Standard upgrades for your laptop: mass storage

The mass storage of your laptop is one of the most essential parts that should be kept up-to-date so that you are able to perform all the necessary tasks on your computer. Fortunately, you do not have to buy a new laptop if you are not satisfied with its mass storage. It can be upgraded and this article will tell you more how it can be done.

Why do you need to upgrade the mass storage of your laptop?

Even though generally laptops do not tend to live thus long, it might happen you possess a nice laptop with sufficient performance, however, the amount of memory it has is absolutely not enough. Then, you will definitely be willing to expand it.

Another common scenario is of course having some issues with the mass storage which indeed requires fixing. In the majority of such case, you will just have to install a new storage unit.

Mass storage types

You are also able to replace the mass storage. This, you need to determine the kind of mass storage you have. Determine if it is a hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD) or solid state hybrid drive (SSHD). The time we are in now, SATA drives of 2.5-inch drive format rules the laptops. These are much smaller than regular 3.5-inch hard drives but they all share the same features and configurations.

Smaller sizes typically limits the capacity. The large one of 2.5-inch hard drive capacity is up to 5 TB while a 3.5-inch hard drive max out at, as high as, 8 TB of data. Unfortunately, most of the laptop out there have room for drives of 7mm or 9 mm thick. There are largest drives which are 2.5 inch drives, which fits in a typical laptop max out at 2 TB.

Steps to replace mass storage in your laptop

If you have a newer portable, you might have smaller SSD formats like mSATA or M.2. Most of the manufacturers make it quite easy to replace a hard drive. Remove the bottom panel the same way you would remove it for the RAM of course. Remove the tiny screw and pop the old drive out. Again, refer to the manufacturer manual for better instruction of how your laptop’s work in terms of opening up components. Remove the old one and install the new hard drive. In case, the old laptop seems stuck or not coming out the way you expect, stop and read the manufacturer instruction again but NEVER force any of the component to come out. Once done installing, reboot the computer and reinstall the Windows.

One of the best upgrade you can bring to your laptop is, if you have HDD and upgrade it to SSD. You will get less storage capacity but worth the money. You will also have a storage that consumes less electricity than a HDD. SSDs are incredibly faster than HDD in both read and write. Upgrading both RAM and hard drive will give you substantial raise in the performance.