“Switching from a hard drive to an
SSD is like leaving the Stone Age.
Windows loads in under a minute”
62 |^ |^ December 2019
hynotturnyour
problemofstorage
space– orlackofit- intoanopportunity?
If you’venotdoneso
already,nowisthe
perfecttimetoinvestigateoneofthe
mosteffectiveupgradesmoneycan
buy:a fastsolid-stateharddrivetorun
Windowsandyourprogramson.
Switchingfroma clunkyoldharddrive
toa SSDislikeleavingtheStoneAge.
Windowsloadsinundera minute,apps
openina matterofsecondsandyour
computinglifeisnolongerheldupby
clickingandwaitingforfilestoload.
WithSSDpricestumblingtoput
evenrelativelylargeamountsofstorage
spaceinyourhandsfora modestsum,
there’sneverbeena bettertimeto
makethemove.Theupside?Yourold
drivecanstayinuseasa dedicated
drivefordata,withtens– if not
hundreds– ofgigabytesofspace
freedupbymovingWindowsand
yourprogramstothenewdrive.
It’sa three-stepprocess:first,work
outwhatyourPCcanaccommodateand
picktheappropriatedriveforthetask.
Oncedone,investigatethepracticalities
offittingit toyourPC,andthenfinally
followa methodformigrating
everything(orthekeyelements)of
yourolddrivetothenewone.
Choosingtheright drive
If you’rea laptopuser,you’rebasically
lookingfora largersingledriveto
accommodateWindows,applications
anda decentamountofpersonaldata.
Thismayinvolvemovingfroma
relativelysmallSSDdrive(say128GBor
less)ormigratingfroma large(say1TB
orlarger),butcumbersomedrive.As
always,whileit’stemptingtosave
moneyintheshortterm,trytostretch
yourbudgettofutureproofyour
purchaseforaslongaspossible.With
500GBSSDdrivesweighinginatunder
£60,thisshouldreallybeyourminimum
spec.Increaseyourbudgetto£100and
you’llfindseveral1TBSSDdrivesfalling
withinyourgrasptoo.You’llthenneed
toinvestina USBorNASdriveforthose
filesyouaccesslessfrequently.If you’relookingtoupgradea
desktopPC,thenchecktoseeif your
casecanaccommodatea second
driveinadditiontoyourcurrentone.
Chancesareit can,givingyougetthe
bestofbothworlds:a newSSDdrive
thatcanbesmaller(say256GB,or
500GBforthosewitha gaminghabitor
theneedtorunvirtualmachines),plus
yourolddrivenowexclusivelyusedfor
datastorage.
If youhavea modernPCwithsupport
fortheM2NVMeinterface(asmallslot
ontheboardintowhichSSDdrives
shapedlikeRAMsticksareplugged),
thenpaythesmallpremiumforthis
typeofSSDstorageasit’suptosix
timesfasterthanSSD,nevermind
regularharddrives.Samsung’s 970 EVO
Plusiscurrentlythebest– 256GBwill
setyoubackaround£75,and500GB
around£120.Fittingthedrive
Thestep-by-stepguideoppositereveals
howtocloneyourdriveusingMacrium
ReflectFree.There’sonemajorcaveat
here:botholdandnewdrivesneedto
beconnectedtoyourPCatthesame
time.Fordesktopusers,thismeans
screwinginyournewdrivetoan
available2.5-inchor3.5-inchbayif
connectedviaSATA,orcarefullyslotted
intotheNVMeslotbeforebeingpushed
downandheldhorizontallyinplace
usingthescrewsupplied.
Laptopusershavea choice:if youplan
tokeeptheolddriveasadditional
storage,invest£10-15ina cheapUSB3.0
2.5-inchenclosureandfitthenewdrive
inthere.If not,purchasea USB-to-SATA
adapterfromeBayforaslittleas£3
onlineandusethattotemporarily
connectyournewdrivetoa spareUSB
port.Oncetheolddrivehasbeen
clonedtothenewone,swapthetwo
aroundandyourlaptopshouldboot
withallsettingsanddataintact.Upgrade your hard drive
Another way to increase storage is to migrate
Windowsto a separate,fasterSSDdrive
W
Watch Windows 10 (and startup apps) load in under
30 seconds with NVME storage like this Samsung.2.5-inch drive enclosures are relatively cheap,
certainly plentiful, and easy to slot your drive into.This £3 adapter makes it easy to attach any bare drive to your PC or laptop’s USB port.