PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
Can I upgrade my main SSD?
Q I have a Dell 17 3000 laptop with a 256GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive. The SSD is the main drive, and it contains Windows 10 and all the programs that I use. My personal files are on the hard disk. On the current SSD I only have around 5GB of unused space left. Is it possible to install a higher-capacity SSD and transfer everything from the current one? If this is possible then is it a difficult job, or best left to an expert? What might be the cost? Thank you for producing a really good computer magazine!
David Childs
A There are numerous models in the Dell 17 3000 series, so we don’t know exactly which one you have. In broad terms, though, yes, this is possible.
You’d need to buy a compatible SSD and then clone your old drive on to the new one, using a free cloning tool such as Macrium Reflect Free (www.macrium.com/reflectfree). The SSD might be a stick-like M.2 model, but on a machine that’s a couple or more years old it’s more likely to be a 2.5in drive that uses a SATA connection. You’d also need a USB-to-SATA cable (one from Sabrent costs around £10 on Amazon, www.snipca.com/43290). This will connect the new drive externally at first, in order to carry out the cloning process. With that done, you’d then need to open up your machine and swap the new drive for old.
None of this is particularly difficult, though you need to remember to research the right SSD type for your exact laptop model. If you decide to get an expert to do it, we’d expect you’d have to pay for no more than a couple of hours’ labour, on top of the cost of the SSD.
However, we have an alternative idea that could help.
