From HDD to SSD: The Jump to Hyperspeed
Until recent times, the biggest determination of your computer’s speed came from the type of processor it had. But times have changed, and technology has leaped ahead.
In 2009, solid-state drives (SSDs) began to appear in consumer laptops. At first, they delivered a pretty significant speed boost when compared to the older technology of hard disk drives. In 2017, once you go SSD, you don’t go back. The different is that stark.
What makes an SSD so much faster?
As the name implies, an SSD features no moving parts like the old hard disk. Data is stored on flash memory chips, not that dissimilar from a USB thumb drive.
The advantage of this new technology is speed. A basic SSD drive can be anywhere from 50% to 100% faster than a standard hard disk drive. Other advantages include much higher durability and lower power consumption.
The biggest disadvantage of the SSD is the price. When compared on a per-gigabyte basis, SSDs are around four times more expensive for the same amount of storage, although this has been steadily dropping over the past few years. In my opinion, it is definitely worth the upgrade or option to get an SSD. The speed boost alone is enough to make your old computer feel better than new.
Can your old computer be upgraded to an SSD?
Most likely yes! Any computer with at least a SATA HDD connector on the motherboard is easily upgradable to an SSD. If your computer is older than 6 years or it was not a very well-specced PC in the first place, I would always recommend upgrading first to a brand new PC.
How to upgrade:
The first thing you want to do is check the size of your current hard drive and also check how much of that you have actually used. Perhaps your PC has a 500 GB hard drive now, but you are only using 120~ GB of storage on it. It may make more sense to upgrade to a 256 GB SSD rather than a 500 GB model due to the price different.
Once you have determined the correct size and made the purchase, your next step is to backup your data. There are many ways to do this. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to download a free program that allows you to clone your current disk directly to the new SSD. For this you will need to install the program, and you will also need a SATA to USB adapter (available on Amazon for ~$10) to connect the SSD to your PC via USB.
Here are some programs that can be used for the cloning process:
— EaseUS Todo Backup Home (Free Trial or $29 1-time purchase)
— Casper 10 (Free Trial or $49.95 1-time purchase)
Personally, I recommend just purchasing the EaseUS product. The program has many other very useful features besides cloning.
Now that you have what is needed, you will need to startup the program of your choice. Simply follow the instructions to complete the clone.
You will now need to disassemble your PC, remove the old hard drive, and install the new SSD. For help, you can search on YouTube for instructions for your specific model. This can be very simple or very difficult.
Boot up your PC with your new upgrade. Sit back. Enjoy the speed.
P.S. DON’T FORGET TO PUT IN-PLACE A ROUTINE BACKUP PROCEDURE FOR YOUR DATA. You can even use the EaseUS program mentioned above for this.
Comment below for any questions or comments!
