How to Upgrade Your Laptop's Hard Drive

If you have a laptop that's a few years old, you may be running out of hard drive space, or you may have noticed that it's getting slower and slower, especially compared to newer models or desktops. Is it time to get a new laptop? Not necessarily. If you're willing to put a bit of work into it, installing a new hard drive is pretty easy. (You may also want to add more RAM, but that's a different subject).


One thing to consider before replacing it is: will changing the hard drive void the warranty on your laptop? In many cases it will, and even if something else goes wrong with your laptop that does not have anything at all to do with your new drive, the manufacturer will most likely blame it on the fact that you replaced it. Check the manufacturer's website, or call customer service to be sure. However, if you've had your laptop for so long that the warranty has expired anyway, that's obviously not a concern.


Once you have your new drive you are ready to go. Before getting replacing it, you need to do some house cleaning of your current hard drive. Delete all the files and programs you don't use, and backup the rest on disks or an external drive. Then defragment your internal hard drive.


To make the data transfer easy and painless, I recommend getting a data transfer kit. There are several different brands available and they come with a cable, software (that copies all the content from your old drive to your new one) and some includes new hard drive and some only come with a case. Make sure you get one that's compatible with your equipment (and read other peoples' reviews online - some work better with certain laptops than others).


Using one of these kits, pop your new drive in the case that came with the kit, hook it up to your laptop and run the software. It will copy everything from your old drive to the new one. This may take quite a bit of time, so do it when you don't need your laptop for a few hours (or more). Once everything is copied, it's time for the actual replacement. Turn off and unplug your laptop and remove the battery. Laptop hard drives are usually located in an easily accessible place - on some, you need to unscrew only a small cover, and on others you may have to remove the entire back cover (your laptop's manual should tell you where your drive is located).


Remove your old hard drive and carefully install in your new one (no shaking or dropping it!). On some laptops, the drive sits directly in a panel and on some, it's in a caddy. Install your new drive exactly the way the old one was installed. Make sure it's in there snugly and securely (and the right way) before putting the panel back on and closing the laptop up again. Plug the laptop back in and start it up. Since you copied everything from your old disk, it should start without any issues. If it doesn't, put your old hard drive back in and troubleshoot the new one.


What do you do with your old drive? Well, you can keep it as a backup of your system, or put it in the case that came with the kit and use it as an external hard drive.


DeeDee Dobson blogs about pink laptops and all the different peripherals and laptop components.


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