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. The main parameter 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 the 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 the transparent panel from the 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 is important to remember that the new hard drive does not contain the operating system, and you will have to install it again. This can be done either independently or by contacting a service center.
Solid state drives (SSDs) appeared on the computer components market relatively 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 the fundamental difference between HDD and SSD, collecting the pros and cons of the 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:
The read and write speed on an SSD drive is much 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 an ordinary desktop computer this is not a particularly significant plus, then 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 a damaged hard drive 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 PC owners sooner or later have a question about how to connect a hard drive to a computer. Your first thought may be to call an IT specialist, but this may not be necessary for this operation. Connecting a hard drive or replacing it is usually associated with the fact that free space on the existing HDD is running out, or the part has served its purpose and begins to show signs of malfunction. Every user can figure out how to install a hard drive on a computer, and first you should look inside the system unit.
HDD installation begins by removing the side panel of the PC. Then, in order to decide how to properly install the hard drive, you need to pay attention to the already installed one. By analogy, you need to insert a new hard drive into a free slot and secure it with screws. Now, in order to figure out how to connect a hard drive to the motherboard, you again need to pay attention to how the old hard drive is connected. In addition to the power cable, it is connected to an information SATA cable, of which there are usually two or more in a PC. Thus, the installed HDD must be connected with a free SATA cable and a power cable. After this, you can put the side panel of the PC back and turn on the computer.
There is one factor you need to know before installing a hard drive on your computer. Each hard drive has a jumper that closes 2 metal contacts. By moving the jumper, you can assign the HDD as the main one, or as the secondary one by closing the other 2 contacts. Another factor influencing the order of HDD connections is which SATA cable is connected to a particular hard drive. In some cases, incorrectly used variations of the set jumper and the connected cable can lead to the fact that the disk does not want to be first or completely ceases to be detected. But usually, if you simply install a hard drive and connect any of the 2 cables to it, such troubles do not occur and the hard drive connects automatically.
After installing the hard drive into the slot, you need to turn on the computer, then almost immediately you need to press the DEL or F2 key. As a result, the BIOS system will load, in which you must select the “Advanced BIOS Features” item. Inside this section, you should pay attention to the “First Boot Device” item - it is responsible for which device will boot first. In it you need to select the desired HDD. In this case, the second device and CD-ROM must be indicated in the “Second Boot Device” and “Third Boot Device” items, respectively. Next, you need to press F10 to save the new settings and exit the BIOS.
Replacing an old HDD with a new one
Replacing a hard drive on a computer means saving all accumulated information, unless there is a serious breakdown. In addition to this, you may be wondering how to replace the hard drive on your computer without reinstalling Windows. It’s not difficult to do all this; the main condition is that the old device is still “alive”.
Before changing the hard drive on your computer, you need to clone all the information onto the new HDD, including the OS, which will not need to be reinstalled. To do this, you need a special program, one of which is called “Acronis Disk Director”. Before connecting a new hard drive, you must obtain a bootable CD or DVD with this software.
The new hard drive must be installed in a free slot inside the PC. Next, you need to go into the BIOS, set the first boot device to CD-ROM and save the settings. Then you need to insert the boot CD with Acronis Disk Director into the drive, and you can restart the computer. After the computer boots, the disk cloning program will in turn load. In the program settings, you need to select the old HDD and click “Clone basic disk”. Then, in the window that opens, you need to select a new HDD, to which all information from the old one will be transferred. Next, you need to select “Use proportional volume resizing” and immediately select “Clone NT signature”. All you have to do is click “Finish”, then “Apply scheduled operations”, after which the cloning process will begin.
Once this operation is complete, you need to turn off your computer, remove the used hard drive, and then turn on your PC again. While the computer is turning on, you need to remove the boot CD with the cloning program from the drive; you do not need to change the settings in the BIOS, since in the absence of the CD the replaced HDD will boot. If necessary, everything can be returned to its previous state. Just before connecting the old hard drive, you need to disconnect the new HDD from the computer.
Connecting HDD from laptop
Sometimes you need to connect your laptop hard drive to your computer. This hard drive is smaller (2.5 inches), but the size does not affect the volume, so such drives are used quite often. When connecting a hard drive to a computer, use regular SATA cables found in the PC. Before removing the HDD from the laptop, you need to unscrew the small panel from the bottom, then either slide it towards the slide with the HDD and remove it, or immediately remove it by pulling the auxiliary tab. You should remove the hard drive carefully so that careless removal does not lead to far-reaching consequences.
Before installing a new hard drive removed from the laptop, the part can be placed in a special case and thus made external, subsequently connecting to. In this case, you can remove the hard drive or attach it “hot” without turning off the PC. And if the laptop hard drive is connected using a SATA cable, the part must be left in the sled. In this form, it is placed in a computer, where it can be placed either on another HDD or on a CD-ROM. The fact is that PCs usually do not have a slot for a hard drive of this size, so connecting it in this way is possible as a temporary one. It is advisable not to place the HDD vertically, as this arrangement negatively affects its operation.
Further actions related to connecting a laptop hard drive to a computer are no different from the manipulations when connecting a new hard drive to the motherboard - you only need a SATA cable and a power cord. If there is a need to connect a disk from a PC to a laptop, then this will be more difficult and additional adapters will be needed.
Installation Features
During installation or replacement of a hard drive, situations may arise related to its malfunction. For example, installing a new HDD may result in the computer freezing. Sometimes the computer does not turn on or the OS does not want to start. This may be due to faulty heads on the hard drive (although the PC may freeze for other reasons), and a reasonable solution is to replace the heads or such hard drives. Some PCs began to have vertical slots for HDDs. But the fact is that operating the hard drive in a vertical position leads to rapid wear of the read heads. Therefore, for standard HDDs, as a rule, only horizontal placement is used.
A situation may arise when the server cannot be stopped, but the hard drive needs to be changed. What to do in this case, how to install a new HDD without turning off the computer, and is it even possible to do this? In this case we mean the so-called HDD hot swap; it is possible for some types of RAID arrays, but in other cases it is unsafe.
A hard drive, or HDD (Hard Disk Drive), in the slang “winchester” or simply “screw”, is a storage device that most personal computers are equipped with, used for long-term storage of data - from your music, documents and films to programs and the operating system . Its service life is on average 5-6 years, but due to careless handling, severe physical damage, and exposure to moisture, it can fail much earlier than its “brothers”
Why do you need to change your hard drive?
There are many reasons why you need to do this. Sometimes it may fail, perhaps over time you will realize that the amount of memory in your computer is not enough for you. Also, if you notice a decrease in the speed of your computer and system loading, then the cause may be problems in the operation of your hard drive. You will learn how to replace a hard drive in this article. All complex terms are explained clearly, “in Russian,” so there will be no difficulties in understanding the text of the replacement instructions.
Changing a hard drive is not difficult - this is one of the simplest operations for replacing components in a computer, and you will see this for yourself in practice.
How to replace a hard drive
Replacement is not at all difficult; all you need is a screwdriver. I draw your attention to the fact that the procedure described below is relevant only for desktop computers. The replacement process for laptops is very different from the method of computers “in the case” and requires a different approach
1.First, you need to make sure that the computer is turned off and unplugged.
2.To gain access to the “insides” of the computer, you need to remove the side covers of the case. Each is fastened with two bolts,
in total you need to unscrew four. Look for them on the back of your computer.
3.Remove the side covers and look for the hard drive. In the computer it is located closer to the front panel and is fastened with bolts, four
or six, depending on the configuration of the case.
4. Disconnect all two cables from it. They have different connectors, so it is impossible to confuse them; the main thing is to remember which wires were connected.
5.Unscrew the bolts and take out the old hard drive.
6.Unpack the new hard drive and place it in place of the old one, with the connectors facing the rear wall.
7.Secure the part by screwing all the bolts into the body.
8.Connect the two cables in the same way as they were connected before to the old hard drive
9.Put the computer case covers in place and fasten them with all four bolts.
Ready! We replaced the hard drive. It turns out that it is not as difficult as it seemed...
But, since all your data, including the operating system, was on the previous hard drive, you will need to reinstall your operating system or copy the data from the old hard drive to the new one in order to continue using the computer after the replacement
How to transfer data from an old hard drive to a new one
If the hard drive fails, then restoring data from it will be very problematic and expensive, if not impossible in principle. So, if there was no particularly valuable data on it or for you, then there is no point in restoring it
If the old hard drive is functioning and you replaced it for some other reason, then you can transfer the data along with the operating system to a new one using special programs, a huge number of which, along with detailed instructions for their use in practice, can be found in Internet. Below is a list of popular programs for transferring files between disks:
1.PickMeApp is a free application for transferring data, working with it is as simplified as possible
2.Laplink PCMover - The highlight of this program is the ability to transfer all Windows settings, both system and user
3.EaseUS Todo Backup Free is another free application from Chinese developers that allows you to completely clone hard drives, including all partitions of the original one
4.AOMEI Partition Assistant Home 5.1 is a free program that allows you to transfer all data between hard drives, or just system files. The program is available to a large number of users - the entire process can be completed by following the instructions of the wizard
Please note that there is always a chance that the data transfer will fail. First of all, this is due to hardware problems, for example, with the motherboard. Therefore, the most reliable option is to install the system on a blank disk, and then configure all other programs
Conclusion
After reading this article, you learned how to change a hard drive on a computer, and perhaps learned how to do the replacement in practice. To ensure that your hard drive serves you for as long as possible, adhere to the following rules:
1.Never download programs and games from suspicious sites.
2.Install a good antivirus program on your computer.
3. Buy only certified components from well-known brands, and do this only in specialized stores of well-known retail chains.
4. Protect your hard drive from temperature extremes, moisture and strong shocks.
5.Do not touch system files and folders unless you are sure that this will not cause system failures
Following these simple rules will help you change your hard drive less often, and will allow your hard drive to serve you for many years and delight you with fast speed and trouble-free operation.
An SSD consists of several parts that are assembled and function smoothly together. The first and most important part is the controller. It controls the operation of the drive and is the “heart” of the device. The second part is a set of NAND flash memory, where all recorded information is stored.
Since the controller controls absolutely all reading and writing processes on the SSD disk, the performance of the device directly depends on this detail. Modern SSDs use controllers with from 4 to 10 channels for parallel connection of memory chips. The more such channels, the higher the data recording speed will be.
SSDs also have their own cache memory. However, it is not used to increase reading speed, as is done with HDDs, but as temporary data storage. Today there are SSDs with 128, 256 and 512 MB of cache memory on board. What specific memory will be used for the SSD depends on its size. The larger the volume, the larger the cache, but the price will then be much higher.
What will replacing HDD with SSD give?
If you replace today's outdated HDD with a newer and more modern SSD, the laptop user will receive a significant reduction in Windows boot time. The speed increase will be about 60% compared to a regular hard drive. All programs and applications will start working much faster. For example, Windows boots from the SSD in about 15 seconds after turning it on.The laptop will last much longer on battery life if it has an SSD installed instead of an HDD. In addition, a solid-state drive (SSD), due to the lack of a mechanical component, can withstand much more mechanical overload.
Replacing HDD with SSD
Since all modern SSDs are made in the 2.5-inch form factor, replacing a standard laptop HDD will not be difficult, because it has the same dimensions. First of all, turn off the laptop and remove the battery from it. This way you will completely de-energize the device.Now look carefully where the HDD is located. On all laptops, its location is usually indicated by a special icon. Once you have determined the location, unscrew the screws and remove the cover. Usually the HDD is additionally located in a special basket and is attached to it with screws; these should also be unscrewed.
Remove the HDD from the special basket, install the SSD instead and repeat the entire procedure in reverse order. Tighten all screws and replace all covers. Try to carefully remember which screws come from where to avoid confusion. Replace the battery and charger. Be sure to install new Windows on the solid-state drive; no need to transfer, clone or copy the old system from the HDD. Since the old operating system was installed on the HDD, the services there are launched to work specifically with this device. On an SSD, not only will these services not speed up anything, but they can also cause the disk to wear out faster.
Now that the laptop is assembled, turn it on and press F2 several times to get into the BIOS. It is necessary to make special settings for SSD. Find the Advansed/Sata Configuration section. Set the AHCI operating mode. In the Boot Priorities section, set the first boot disk to be a USB or CD/DVD drive, depending on what you are going to install Windows from. Save the settings by pressing F10, restart the laptop and proceed with further installation of the system. Don't forget to specify the new SSD when selecting the system drive.
