How to Install an SSD in Your Notebook

1) Put your SSD into the enclosure and close it.

2) Connect the enclosure to your notebook’s USB port.

3) Launch Acronis Migrate Easy and select Clone Disk.

4) Select your computer’s hard drive as the source disk.

5) Select the external drive as the destination disk and click Next and OK a couple of times. If asked whether you want to delete the partitions on your destination disk, say yes. The computer will reboot and take anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour to copy your data to the new disk.

6) Turn off your notebook once the cloning process is complete and unplug it from power.

7) Remove the SSD from the enclosure and place it somewhere safe.

Open your notebook’s hard drive upgrade panel, removing any screws that hold it in place. Typically, the upgrade panel is on the bottom of the notebook and is marked by a tiny icon of a cylinder. However, on a few notebooks (such as the ThinkPad X200 series) the panel is on the side of the chassis. If you can’t find the upgrade panel, check your user’s manual. Remove any screws that fasten the hard drive to the chassis and pull the hard drive out with its mounting bracket or rails still attached.

9) Swap the mounting bracket from the old hard drive to the new SSD.

10) Insert the SSD back into the notebook’s drive bay, screw it in, and close the case.

11) Boot your notebook to test the SSD. If the notebook does not detect the drive, re-open and check to make sure your SSD is connected to the SATA port. If the drive is connected but has no operating system, repeat the cloning process.

12) Put your old hard drive into the drive enclosure. You can now connect it to the notebook to use as a backup drive.

Note: Whenever you are working on the inside of a notebook, take steps to avoid static electricity, such as using a static wrist strap.

Video Demonstration

How To Install an SSD

• What You Need
• Steps and Video