SSD Questions on New Computer

Eric3742 said:

paulyjames said:

Hi there.


Laptop is dell xps 15 9550 i5 HQ6300 processor

8GB RAM, 1.0TB HD 5400RPM + 32GB mSATA SSD


Does that tell you about which SSD i could use?

1. First, do re-write the spec on your profile with the spec on the invoice with the laptop.
This is to avoid unnecessary wrong details, as most buyer may make some changes, from the original.

2. Also the Windows version on the website show Windows 10, which the Ten Forum may be a better choice to seek their opinion.


Regarding to 1.0TB HD + 32GB mSATA SSD

This is a bit tricky, as where the system is stored is in question, which most probably in 1.0TB HDD

My suggestion.

Avoid making any changes to your laptop only after a period, say 1 year in use, or 6 months.

Reason:
1. Warranty. Should you do any opening on the computer, your warranty will be void & null.

2. Your existing Samsung SSD is not brand new, will it able to re-install properly without any issue.
For your info, my 1st purchase on Samsung SSD failed to work, and went to 1 to 1 exchange.
As you had mentioned to test the new SSD or HDD in the new laptop. This is where point 3 is for, backup.
What is the point to re-install.
Just start using by doing all the nec setting as you prefer, such as system restore, windows updates, etc.

3. Clone &or Image and look for the Recovery Partition, as new laptop are come with it.
If possible, look for "Macrium Reflect" on this website, to do a clone /image of your brand new laptop.
There are plenty of instruction on this tutorial on Macrium Reflect.
You can do both Clone & Image to your 2 Samsung SSD.
And include an Recovery Partition to Samsung SSD, which should fit as Recovery partition size will not big.


4. For RAM, you should do it at the point when you buy the laptop.
This will save you for; (1) you pay cheaper; (2) no spare RAM.
Next time, remember to do all nec changes at the point on buying. Note my very 1 statement; First....


The 2 OLD laptops.

I too had 2 laptops failed. But decide to repair it, and now working as usual.

You can sent both laptops to the same repair shops.
But i am not sure your country do have laptop repair shops.
Mine country, Singapore, do have hundred of laptop repair shops and at least half of them in one mall alone.

My suggestion.
At the repair shop, give him an specific instruction.
1. Do complete check on the state of the condition of failed parts & components.
2. Which laptop is better to save or use as spare parts replacement, if possible.

The main suggestion is to target 1 laptop with less damages Or no major damage on the motherboard.
In this way, the laptop can be repaired and you can continue to use it as spare for testing &or other uses.
Windows OS will not be a issue as you can use the same Windows OS, as motherboard is repair, not replace.

This is my recommendations.

Hi there. Thanks for the response.

Avoid making any changes to your laptop only after a period, say 1 year in use, or 6 months.


The laptop i purchased is on ebay from a very respected seller. The issue with this laptop was it didn't come with a 250gb ssd. I had thought no big deal, I can get a ssd and go to repair shop to install it for me. This laptop was not bought directly from dell, amazon etc. Thus this laptop is not customizeable... thus if it was, i would have customized it with the ssd, ram etc. I did this with my sager with xoticpc but this laptop is bought built already. Also im confused with this statement. Im sure tons of people buy laptops already built through amazon or newegg. Then they figure they get an ssd to make it faster and ram. So how does one not open the computer for 6 months then? I do have a warranty on this dell xps laptop when i get it. But unless you can customize the laptop, i mean aren't most ppl going to install more ram or an ssd if they have a hdd?


Well my 2 ssds... im not sure how they are. Repair shop looked at one of them and said it looks fine. He said he could tell by looking at it. The guy is very smart with computers. The issue with one of these samsung ssds which is a 840 pro thats 250gb is when i first got this laptop and it was installed in an asus, i defragged it a lot of times. I had no clue you wasn't suppose to do that. Thus i did it a lot of times. Thus im wondering could that already did damage to it so putting this on a new dell xps might be not good idea. The other samsung evo ssd, well im sure condition of it is much better as i not once defragged it.


For the RAM... same thing, i could not upgrade it because its built. Its 8gb ram so i will most likely not upgrade it. But the thing is dont most ppl just buy ram themselves and do it themselves since its much cheaper and easier for ppl? Usually when you upgrade ram or ssd, it cost more for them to do it then if you do it yourself if its easy for you.


I already went to 2 repair shops on both of my laptops. One of them the sager, it wouldn't turn on anymore. That was my main laptop. The other one is an asus where keyboard doesn't even work and screen issues. First repair shop told me they can't fix it and mentioned its a motherboard issue. The other repair shop which is a guy thats very smart, i told him this and he saw it and he said the same thing, its 100 percent a motherboard issue.


My sager laptop basically cannot even turn on. Thus thats the worst. The thing is if you want to replace the motherboard, it cost minimum $500 just for it. I believe if you send it to them and they repair and send it back to you, it cost $1000 almost probably. And my sager laptop cost a bit more than that. My sager had lot of issues already so I figure theres no point of repairing it since this requires buying a new motherboard and having them repair it and it will cost around $800 probably.


The asus laptop it can turn on but keyboard doesn't work. Guy tells me this is a motherboard issue. The motherboard replacement for this laptop they have online and its not that expensive. But its not really worth fixing it because i have to get a screen replacement as well. It has blurry lines. And this asus laptop probably is worth $200 at the most. Well it has the samsung ssd 250gb and 8gb ram and i3 processor which is already slow. But im sure the ssd on this one is worst than the ssd in the sager. Both SSDs are taken out of both laptops.


My situation is a lot complicated here because both laptops basically don't work anymore. Even the repair shop told me they would not suggest repairing it as its not even worth it. Thus getting new computer is better idea.

Eric3742 said:

paulyjames said:

I have not received the new laptop yet. I should receive it soon. I'm assuming it should come with windows installation and product key? Its a dell xps 9550 hq 6300 processor.


I have a 1TB External Hard Drive that connects to a computer by USB.

I did not read this, your post when i wrote.


Important.

If you need to make any changes, you have to do it before delivery.
Not to worry about Windows OS and activation, as it is the seller that have to do it.

Ask if you want to upgrade your RAM higher, check the technical spec and increase as you wish.
In this way, you are assure of the RAM usage is good, as any fault, they have to fix it for your.

HDD or SSD. Check for any other options, and from there, you can make Your Decision.


Let your old SSD to wait if you still intent to repair one of the laptop or even both, without much cost.
FYI.
My Laptop motherboard is repair cost S$100 = US $73 (Exchange rate: S$1 = US$0.73)

Regards
Eric.

yes same as i mentioned above. Computer was already configured... you cant customize it

My sager laptop motherboard cost minimum $500. It probably is between $500 and $700. The repair would cost probably another $200. Im sure most agree it isn't worth it... as imagine i fixed it that way, cost $800 only for the laptop to have more issue later on. Now if my sager laptop motherboard replacement wasnt super expensive, then yes i would try that. I mean, fixing the motherboard and repairing it cost as much or close to buying a new laptop.

ignatzatsonic said:

See comments in bold

paulyjames said:

Hi there.


Laptop is dell xps 15 9550 i5 HQ6300 processor

8GB RAM, 1.0TB HD 5400RPM + 32GB mSATA SSD


Does that tell you about which SSD i could use?

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-9550-..._cd_al_qh_dp_t

It appears to be the above laptop. One of the reviews says this about the SSD: "It's not user accessible though. It's auto managed and used for caching".

That tells me it's as I thought--one single "hybrid" drive, not an HDD and an SSD. They are one unit, NOT separate. I'd guess it fits into a standard laptop hard drive mount, but I've never seen one. Maybe someone else knows. I'd assume a standard 2.5 inch Samsung SSD will fit, but I'm not sure as I know little about laptops.



Yeah, you could remove it from the laptop and connect it up to some other PC, such as your desktop, and wipe it there. But why do you need to wipe it at all? You can reuse it without formally "wiping" it.

Can you explain this? You telling me putting this on a new laptop will wipe everything just like that and be brand new? I didn't know that.

"Putting it on a new laptop" won't do anything. HOWEVER, a clean Windows install will. You'd normally delete all partitions as part of a clean install,which effectively "wipes" it.


Okay so let say i bring my samsung pro ssd to a repair shop and asked them i want to replace this new laptop ssd with this ssd. They don't need to wipe anything?

They could formally wipe it, but they probably would not. A formal wiping is rarely needed. You DO need to delete partitions if you want to do a clean install.

You have to decide if you or the shop wants to do a clean Windows install to the Samsung SSD or instead transfer the existing installation on the hybrid drive to the Samsung SSD. Either is possible. I'd vote for a clean install, BUT you have to confirm you have a valid Product Key attached to the new Dell laptop. You need the Product Key to activate a new clean Windows install.

If you chose to do a transfer rather than a clean install, then you might want to do a formal wipe in advance.




And if they do, how long does it take?

Under an hour, maybe under a half hour; assuming there are no unforeseen snags.


About the wiping thing... well i want to wipe all the files in my ssd because i figure i need it brand new when putting in new laptop?

Deleting all partitions is effectively a wipe, which I assume is what you mean by "brand new".


Okay so forget about buying that enclosure for $10 online right since i probably would have issues even using it? Thus the repair shop could do this pretty easily? But is it better to keep an enclosure just in case?

A clean install should be an every day of the week job for a shop. A transfer might be less common, but still not difficult---assuming they are halfway competent. Maybe they are terrible and thieves. That's for you to find out.

I don't use enclosures so I don't know how much of a pain they are.

I don't see why you'd need one UNLESS you did NOT own an external drive. And you would NOT need an external UNLESS you were doing the job yourself and did NOT want to do a clean install.

Im pretty positive i will have a windows key on the computer. It comes with windows 10.


If you chose to do a transfer rather than a clean install, then you might want to do a formal wipe in advance.


Sorry very confused here as i confused myself already. When you say do a transfer, you mean me using the new laptop with my old ssd with the documents inside it?


when you say deleting partitions, is this done when installing windows? I remembered back when i formatted my laptop, it ask if i want to delete partition. So you are asking if i put the samsung evo ssd in it, then i do it this way, then i click yes delete partitions then i effectively deleted everything on it? Thus you mean remove the original hard drive when i get computer, then put the samsung evo in? Or do you mean just start the computer as is. Once installation is done, then switch hard drive to ssd? Im getting a bit tired now so sorry if i sound confusing but i assume you mean the first part right?


I don't use enclosures so I don't know how much of a pain they are.

I don't see why you'd need one UNLESS you did NOT own an external drive. And you would NOT need an external UNLESS you were doing the job yourself and did NOT want to do a clean install


I have an external hard drive. The repair shop did copy my documents, pictures and few other things to my external hard drive. Its about 12gb worth. However with my laptop, i had 232gb total. I probably had around 90b free so around 142gb was used... and of course 20 or 25 gb was used for windows. So i still have lot of gb left. The reason i ask about enclosure is if i want to transfer the files from my ssd that has around 142 gb used of 232gb, then wouldn't i need the enclosure if i wanted to copy it to a computer?

ignatzatsonic said:

see comments in bold

paulyjames said:

My 2 laptops are a sager np2740 and the other is an asus u45jc-a1. Both uses windows 7. On the back of the computer, there is a sticker with numbers so yes that should be the product key.

Do you mean the sticker on the new laptop?

Does this sticker contain a 25 character code in this format:

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

??

5 groups of 5 characters.

The sticker on the "old laptop" isn't likely to help. You need one on the "new laptop".


You mean decide if you want to switch the ssds first before starting up the new laptop? Or just starting the laptop when i get it then once done with installation, then bring it to computer repair shop? If so, which do you recommend?

If you are going to a shop:

1: Walk in with the new laptop in one hand and the Samsung SSD in the other.

2: Tell them to do either A or B:

A: "I want you to transfer the already activated Windows installation now on this laptop to this SSD I have in my hand." They would then either use cloning or imaging to do that.

or

B: "I want you to do a clean install of Windows to this SSD I have in my hand and activate it with the Product Key on this sticker on this laptop." This may pose a problem since you don't know what installation media they are using--OEM, System Builder, completely counterfeit, or whatever. It might appear to be activated and OK, but could later have licensing problems--depending on what installation media they use.

Repair shops can be totally legit and honest or they could be shady. I know nothing about your repair shop.

So--I'd probably tell them to use method A, UNLESS I was going to do it myself. If you do it yourself, you can easily download a legitimate copy of Windows 7 and burn in to a DVD or put it on a bootable USB flash drive. And then do a clean Windows installation with that.


Also another important thing...since i will have the ssd replaced, wouldn't this void the warranty immediately?

Talk to Dell about that.

But say when i got the laptop then tried to install windows... then once i do ... well laptop is fine. Then i go to repair shop to switch the hard drives... would this be a better idea in case something wrong with the laptop when i first got it?

Are you saying the laptop will NOT have Windows on it when it arrives?

If you personally "install Windows" why would you need to take it to a shop? If you are going to personally install Windows, why wouldn't you do the drive switching yourself, BEFORE installing Windows?

If you are going to have the shop switch drives, why would you install anything onto the drive that you intend to replace?


I just thought about this. I do believe the warranty gets voided if you open the laptop up? Of course this is necessary if you want to upgrade ssd, ram etc.

Talk to Dell.




But if i want to transfer files from my other samsung evo 840 to a hard drive, yes i would need the enclosure?

"transfer files". What files? Windows files? Pictures of your cat?

If it's non-Windows files (pictures of your cat, mp3s, videos, etc), I'd copy them to an ordinary external drive and then copy them back to the new laptop after all the drive switching is done.

I have not received the new laptop yet. I should receive it soon. I'm assuming it should come with windows installation and product key? Its a dell xps 9550 hq 6300 processor.

How could you possibly lay down money for a new laptop and not already know if it will have Windows on it?

As far as I know, Dell does not sell laptops without an operating system.



I have a 1TB External Hard Drive that connects to a computer by USB.

That should mean you have no need for a separate enclosure, pending something you haven't yet mentioned.

Does this sticker contain a 25 character code in this format:

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

??

5 groups of 5 characters.

The sticker on the "old laptop" isn't likely to help. You need one on the "new laptop".[/B]


I will know when i get the new laptop. I haven't received it yet. I have the code for both of my other laptops.


The laptop will have windows 10 in it.

Im confused on previous statement.

So--I'd probably tell them to use method A, UNLESS I was going to do it myself. If you do it yourself, you can easily download a legitimate copy of Windows 7 and burn in to a DVD or put it on a bootable USB flash drive. And then do a clean Windows installation with that.[/B]


Im going to be using windows 10 on the new laptop no matter what right? Im confused why you mention copy of windows 7 here.



If you personally "install Windows" why would you need to take it to a shop? If you are going to personally install Windows, why wouldn't you do the drive switching yourself, BEFORE installing Windows?

If you are going to have the shop switch drives, why would you install anything onto the drive that you intend to replace?


For the first part, I don't know if I would be able to take the hard drive out of the new laptop and put in my ssd. I have never opened up a laptop and took out the ssd and put in a new one. The only time that i even opened the ssd part of a laptop was when recently when i went to a repair shop and they unscrewed my other asus laptop and took a quick look at the ssd before screwing it back in. My other laptop... the sager one that wouldn't turn on... there are like 20 screws to unscrew to even open it up which is not possible for someone like.


So does this part make sense? I know how to set up windows as there are easy instructions when first time you turn on a brand new laptop. And the thing is i should be replacing the hard drive with the SSD the first thing i do with this dell xps right? I just want to make sure of this as i have no plans to use that 1tb 5400 rpm hard drive as thats way too slow. I intended to buy this laptop so i could put a ssd in it.


For the 2nd part of your question... I had thought doing so might be a good idea just to see if the laptop functions. Does that make sense? Because say i do this and then setup is good and computer is nice, then i know the computer is good. And if there is an issue, i can contact dell about it. Such that, hey there is already something defective. Does that make sense or not or is my logic here completely wrong? Then once its good, then i shut it down and have the hard drive replaced with the ssd. But with the SSD, do i still need to setup windows again? That is what im confused with. Because if i do, obviously then what i mentioned earlier is not necessary though I don't believe i have to do this with the ssd? Is my logic here completely wrong?

paulyjames said:

~snip~

As @AddRAM pointed out you can simply place any of the old SSDs in your new laptop and once you put a bootable CD or a Flash Drive with the installation of the OS it will give you the opportunity to delete all the data from the old SSD and simply make a fresh install on it.

Another way would be to simply plug the drive in your regular Desktop computer, make sure the SSD isn't the first priority in the boot order in the BIOS, go to Disk Management and delete all partitions from the SSD or perform a secure erase.

Captain_WD.

Thanks for all this information. I bought one of those enclosures that cost $10 on amazon and should get it soon.


So how about this. I get that enclosure. I put my sager ssd in it. Then plug into my desktop. At the moment, i only have desktop computer that works. I do not use this computer anymore. Then when i connect it to my desktop, will it open everything like it was on my old sager when starting up? Or will the files open up as if i connected an external hard drive to it? I assume its like an external hard drive right?


And why didnt i back up my 140gb of data? Well i always wanted to but i never did. I did backup files into my usb and my external hard drive though but not that many. When i was at the repair shop and they said the sager couldnt turn on, i asked if my hard drive was fine and they said yes. Then i asked them could they transfer files to my external. Here is the thing. I had asked this question on another forum before and said hey if they tell me my hard drive is okay, can i tell them to transfer files to my external? I was told yes by people on the forum and then i asked okay but if i do this, are they going to copy all my files or just the ones i ask such as my download folder, documents, music etc. The people in the forum told me they typically do everything UNLESS you specifically ask them just documents folders and pictures and music etc. So when i asked them can they copy to external, they asked me which files. So that to meant they normally dont copy everything so i said download, document and music folder etc. Then they did it and i saw about 12gb on my external. What is the proper method when you ask a repair shop hey can you transfer files to my external. Do they ask which file folders etc? The thing was at the time i knew i had around 140gb space used up so wouldn't that feel strange, can you copy everything to my external? I also wondered if they could take a very long time and not something they want to do so I didn't want to ask. Is that bad on my part? I didnt mind coming back to the repair shop anytime after that but it felt strange okay, can you do everything.


How long do you think 12gb transfer takes? What about 140gb?


Yes i will pretty much 100 percent take new laptop to repair shop and have them put ssd in etc.