However, PCs sometimes become difficult to sustain performance at higher levels. This is where you need to install a second SSD on your laptop. If you already have an SSD installed on your laptop and an HDD, you will have to remove the CD panel and fit the SSD there. You can also replace your hard drive with the new SSD. This article learns about steps on installing a second SSD on your laptop.
Installing A Second SSD On Laptop
Installing a second SSD on a laptop is a lengthy but easier hierarchy of steps. To begin with, you need to do a physical installation of the SSD on your laptop and then set the drives on the PC.
Before installing the SSD, here is the list of equipment you will require to install SSD physically on the laptop.
- A screwdriver to open the laptop
- An SSD drive to install
- A bay and a Caddy if the laptop’s dimensions are smaller than the bay.
- A SATA cable and A SATA power connector
- Your motherboard should have an open SATA connection
Steps To Install A Second SSD On Laptop
Turn off your laptop and open the back panel with the help of a screwdriver. Once opened, remove the battery to avoid any risks. Find an open drive bay and install the SSD. You should find it near the RAM as it depends upon the model of the laptop. Now, fix your SSD into the bay with the help of a caddy or screws, etc.
Install the SSD in the caddy into the drive bay using it gently. Move to the motherboard and find a sata cable port. Plugin the sata data cable into the motherboard. Now find and insert the SATA power to your new SSD. Similarly, connect the data connectors too. Make sure that the connections are tight enough.
Once you have checked all the connections, close the case and fit the screws as they were.
How To Set Up a New SSD On a Windows Laptop?
When done with the physical installation of your second SSD, you will require to set it up on your laptop to be able to use it. You will be showing you the SSD drives in “This PC,” but you won’t be able to use it.
Here are steps that will help you in the further configuration:
Open the control panel on your PC and navigate to disk management. Here you have to choose GPT (GUID partition table) and press OK. Your setup should start automatically; if it doesn’t, scroll down to find your new SSD drive. Right-lick on your SSD drive and choose “New Simple Volume.” Click “Next” on the next two prompt windows.
The SSD drive will be allocated a default letter, or you can assign it on your own. You have to verify all the information and click to Finish. Now your new SSD is ready to store the files.
What Makes SSDs Faster Than Traditional Hard Drives?
Unlike traditional Hard drives, SSDs don’t have any spinning magnetic disk. SSDs work on the principle of chips with no moving parts at all. SSDs have shorter wait times, resulting in less or no delay in heavy processing tasks. That is why SSDs are faster in processing.
On average, HDDs can copy 20-100 MB per second, whereas SSDs copy at a speed of 500 MB/s. The high-end SSDs used for industrial purposes can give exceptional-level results. SSDs are more reliable than Hard Drives in speed, performance, and electric shocks.
SSDs are costlier than Hard drives, which means less storage in more price. Another drawback of SSDs is that you won’t be able to recover the data stored once vanished.
What is the Average Lifespan Of An SSD?
SSDs, on Average last about 10 years at least under normal temperatures and optimal usage. Since the lifespan of SSDs depends upon the write cycles, so the age of the SSD depends upon the data written.
Enabling Trim features on SSDs can increase their lifetime. Other steps that you should take to increase the lifetime of your SSD are never to fill your SSD, Update your firmware, and avoid storing large files on the SSD.
The Conclusion
Adding an SSD to an older laptop gives a new life to it by increasing the boot time and faster processing. Yes, one SSD might not be enough, so you can anytime add a second SSD to your laptop to get enhanced performance. Since SSDs cost a lot, it might not be possible for everyone to purchase two SSDs. So, the SSD+HDD combo is always suggested as an option. If your laptop comes with an SSD+HDD combo, make sure you install the OS in the SSD drive as windows usually take time to load, and SSDs will help a lot.
This was all about adding an additional SSD to your laptop. I hope you loved reading this article.
