Different ways to use HDD and SSD both in a laptop

SSD’s or Solid-State drives are in great demand nowadays this is because they are more reliable and much better in terms of speed and performance. The compact Solid-State drives don’t have any kind of moving mechanical parts which makes it resistant to shock to a large extent. However, the only disadvantages of Solid-State drives are that they are overpriced in comparison to Hard Disk Drives, and you need to spend a lot of money if you wish to buy one.

Solid state drives are among the most expensive part of any high-end computer system. In general, a typical SSD of 120 GB goes for around 250 dollars, and the price gets higher with the rise in storage capacity.

The only reason behind the overpricing of SSD is that the components used for its manufacturing are really high performing in comparison to HDD and USB drives.




Using both HDD (Hard Disk Drives) and SSD (Solid State Drives) in a computer system can greatly enhance its performance. The speed and performance of SSD while the storage capacity of an HDD works great when used in coordination with each other. Overall it has the capabilities to convert your basic computer system into an extremely fast machine.

You can use 2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive along with a mSATA or M.2 SSD both in a single laptop. This will greatly enhance its performance levels.

Or otherwise, if you have a bulky laptop then it quite possible that you can install 2x 2.5-inch drive into your laptop. This way you can add an SSD to your laptop even if you don’t have any free slots available and can enhance its capabilities to a large extent. But you’ll have to make sure it supports.

#Compatibility and space

There is absolutely no doubt that combining the speed of SSD’s and the storage capacity of HDD’s can with greatly affect your laptop’s performance. It will make it capable of handling bulk and bulk of tasks simultaneously, reduce the booting speed and much more.

The only problem with the laptop is that they are really compact in size. Laptops are a portable device. They are specially designed in such a way which makes it an easy to carry. The demand for slimmer laptops is increasing very rapidly which forces the developer to reduce the size. All the components in a laptop are packed very tightly in small spaces. This barely leaves any room for other external components which you wish to attach. Thus, it is extremely important to check whether your laptop has enough free space which can hold the extra Solid-State Drive with your previously running 2.5-inch HDD.

Now you must be wondering how to check whether your laptop has enough free space or not. Of course, you can only do this by opening its back panel.  However, opening a laptop is a risky task as you might unwillingly damage the internal parts.

Therefore, it is advisable to watch a disassembly video of your laptop. Just search disassembly video followed by your laptop model number. This will give you are some about the internal parts presents inside your laptop and how you can disassemble it without damaging them.

While checking for space inside your laptop also makes sure you check for free slots to connect the SSD. The connection ports of a mSATA SSD and an M.2 SSD are different. An M.2 SSD requires an M.2 slot, on the other hand, a mSATA requires a mini-PCIe slot. The M.2 slots are smaller in size and are not compatible with mSATA SSD while the mini-PCIe is quite bigger than an M.2 slot. Hence it very important to carefully inspect what kind of slot is present on your laptop’s board before purchasing an SSD.

Both mSATA and M.2 SSD are different, where the M.2 is faster and can only supported by the latest laptops. To know more >> What Is Solid State Drive (SSD) And How It Works?



#If you have free Mini-PCI Slot

The mini PCIe is slot defined by a single number of PCIe lane. It is a standard which is used for a wide range of purposes. Mini PCIe slots are mainly used for wireless interface cards including modems, Bluetooth, network SIM cards etc.

It can also be used to add a mSATA Solid State Drives, only if your laptop has free space. However, most of the laptops come with an additional free mini PCIe slot to fit any AIC (Add-in Card).

Another thing you need to check is that how much free space you have. The mSATA Solid State Drives comes in two different sizes. They mainly differ in their length.

The full-length mSATA SSD’s are 30 x 50.95 mm and half-length mSATA are smaller in size measuring 30 x 26.8 mm. You should choose a full height SSD which is longer in length if you have enough space available.  Otherwise, go for a half-length SSD which is approximately half in length of a full height mSATA SSD.

To buy one; List of Top & Best mSATA SSD (Solid State Drive) – Monthly Updated

M.2 to Mini-PCIe Adapter for old Laptop – Types, Benefit, Issues & Compatibility

Now you can see all the previous mini-PCIe cards are converted to the M.2 interface. As it uses the same PCIe technology, but because of the extra PCIe lanes support the transferring speed can get double in A/E/B Key M.2 Slot and quadruple in M Key M.2 Slot which is important for the latest performance needy devices… Read More

#If you have free M.2 Slot

M.2 technology is designed by PCI special interest group. M.2 SSD’s are faster and reliable in terms of performance and speed in comparison to a mSATA SSD’s.

M.2 is an entirely new and advanced technology in the field of computers. It is also known as the next generation form factor. Most of the older laptops lack an M.2 slot. You are going to find an M.2 slot only if you bought your laptop recently.

M.2 slot replaces the older mSATA as it much smaller in size which makes it a perfect match for new generation laptops and tablets as they are slimmer in size and they do not have enough free space on their PCB.

The M.2 interface is not only limited to the Solid-State Drives. Just like mini-PCIe slot this one can also supports Bluetooth cards, GPS cards, HSPA and wireless cards with have 2 or 4 PCIe Lanes (depends on M.2 Slot’s Key support).

Now talking about the M.2 SSD they are really compact drives the most widely used M.2 SSD is just 80 mm long and 22 mm wide. These smaller drives have unmatched capabilities and performance speed.

M.2 SSD is designed to work with numerous devices that’s the reason why it comes in many different sizes some are as long as 110 mm while the other is as shorts as 30 mm this large gap in their length allows them to be used in many different devices accordingly. The most widely used M.2 SSD sizes are 42 mm, 60 mm and 80 mm. The 42- and 60-mm long versions are used in compact devices such as tablets and Ultrabooks.

The M.2 slot also differs in terms of keys. Keys are actually the arrangement of pins and gaps present on the edge of the M.2 cards. There are mainly four types of keys which are currently used namely A key, B key, M key, and E key.

There are various other types of keys, but they are not in use nowadays and are reserved for future purposes. The M key an B key SSD are the most popular ones. The B key is used for SATA M.2 SSD while the M key is used for NVMe M.2 SSD. M.2 card with a certain type of key only fits in a specific slot thus make sure what kind of slot is present on the motherboard of your laptop. Forcing an M.2 SSD into the wrong slot will either damage the slot or the SSD.

So, make sure about the Slot’s Key support before purchasing any new M.2. And to buy one; List of Top & Best NVMe M.2 SSD (Solid State Drive) – Monthly Updated

#What If you don’t have any free Mini-PCI or M.2 Slot?

But what if your laptop doesn’t have any free slot? Most of the time you don’t have any free slots on your laptop as they are already preoccupied by other components. However, you need not to worry in case you still want to connect a solid-state drive to your laptop there is one more way to do this.

Well, you can make use of the optical drive slot present on your laptop for this purpose. Yes, you heard that right optical drives slot can be replaced with caddy which can run any 2.5 Inch SATA SSD.

CD and DVD drives are rarely used because these are the days of internet and balding fast USB Flash drives. They have replaced the older CD and DVD to a large extent. USB drives are smaller in size and are less prone to damage in comparison to a CD. Therefore, it is not a bad idea to replace your optical drive with a caddy.

So, don’t let your optical disc drive slot go waste. Just replace it with a Hard disk drive or Solid-State Drive caddy and instantly increase the storage capacity and working speed of your laptop.

Some caddy allows you to use your older optical drive cover so that it doesn’t look weird. This looks just like an optical disc drive from outside. Caddy comes in mainly different sizes. It is really important that you buy a one which perfectly fits in the optical drive slot of your laptop. You can search caddy according to your laptop’s model number.

Another option is to go for a universal caddy. A universal caddy is specially designed to fit almost every laptop. You can buy a universal caddy if you are unable to find one using the laptop model number.

Dainty Optical Drive HDD Caddy Tray 9.5mm Universal SATA 2nd HDD HD SSD Enclosure Hard Drive Caddy Case Tray 9.5mm Laptop CD/DVD-ROM Optical Bay Drive Slot (General 9.5mm)Click on link to check out the current price of “Optical Drive Caddy“: @Amazon US ($8.99)@Amazon UK(£8.94),   @Amazon IND (₹399.96)@Best Buy ($64.99), @Walmart ($62.99)@Newegg ($5.99).

“That’s all for now, thanks for sticking with the article, and you know it will always good to let me know about the article, in the comments down below.” 🙂





4 COMMENTS

  1. You can use this if you have ssd and hdd slot in your laptop so you do not need to worry. If your motherboard supports then you can easily runs both.

  2. Excellent article: wink:.
    I had in the project to clone the hdd of the computer of my mother who is on windows 7 and then make the update windows 10 which is still available. Only, the cloning software creates a system partition just at the size of the data contained on this partition, so it makes a story of 50 Mb, at the time of making the maj to windows 10 installation fails telling me that the size not enough. And extend the partition is not possible otherwise the computer no longer boot on the ssd. A simple cloning “ok” but do not expect anything else.

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    • cloning software will install back the same OS as it was before. To install a new Windows 10 OS, you can try to run the setup in windows 7 and it will upgrade your OS with saving your programs and files.

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