Adapter for ssd drive to laptop. Installing a hard drive instead of a DVD drive in a laptop. Espada SS12

If you have long stopped using the DVD drive in your laptop, then it's time to replace it with a brand new SSD. Didn't you know that this is possible? Then today we will talk in detail about how to do this and what it will take to do this.

So, after weighing all the pros and cons, we came to the conclusion that an optical drive is already a superfluous device and it would be good to install an SSD instead. To do this, we need the drive itself and a special adapter (or adapter), which is perfect in size instead of a DVD drive. Thus, it will not only be easier for us to connect the disk, but the laptop case itself will look more aesthetically pleasing.

Preparatory stage

Before purchasing such an adapter, you should pay attention to the size of your drive. A conventional drive is 12.7 mm high, and there are ultra-thin drives that are 9.5 mm in height.

Now that we have a suitable adapter and SSD, we can proceed with the installation.

Disconnecting the DVD drive

The first step is to disconnect the battery. In cases where the battery is not removable, you will have to remove the laptop cover and disconnect the battery connector from motherboard.

In most cases, in order to remove the drive, you do not need to disassemble the laptop completely. It is enough to unscrew a few screws and the optical drive can be easily removed. If you are not completely confident in your abilities, then it is better to look for video instructions directly for your model, or contact a specialist.

Installing the SSD

That's all, our drive is ready for installation.

Now it remains to insert the adapter from the SSD into the laptop, tighten the bolts and connect the battery. We turn on the laptop, format the new disk, and then you can transfer it to it operating system from a magnetic drive, and the latter is used to store data.

After installing ssd instead of hdd in my laptop, I began to experience a catastrophic lack of space on the first. The purchase of a sata-usb adapter made it possible to expand my media library to an old hdd. A couple of months passed and this option no longer suited me, namely, I got tired of carrying this "appendix" with me, and the speed left much to be desired. After some time, I came across a number of articles about installing a second disk using an ESPADA adapter. This miracle device with a second disc was inserted instead of the native DVD drive and delighted users. A search in electronics stores led to the understanding that this device is an unaffordable luxury for me. The price is from 800r with us, from $ 6 in China. Further, on Habré, I found articles on self-altering a DVD drive for installing a second disk, but I felt sorry to break the drive for such experiments, and then it began ... At work, a dead hdd, sata-loop, molex-sata from an old power supply unit was taken.

Just in my apartment there was a renovation and there was a lot of tools for "fitting" some details for my idea.

With the help of a grinder (angle grinder), the sata connector was modified to Slimline SATA.

On the supply side, 5 contact pads were left and other areas that we did not need were cut down.

Removing unnecessary contact pads, in total I got the connector I needed just like in a DVD drive.

A pinout diagram of the contacts was found in advance on the Internet.

Armed with a soldering iron and a margin of patience, I soldered the whole thing into an adapter SATA (ODA) -> SATA (HDD).

Filling everything with ordinary shoe glue (well, I don't have hot melt glue) and wrapping it with electrical tape, I got a completely aesthetic-looking wiring. After waiting for the glue to dry, I began to try to collect the whole thing. I glued the HDD with double-sided tape, thereby creating a "pillow".

I connected everything and tightly inserted it inside.

Fingers crossed, I turn on the laptop and immediately run into the BIOS.

Hooray! WDC has decided.

I load the system and everything is fine.

There is no limit to joy and pride! It turns out how easy it is to connect a second drive to a laptop with a minimum cost.

The hard disk, also called a hard drive, with a capacity of 250 GB installed in my Samsung-R719 laptop, due to the constant saving of newly captured photos, music and videos, began to run out of space. The question arose of choosing a new larger hard drive to replace it.

Another question of choosing a new hard disk may arise in case of its failure due to aging, magnetic coating applied to the disks or failure of the electronic board. Service centres renovation hard drives do not.

Hard disk HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or its modern analogue solid state drive SSD (Solid State Drives) in a computer or laptop is designed to write, store and read information. Without a device for storing information, any computer product will not be able to fully function.

Choosing a HDD for a laptop

For the right choice hard drive for a laptop, first of all, you need to decide on its main technical characteristics, such as:

Hard disk space;
Information storage method (HDD or SSD);
The type of connector (interface) through which the hard drive is connected to the laptop;
Form factor (geometric dimensions).

By memory size

Currently, only hard drives volume from 500 GB. This amount of hard drive in the computer will be enough to install all the necessary software, store photos, music and your own video. If you need to keep an archive of movies, you will need a hard drive with a volume of 1 TB or more. When choosing a hard drive, keep in mind that not all motherboards support hard drives larger than 2 TB.

Do not be surprised if installed in computer hard a disk, for example, with a volume of 1 TB, when checked, will have a capacity of 0.93 TB. The fact is that a computer processes information in a binary system, in which 1 GB = 1024 MB, and manufacturers indicate the size of a hard disk in a decimal system (which is not true), assuming that 1 TB = 1000 GB. A kind of marketing trick that misleads consumers. In addition, part of the hard drive's memory is used by the computer system to store service information.

By the way of storing information

V recent times a new type of hard disk has appeared on the market and is becoming popular, in which information is stored not on magnetic disks, but using microcircuits that are widely used in flash drives connected to USB port... Such drives are called solid-state drives and are briefly designated SSD (Solid State Drives). With no mechanical components, SSDs are fast and reliable. But their cost is more than double the cost of traditional HDDs. So the choice depends entirely on the budget allocated to replace the hard drive.

There is a third, combined type of hard drive for laptops. On the board of an ordinary hard HDD disk In addition, SSD memory chips are installed, which store information frequently requested by the computer system. This allows you to significantly increase the speed of the disk as a whole with a slight increase in its cost.

When buying a hard drive for a laptop with a limited budget, I recommend paying attention to the combined type of hard drive.

By laptop interface type

You can find out the type of interface installed in a laptop HDD in two ways - informational and mechanical. With the information method, you need to go to the Laptop Control Panel, then to the Hardware List and find out the model of the installed hard drive. Easy to find by model number on the Internet specifications, from which you can find out all the parameters of the hard drive.

The mechanical method is simpler, since it does not require searching and understanding the technical characteristics of the hard drive, it is enough to have only a Phillips screwdriver at hand. First you need to close all programs, turn off the laptop and fold it down. Next, turn the laptop over to place it so as not to scratch the cover on the soft surface. Usually, all removable laptop covers have an inscription on what is hidden under them.

Attention, before removing the hard drive, SSD, DVD, memory sticks or any other device to prevent the laptop from breaking down, it is imperative to turn it off, disconnect the power adapter from the mains and remove the battery.

Usually, the battery in the laptop case is fixed with two movable latches, which are disengaged by moving the sliders associated with them in the direction of the arrow on the laptop cover. Both sliders must be simultaneously moved along the arrows on the cover and the battery is moved to the side, as shown in the photo, and removed.

On the cover of the compartment in which the hard drive is installed, there is an inscription HDD, and under it there is an arrow in the form of a triangle, showing in which direction you need to move the cover in order to remove it after unscrewing the screws located on it.

The hard disk has a thick plastic tab to disentangle the connector. You need to grab it and slide the disc, as shown in the photo, away from the connector.

After removing the hard drive from the laptop, it became obvious that a SATA type serial interface was used to connect the hard drive Serial-ATA... The photo shows this type of connector, through which a hard drive is connected today in the vast majority of laptops, regardless of manufacturer.

And this is how the Serial-ATA connector looks like on a hard or SSD drive. Previously, laptops used an IDE connector to connect hard drives.

Connector IDE is a set of two rows of pins protruding from the base, as in the photo, so it is easy to distinguish it from a Serial-ATA connector.

SATA Revision Specification Interface Speeds

To connect hard drives in computers, Serial-ATA connectors of one of three specifications are used.

SATA connectors of all specifications are interchangeable. For example, an SSD with a SATA 3.0 connector can be installed in a laptop that has a SATA 1.0 connector. In this case, the maximum data transfer rate will be limited by the data transfer capacity of the SATA 1.0 connector.

The connector specification determines only its capabilities, and the actual read-write speed is determined by the technical characteristics of the hard disk installed in the laptop. For example, modern, one of the best Seagate hard drives with a capacity of 3 TB has a maximum read speed of writing large amounts of information of only 150 MB / s, and small files only 1 MB / s. Thus, any hard drive will provide the maximum data exchange rate regardless of the specification. SATA interface computer.

It's another matter if the computer is installed solid state SSD... Some models offer read-write speeds of up to 550 MB / second. To realize this speed, you need only an interface of the SATA Revision 3.0 specification.

Determining the form factor of the hard drive

The form factor determines the standard geometric dimensions of the hard drive. In laptops, you can find hard drives of the 2.5 ”form factor (69.9 mm wide) with a case thickness of 7, 9.5 or 15 mm. As a rule, manufacturers in laptops install 2.5 ”hard drives with a thickness of 9.5 mm.

The form factor of the hard disk can be found in the technical specifications of the model or you can measure the thickness of the disk with any flat ruler or caliper.

Additional specifications
SSD drives

For the correct choice of a new hard drive, it is enough to take into account its technical characteristics listed above. When choosing to replace a solid-state SSD drive, you must additionally pay attention to the type of memory chips on the basis of which the solid-state drive is made, since its resource depends on this.

Types of SSD memory chips

Manufacturers use one of three types of memory chips in SSD drives:

TLC - the cheapest type of memory with a rewriting resource of at least 1000 cycles;
MLC is the optimal type of memory for a home computer with a rewriting resource of at least 3,000 cycles;
3D NAND is the most expensive and fastest memory with over 10,000 rewriting cycles.

At first glance, it seems that 3000 rewriting cycles to a disk is not enough, but if you make a calculation, then for a 240 GB SSD disk this memory resource will be enough for tens of years of intensive use.

For example, my computer has a 240 GB SSD. I work on a laptop every day and in addition, it records from three high-resolution outdoor video surveillance cameras around the clock.

Let's calculate the real resource of rewriting an SSD disk: - 240 GB × 3000 cycles = 720,000 GB = 720 TB. No more than 30 GB of video and other information is recorded per day, less than 10.8 TB is obtained per year. Divide the disk resource by the annual recording volume: 720 / 10.8 = 66 years.

Calculations have shown that a solid-state SSD disk, assembled from microcircuits of any type of memory, in a home computer will become obsolete earlier than it will use up its resource.

How to transfer system and files
in a laptop from an old hard drive to a new one

Having defined the main technical parameters hard drive, which guarantee the possibility of installing it in a laptop, you can proceed to its selection and purchase.

On new hard disk x not installed Windows system and after connecting it to the laptop, you will need to install Windows all software required for work. This is a rather laborious process, as it requires care, patience and a lot of time.

The task can be simplified with special programs for cloning hard drives, for example, Paragon Drive Copy. The program supports the Russian language and any laptop user will deal with it.

In order to use Paragon Drive Copy, you need to install it on the old hard drive, connect the new drive to the laptop, run the cloning program and wait until all the information is copied. Then install the new disk into the laptop and you can work on it right away, as if the hard disk hadn't changed.

How to install a second hard drive in a laptop

To transfer the system and files (cloning) from the old disk, you need to connect two hard disks to the laptop at the same time, which is not provided for by its design. There are two ways to solve this problem:

Use a special container adapter in the form external box;
Install a container adapter instead of the DVD drive, which will allow you to add a second laptop hard disk.

Both options are equivalent and it all depends on further plans of use. old tough disk. If you plan to use the removed hard disk as a USB flash drive for storing and transferring a large amount of information, then you should purchase an external container adapter. And if a hard disk is required to expand the total volume of information storage on a laptop, then you will need to install a container adapter instead of a standard DVD drive.

I had to use both options. Several years ago, when it was necessary to increase the volume of the hard disk, and the DVD drive was still in demand, I had to buy an external USB container adapter in the form of a portable box. And the second time, when I wanted to replace a mechanical hard drive with an SSD drive in order to increase the performance of a laptop and increase the amount of information storage. The DVD drive was no longer needed and instead a container adapter for a second hard drive was installed in the laptop.

Using a USB container adapter

There is a wide range of adapter containers on the market in the form of an external box, which are designed to connect a hard drive to a laptop via its external USB interface.

When choosing, the main thing is that the form factor and internal interface of the adapter match the form factor and interface of the hard drive. There are also adapters with which the hard drive is connected directly to the laptop connector. They cost less, but are inconvenient in operation, since, by accidentally hitting, such an adapter is easy to break.

The hard disk adapter container is a plastic or metal box with an external mini-USB connector and an operation indicator LED. The container adapter is connected to the computer using a standard flexible cord with connectors at the ends of mini-USB and USB.

Since 2.5-inch hard drives consume little current, the power provided by the bus USB laptop it is sufficient and no additional power supply is required.

To install a hard disk into an adapter container, you need to remove the cover from it, place the hard disk in it and slide it onto the interface connector. After that, close the lid and use a standard USB cable to connect the adapter container to the computer. Now the additional hard drive will work as usual for everyone USB flash drive... Thanks to the use of an adapter container, it will be possible to quickly connect a hard drive to any laptop or stationary computer.

Instead of a DVD drive

Today DVD discs have lost their relevance, and optical DVD drives installed in laptops only collect dust. To expand technical capabilities The laptop industry has mastered the production of special adapters that allow you to install a second hard drive in a laptop instead of a useless DVD drive.

The form factor and interface connector are the same for all DVD drives installed in laptops, and they are 9.5 mm and 12.7 mm thick. Therefore, before purchasing an adapter, you should know the thickness of the DVD drive installed in your laptop.

There are two ways to determine the size of a DVD drive. Go to the "Device Manager" of the computer and find its technical characteristics by the drive model on the Internet. But it is more advisable to remove the drive from the laptop and measure its thickness, since at the same time it will be possible to study how the drive works and figure out how it is removed.

To remove the DVD drive from the laptop case, you need to unscrew only one screw with a Phillips screwdriver, which is located on the side of the lower cover of the laptop in the area where the drive is located. Typically, this screw has ODD and an arrow pointing to the screw head next to it. The drive can then be easily removed.

Since the thickness of adapters for hard drives differs significantly, it is easy to determine it by eye, but in order not to be mistaken, it is better to measure it with any ruler or caliper. Measurement with a vernier caliper of the size of the DVD drive installed in my Samsung-R719 laptop showed that its thickness is 12.7 mm.

Where can I buy an adapter to replace a DVD drive

After determining the form factor of the DVD drive installed in the laptop bay, you can start purchasing an adapter. Computer and digital stores have a large selection of Chinese hard drive adapters to replace a DVD drive that costs around $ 15.

Exactly such adapters made in China can be purchased in the Aliexpress online store for $ 4, although you will have to wait for delivery from a month to two.

My choice fell on an adapter made of aluminum alloy, since the hard drive heats up during operation, and the metal dissipates heat better. The method of fixing the hard disk in the adapter was chosen using a screw method, as it is more reliable. In 40 days after payment of the order, the adapter was received by mail. Upon opening the soft packaging and careful examination, no defects were found. There was also a small Phillips screwdriver in the package.

Replacing a DVD drive with a hard drive adapter

Before installing the hard drive in the adapter, you need to do some preparatory work, which consists in transferring the angle with a threaded hole and the front panel from the DVD drive to the purchased adapter.

A corner with a threaded box for fixing the DVD drive in the laptop case is located next to its interface connector and is secured with two screws. There was no corner on the adapter, but there were two threaded holes in the required place.

Therefore, I had to remove the corner from the DVD drive and, observing the orientation, fasten it to the adapter using the unscrewed screws.

The decorative plastic panel installed on the purchased adapter (bottom in the photo) differed in shape and size from the panel installed on the laptop's DVD drive. Therefore, so that large gaps do not appear and is not violated appearance I had to remove the panel from the DVD drive case and install it on the hard drive adapter case.

The photo shows a laptop with an adapter with a bezel installed by the manufacturer. As you can see, the appearance of the laptop is not pleasing to the eye.

Changing the panel is a simple task if you know where the latches are and how to release them. It is better to remove the panel first from the adapter, since it is no longer needed and if the latches accidentally break, this will not lead to undesirable consequences.

In a DVD drive taken out of a laptop, a sliding tray for installing discs, on which the front panel is attached, is recessed, and it is impossible to reach the latches in this position. But for its extension, a small hole is provided on the panel, into which it is enough to push a metal rod, for example, a needle or a straightened paper clip, by pressing a couple of centimeters.

The decorative bezel on the DVD drive drawer locks in place with two latches. One latch, shown in the photo, is on the edge of the right side of the panel. To release the latch, it is enough to press on it in the groove provided for this with a screwdriver blade.

The second latch is located on the opposite side of the panel and is slightly removed from its end. It is released from engagement in the same way.

The front panel can be removed from the adapter in the same way. After removing it, you need to install the removed front bezel from the DVD drive to the adapter and you can install the hard drive.

After installing the hard drive, you need to fix it in the adapter by tightening four screws that are already partially screwed into the adapter case. The screws must be tightened so that they do not protrude, otherwise it will be impossible to insert the adapter into the laptop compartment.

This hard drive adapter model has a switch to the left of SATA to adapt hard drives. different manufacturers:

A: for HP / Cony;
B: for Dell / IBM;
C: for Other Brand.

A Seagate hard drive was installed, which was not on the list, so the switch slider was randomly set to position B.

The hard drive adapter is now ready to be installed in place of the DVD drive, and now is the time to insert it into the laptop bay.

The adapter effortlessly fits completely into the laptop compartment, and the front panel merges with the case, just like the front panel of the previously installed DVD drive. It remains only to secure the adapter by tightening one screw on the bottom of the laptop and you can check work hard disk.

After installing the battery, turning on the computer, Windows recognized the adapter, installed the driver, and the additional hard disk partitions became available for work. When writing and reading from the second hard disk, a blue LED blinked on the adapter panel, and in sleep mode it was constantly on.

By installing a hard drive adapter into the laptop instead of a useless DVD drive, it became possible to store up to 1.1 TB of information. In addition, thanks to the placement of system Windows files and storing frequently used information on the SSD, the acoustic noise that the hard drive used to emit disappeared, and the laptop was able to run almost silently.

Why install a hard drive instead of a floppy drive in a laptop? Increasingly, a solid state drive is being used as the primary storage device. Installing an SSD into your laptop makes the system boot up and run faster. However, such devices, as a rule, have modest volumes - store hundreds of gigabytes of movies, games and other important information becomes nowhere.

With a desktop computer, everything is simple - you can install at least a few additional drives. There is no free space in the laptop. However, it is quite possible to remove the drive, which is becoming more and more useless, and install an SSD or HDD () in the laptop instead of a DVD drive. You won't be able to connect the hard drive directly - in laptops, drives and drives use different connectors. Adapters from DVD to HDD-SATA come to the rescue (You can also find adapters to HDD-IDE, but they are suitable only for old laptops).

Now let's see how to install a second hard drive in a laptop using an adapter?

It makes no difference what type of drive you put in your laptop's optical drive bay - both HDDs instead of DVDs and SSDs - will connect in the same way. It should be borne in mind that computer manufacturers do not provide for such a modification - there are no official adapters, only Chinese models (for example, Optibey). However, due to the very simple device of the adapter, there is no need to worry about its quality. But the user assumes all responsibility for possible malfunctions - he will lose the warranty on the laptop.

Before connecting an additional SSD to a laptop or installing an HDD in the laptop's DVD drive bay, you must ensure safety: disconnect the battery, and also ground yourself - touch, for example, the battery to remove static electricity from your hands, which can destroy the components of the computer motherboard.

Adapter selection

Many manufacturers are engaged in the manufacture of HDD sled for laptops. There is no significant difference between them - you just need to choose a suitable HDD adapter. A laptop can have one of two types of drives:

12.7 mm high - in older models;
9.5 mm - in modern ultra-thin computers.

Don't worry if the thin adapter is used for a laptop with a high bay - installation will go smoothly. But it is better to choose a suitable adapter so that replacing the CD-drive with an SSD in a laptop does not cause difficulties. In addition, it is worth buying a slide with special brackets with which they cling to the outside of the computer case, it will be easier to remove the device if necessary.

Disconnecting the floppy drive and HDD

Making a laptop with two hard drives perhaps in any case, the differences will only be in how the computer case is disassembled. Models from different manufacturers may have their own characteristics, but general order action is as follows:

The battery is disconnected. If it is non-removable, the battery connector is disconnected from the motherboard.
On the bottom surface of the case, the screws that hold the drive are unscrewed.
The DVD drive is ejected.
The cover covering the main parts of the laptop is removed. If the drive has a separate drive bay, like on Sony computers, you don't need to completely disassemble the case.
The HDD is being removed from the device.

If you are installing a second hard drive in a laptop without replacing the old HDD, you do not need to disconnect it.

Unlike a desktop computer, wires and plugs do not need to be disconnected by hand. They are rigidly fixed and will turn off by themselves when removing devices, so no problems should arise.

Connecting a hard drive to an adapter

A solid-state drive is installed in place of the old HDD, and the removed hard drive is connected to the adapter;
SSD drives are installed in both bays;
With the help of a sled, the drive is replaced with an SSD or any other hard drive, the old drive remains in its place.

In any case, you need to install the operating system on a faster drive - either an SSD instead of a DVD, or a drive installed in the main place. This is due to the fact that the SATA cable for the DVD drive is 4 times slower than the cable that connects the drive to motherboard... Therefore, with an HDD installed instead of a drive, the system will boot much longer and overall the laptop will run slower. SSD performance makes up for this difference somewhat.

Replacing a DVD with a hard disk is done as follows:

The disk is detached from the native slide, to which it is screwed with 4 screws;
The Winchester is inserted into the Optibay adapter, it is connected to the connectors. On the opposite side, a plastic spacer is inserted, which comes with the adapter;
From the underside of the slide, screws are tightened to hold the drive in place;
Mounts are removed from the native drive and screwed to the adapter;
A plug is placed on the outside of the adapter;
The device is inserted into the drive bay of the laptop;
After that, it remains to insert the SSD into the sled from the old hard drive, tighten their screws and install the device in its place. Further, the computer case is assembled in the reverse order.

Problems with determining the second disk by the laptop

In some cases, the BIOS does not see the second hard drive. It's not a problem. This is due to the peculiarities of the BIOS itself. The system will boot normally. If an SSD is installed instead of a floppy drive and you want to install a system on it, the program will normally detect the disk.

If the existing OS does not see the second disk, the reason may be the lack of formatting. If you go to the system utility "Disk Management", the new hard drive will be detected. Need to format it to file system NTFS and it will appear in explorer.

Thus, even an inexperienced user can replace a DVD drive with an SSD, since it is very easy to install a second hard drive on a laptop. The main thing is to choose the right adapter and not lose the screws when disassembling and assembling the computer. Below, you can watch a video on installing a hard drive instead of a DVD drive in a laptop and MacBook.

Install, since it is many times faster than the HDD, but I did not have it, and it was expensive. I used what was at home.

The drive has a problem with the spring or something else, I'm not sure, this is why the drive did not close. If you have something with a floppy drive or have decided to replace the drive with a hard drive anyway, then this article is for you.

First, we need a special adapter (adapter) that looks like a DVD drive. I ordered this in the Aliexpress store for 174 rubles, who are interested, here is the link.

This way you can replace a rather outdated drive with a hard or solid-state drive.

How to choose a hard drive adapter?

The fact is that the size of the drive exists in two types - 9.5 mm and 12.7 mm - this is the thickness. I recommend that you measure the thickness of your drive before purchasing, and then purchase an adapter.

You also need to pay attention to which interface the drive is connected to, if SATA, then using an adapter with an adapter from this interface to you can safely install an HDD or SSD, if your DVD drive is connected via IDE, which is already an outdated technology then connection additional disk, with this adapter is not possible.

As I said, the adapters differ only in thickness, and the width and shape are the same for all.

The adapter came to me in a regular plastic package, inside which was the adapter itself, a bag of bolts and a screwdriver.

Replacing DVD to HDD in a laptop

The hard drive can now be inserted into the adapter. Do this carefully so as not to break the SATA port. Now we take the bolts that were provided to us and twist the disk on the sides.

Remove the floppy drive from the laptop, of course, before that you need to unscrew it from the back of the laptop. It is usually held together by a single bolt.