Replacing HDD with SSD on Aspire 5742 - possible issues?

[Trist_58]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to replace the hard drive on my ol man's Acer Aspire 5742 with a Crucial M4 256 GB SSD. I know that the SSD I have in mind is 2.5" but as I can not find any info on how big the existing HDD drive actually is I just wanted to check that everything will fit in nicely. I assume it will be fine - solid state drives were originally designed for laptops anyway, right? So 2.5" drives should be standard?

If anyone may have had experience in doing what I have described above could you let me know if it will work and also are there any other issues I should be aware of before ordering the SSD?

BTW: I chose the Crucial M4 because I have one in my desktop and it's been very reliable so far but if you dis-agree with my choice then feel free to suggest another brand or model of around the same capacity.

Thanks for any assistance!

 

[scottiemedic]

2.5" is the standard in laptops, and form wise, you will have no problems...

The only other thing is to make sure you use Windows 7 for TRIM support, and never defrag an SSD.

Makes sure you back up or get an external enclosure for your old laptop HDD so you have access to your files...

 

[Trist_58]

Cool. Will definitely be using Win 7 for TRIM.

I assume that it's the same thing as with a desktop PC that you must enable AHCI mode in BIOS before actually installing W7 from the CD?

Thanks Scottie.

 

[scottiemedic]

You are correct... and while you're at it, make sure you do 64bit. Might as well have a bite of all the happiness apple

 

[Trist_58]

Will do. Thanks again!

 

[Trist_58]

Best answer selected by Trist_58.