Solid State Drives are faster compared to those mechanical hard drives. These are the new variant, call it as next generation of hard drives which are faster and pricier than mechanical hard disk which are normally used in every PC. If you’ve already tried your hands on installing a hard disk drive, then installing SSD won’t be an alien task.
SSDs no doubt have many advantages over traditional hard drives like increased efficiency, reduced power consumption and significantly faster boot times. There’s no problem in installing SSD along your old hard disk drive. Both type of drives can reside in the same computer.
Requirements
Before starting, its essential to have these things ready:
- SSD
- Power cable to connect SSD to power supply
- SATA cable to connect SSD to motherboard
- 3.5-inch to 2.5-inch mounting bracket
How to Install SSD in a Desktop Computer
- Turn off your computer and make sure all plugs going into the back of the device are unplugged.
- Open the case (also called as cabinet). Many cases come with a tool-less system or a simple way to open with a couple of screws.
- After opening the case, you should be seeing the existing hard disk drive. There will be two cables attached to the HDD, a power cable and SATA cable to attach the device to the motherboard. If you want to remove this HDD, then unplug the cables and remove all the screws that is holding that HDD.
- You would have noticed that SSDs are laptop sized 2.5inch drives rather than the large 3.5inch desktop hard drives. To fit a solid state drive, you’ll need a 3.5in-to-2.5in drive bay adaptor. Most SSDs come with a mounting kit to enable them to fit in a 3.5inch drive bay. (Refer this below image)
- Now fit the SSD in this drive bay and then screw the bay in the case. Also connect the power cable and SATA cable. If you want to use your new SSD drive as a boot drive, then you’ll need to make sure it’s plugged into the lowest-numbered SATA port, so that your computer knows where to boot from.
If you’re thinking which SATA port should be used to plug this SSD, then you can use any of the available SATA ports. All SATA ports are the same and can be used for optical drives, hard disks or SSDs. You can also refer the instruction manual of the SSD to know more about the installation process.
If you’re not removing the existing HDD, then its recommended to leave at least one empty bay between the HDD and SSD so heat has space to dissipate.
Tip: Use SSD as a boot drive to reduce boot time and startup time to start various programs. If you’re already using a HDD, then its recommended to store your operating system and startup programs in SSD. All other data can reside on the traditional HDD.
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