Upgrading my laptop with a SSD possible?

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

Hello everyone,

I'm a student and currently my laptop is taking up a lot of time when opening a simple word document. I have a 4 years old laptop and I am thinking of upgrading it with a SSD. I made a few pictures and I was curious if my laptop is compatible for a SSD upgrade.

Also I opened my laptop and looked around a bit. I noticed a big gap in the left upper corner of the picture which has M2.5*6L written in it multiple times. Now I am wondering what that exactly is.

[/URL][/img]

Closer picture of the space:

[/URL][/img]
My laptop type is:

Acer Aspire 7750
Intel Core I5 2450M
6GB DDR3 memory
500GB HDD
Intel HD graphics 3000

Thank you in advance for reading this post!

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

M2.5*6L is the screw size/length

and yes looks like it would take a 2.5 ssd

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

mcnumpty23 :

Thanks for your reply! Does that mean I can fit a SSD in the currently empty slot? Or do I have to take my HDD out and replace it?

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 2, 2017

M2.5*6L is the screw
http://www.asusparts.eu/Asus-13GMBKXD061B-2

For SSD upgrades go to crucial and use the Crucial Scanner
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

Silvercrest :

not totally sure what that empty slot is--might be mini pci-e or something

does it have something written on it?

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

mcnumpty23 :

it says ST 1516. I think that is just a part number? Other than that nothing useful is written on it.

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

you know it might just be a second hard drive bay looking at it again seems too big for mini pci-e

lakimens · Jan 2, 2017

If not there, you can fit it in place of your CD-ROM. It also uses a SATA connector, so a SATA SSD should fit.

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

I will upload a better picture of the connectors inside. This might help everyone judge better!

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

Silvercrest :

thanks better picture wont hurt

but definitely thinking its a second hard drive bay now

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 2, 2017

It's where the SSD clips in:

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

thanks confirms what i was thinking that its a second drive bay

mjslakeridge · Jan 2, 2017

Apart from adding the ssd to the empty drive bay, if it takes a long time to open up a simple word document, perhaps your current drive needs to be defragmented. But if you do install a ssd, you will want to install the OS and frequently used programs on the ssd, and you can copy the stuff on your current hdd to an external drive temporarily and then format the hdd and copy your files back.

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

mjslakeridge :

Thanks for the comment, will definitelty look into this beforehand!

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

This is probably it. It matches the connectors on the empty place.

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

This is hopefully a better picture of the slot:

[/URL][/img]

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 2, 2017

Yes that clip is the mount for the SSD.

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

a defrag might help a little bit

but if its never had a clean reload of windows in 4 years its probably just an accumulation of stuff--a clean reinstall would certainly help

but adding an ssd will make a huge difference especially at start up since a laptop has a simpler bios and less stuff to check than a desktop

it will make it hit the desktop and be ready to use so fast you wont know what hit you

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

lakimens :

Thank you for the alternative method

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

Confirmed, thank you

mcnumpty23 · Jan 2, 2017

yes can see the L shape of the connector much better in that image

one thing you may have to watch though is the thickness of ssd if they still come in different thicknesses --moved on to m2 drives so not bought a ssd in a while

mjslakeridge · Jan 2, 2017

One more thought on installing Windows on your SSD. Make sure you disconnect the existing HDD before installing Windows. If the Windows installer detects more than one storage drive, it may load some boot files on the second drive. Then if that drive is formatted or removed, your computer won't boot up. So after installing Windows on the SSD, reboot the computer several times before re-connecting the HDD.

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

mcnumpty23 :

I will make sure to run a clean reload of windows. Perhaps you also know which SSD is currently a viable option to go with?

Silvercrest · Jan 2, 2017

mjslakeridge :

Ah that sounds complicated, but doable. So basically I remove the HDD and insert the SSD in the slot to make sure there is only one drive active. Boot windows from an USB-stick and install it on the SSD followed by a few reboots to make sure it works properly? And after that I plug my old HDD back in and everything should work as it used to be?

Dark Lord of Tech · Jan 2, 2017

Silvercrest :

mcnumpty23 :

I will make sure to run a clean reload of windows. Perhaps you also know which SSD is currently a viable option to go with?

What amount of storage or what is the budget?

Upgrading my laptop with a SSD possible?

Reputable

Polypheme

Reputable

Retired Moderator

Polypheme

Reputable

Polypheme

Honorable

Reputable

Polypheme

Retired Moderator

Polypheme

Splendid

Reputable

Reputable

Reputable

Retired Moderator

Polypheme

Reputable

Reputable

Polypheme

Splendid

Reputable

Reputable

Retired Moderator

Share this page