD are both attached, and from there it's a straightforward process to create a copy of your drive's current contents and partitions onto the SSD. Afterwards just swap out your HDD with the SSD.
Another note, after cloning and booting on the SSD you may have issues running windows update or other functions with windows may act erratic due to windows not liking changes in storage device sector sizes. If such is the case, just reinstall Intel RST drivers from HP's site for your model.
0
Flaser
OCD Hentai Collector
Rovencrone wrote...
If you purchase a Samsung SSD, they actually come with a rebranded cloning software (forget the company) that takes care of shrinking and moving partitions for you and clones your stuff over to the SSD (given you use a usb to sata adapter as other's have mentioned).Do keep in mind though that the Samsung software appears to fill up your system reserved partition with logs and other junk that actually interferes with the Windows 10 upgrade so if you still haven't done that it'll pose an extra step down the road.
Since you have a 1TB drive however unless you have a larger than 1TB HDD which you probably don't, you don't have to worry about shrinking partitions (for the most part). You can burn an iso of Clonezilla to a CD/USB, and boot to it while your HDD and SSD are both attached, and from there it's a straightforward process to create a copy of your drive's current contents and partitions onto the SSD. Afterwards just swap out your HDD with the SSD.
Another note, after cloning and booting on the SSD you may have issues running windows update or other functions with windows may act erratic due to windows not liking changes in storage device sector sizes. If such is the case, just reinstall Intel RST drivers from HP's site for your model.
I don't recommend using Clonezilla/Norton Ghost/any other *sector* based cloning tool. Why? Because you need to shrink/tweak the partition and if the two drives you use don't have the same sector size you can run into issues.
Is there anything better? For windows I recommend ImageX/DISM, provided for free by MS.
http://www.overclock.net/a/how-to-rip-a-windows-7-8-image-using-winpe4-0-and-dism
It's a *file-based* tool, so you'll only need as much free-space as how much data there is on your drive. The only downside is that you have to prepare the drive you apply your image to with diskpart:
http://theether.net/kb/100164
http://windowsitpro.com/networking/initializing-windows-disks-diskparty
BTW does your laptop have an optical drive? There are several conversion kits out there that allow you to put a HDD there instead:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-laptop-upgrade-optical-bay,3102.html
(NOTE: Often times you can't boot from the drive installed there, only access it for data).
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as someone stated before you can use the external hdd enclosure for the HDD after transfer
but first you have to use a recovery usb stick to reinstall the newly os on the SSD
this could take 1-2 days depending on the amout of updates and the starting os
after transfering the OS and uprading it to win10 (if you want to)
you can start by adding the older files back to the system
the best thing to do is to do this folder by folder to prevent useless junk from getting on your system (%%appdata/temp)(old update files, ect)
but first you have to use a recovery usb stick to reinstall the newly os on the SSD
this could take 1-2 days depending on the amout of updates and the starting os
after transfering the OS and uprading it to win10 (if you want to)
you can start by adding the older files back to the system
the best thing to do is to do this folder by folder to prevent useless junk from getting on your system (%%appdata/temp)(old update files, ect)