SSD vs. HDD Performance Comparison
And now for the Tbot's SSD Adventure Step by Step....
1) Research. Like with most technology related decisions, it's a good idea to research before starting. In addition to scouring the internet and watching YouTube video, I asked the expert opinions of some of my trusted IT friends. The Samsung 850 Evo came highly recommended, plus it also included some data migration software.
2)Buying the parts. I went to Memory Express and picked up the SSD, but I also needed a hard drive enclosure for my current HDD (Tip: Don't be fooled by over priced enclosures! Read the features. Usually the cheap ones are sufficient). Luckily both the SSD and enclosure came with SATA cables already (Note: you need a SATA III cable for the Evo). I don't remember the exact price but it was somewhere around/upwards of $200 CDN (a hefty price for a poor starving student).
3) Think ahead. The SSD needs an OS eventually! In another blog I will talk more about my dual boot adventures, but initially I installed Ubuntu on a USB. I utilized my current Windows system (BEFORE removing it from the laptop) to download Ubuntu onto a USB stick. You can find a tutorial for booting the computer with Ubuntu using the USB here and in many other places on the web.
4) Installation. To install the SSD I removed the back cover of the laptop using a Phillips screwdriver (most convenient for removing tiny screws if it's magnetic). Then I removed the hard drive and put it into the hard drive enclosure. At this point I felt like a computer doctor, opening up my patient and doing an organ transplant. To finish the hardware aspect of the swap, all I had to do was put the SSD in the hard drive spot and replace the back cover.
5) Setting up the OS. Now you have a clean slab of disk storage installed but no operating system - think of yourself as Deon from the movie Chappie, when Chappie was just a wee bunch of metal parts... time to apply the spark of life and utilize the USB from step 3. First you have to turn on your computer (and breathe a sigh of relief when it still works and you did not accidentally kill your patient). The computer will start from ROM (read only memory) in order to show you the screen that asks you to push a button (usually an F key) to enter BIOS. Yes, we do want to enter BIOS (I realize I have switched from first person experience to sounding like a DIY tutorial...). In the BIOS menu, use the arrows to scroll to the boot menu and change the boot order so that the USB is first. Then save and exit the BIOS, restart the computer and enjoy the magic of modern day technology. Here is another tutorial that describes this process (see method 2).
When I saw the purple Ubuntu background appear I felt very content! Great Success!
Here's a picture of me in an awesome tweet from Ravi, who provided me with the screw driver and moral support (and his Mom made me food too. What a lucky duck I am!).
Well, it's not all fun and games kids. Here's something they don't teach you in school. Once you take out your hard drive with Windows loaded on it you can still access the files by using it as an external hard drive (yippee hooray!), however, to run windows from the hard drive can be very difficult because Windows works compatibly with the hardware, and if it can't find certain drivers it will not boot. That's what happened to me :-( . I also read somewhere that this problem has something to do with the boot record, purposely designed by Microsoft to protect the licencing. But apparently, with some IT wizardry that I do not have the patience to carry out, I could still resolve this problem, and maybe one day I will try. Until then I will stick to my original plan to load Ubuntu AND Windows 8 on my new SSD. Stay tuned for my dual boot challenge!
Good job girl
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