Damaged Hard Drive: Slowdowns and Bugs
You use your Asus laptop regularly, whether it's for office tasks, work, or leisure, but lately, it has been experiencing bugs and endless loading times. These slowdowns, initially rare, have become ubiquitous, hindering all your activities, even causing system shutdowns and repeated unexpected restarts.
These symptoms explicitly suggest that your hard drive is at the end of its life. Several reasons could be causing this, and you'll need to replace it if you want to regain smooth use of your PC. So, you'd like to install an Asus SSD to replace its hard drive.
How to Change Your Asus Hard Drive?
The Accessoires Asus team offers its knowledge and advice to help you easily replace your hard drive with a new SSD.
What is an SSD and Why is it Better than a Hard Drive?
The SSD (Solid State Drive) is a new type of disk that appeared a few years ago, and unlike RAM, it retains computer data even after the system is shut down. Similar to what a USB drive or a memory card would do on a smaller scale. This flash memory disk speeds up the PC's operation, allowing it to boot up and work much faster.
It boasts numerous advantages over its predecessor: it has storage with flash memory, a reduced size and minimal footprint, incredible transfer speed (starting from 420 MB/s), possible silent operation (no mechanical parts, hence fewer breakdowns), much lower power consumption, resilience to shocks, easy installation, and increased data protection... It's the new best ally for your PC!
The SSD can also be used to complement the primary hard drive and thus boost the overall system performance of your PC. Furthermore, the SSD generates much less heat, reducing the need for the fan.
Please note, to install an SSD, you need a sufficiently recent PC with a SATA III connector and running Windows 7 or later.
Different SSD Formats
There are several models and types of connections available, suitable for desktop PCs or laptops. It is important to consider these factors to choose the right SSD for your Asus, depending on your computer and its connectivity.
Here are the different formats available on the market:
This is the most common and widely used format (the format of a hard drive).
The M SATA card:
Designed for very thin laptops or ultrabooks like ZenBooks, it is similar in size to SD memory cards.
The M.2 port
Designed for laptops with a very high maximum transfer rate, it features the same connector as a motherboard.
The different ports of SSDs
SATA III:
- Increasingly common, with an average transfer rate reaching 600 MB/s, connects with the SATA port.
PCI-Express :
Resembles to an expansion card, average transfer rate of 1800 MB/s, connects with the PCI-Express 4x or 8x port.
To simplify, you should choose your SSD based on its connectivity, particularly concerning the configuration of the hard drive and its placement. If your hard drive was connected via SATA , you should select an SSD with SATA interface, and so on. Generally, desktop PCs have either a 2.5-inch or M.2 form factor with SATA III interface; whereas laptops are equipped with mSATA, M.2, or 2.5-inch drives, but with a PCI-Express interface.
How to choose the capacity of your SSD?
Now, it's time to determine the capacity that meets your needs. Firstly, your new SSD should have at least the same capacity as your old hard drive to resume its role. Ideally, take advantage of this opportunity to slightly increase your storage capacity.
Today, capacities range from a minimum of 24 GB to a maximum of 4 TB, so you'll need to choose based on your usage. Our team has compiled a ranking to make it easier for you to find the exact capacity you need:
- 24 GB SSD: Solely for installing and using the operating system (start/stop and launch applications more quickly); this capacity won't be usable for storing data.
- 120 GB SSD: Suitable for office use only, but more than sufficient as a minimum.
- 128 GB SSD: Ideal for students and leisure activities (taking notes, recording documents, videos, music, photos, weekly use), but unable to install games.
- 256 GB SSD: For daily computer use with 2/3 programs always open, heavy software and document usage, ultra-responsive device.
- 512 GB SSD: Designed for gamers; capable of installing multiple latest-generation games, perfect for excessive usage, file storage, continuous immediacy, ultra-fast loading times, and no gaming bugs.
- 1 TB and above SSD: Perfect for storing movies and as general storage.
How to Install an SSD in your Asus Computer:
Before installing the SSD on your Asus PC, you'll need to transfer the data so you don't lose any stored information or documents. This involves externally connecting the SSD drive (via USB port with adapter) or using a casing that can later be used to convert the old HDD into an external hard drive.
You can also purchase a migration kit containing the SSD, adapter, and cloning software to transfer data from the HDD to the SSD. Alternatively, there are free cloning programs available that just need to be installed on your PC beforehand, such as Macrium Reflect Free or HD Clone by Miray. Once installed, simply connect the SSD and launch the software.
Here are the steps to follow once the transfer is completed to install your SSD:
In most cases, the hard drive's location is at the back of your PC and is accessible through a removable panel.
For our example, the same principle applies, but the Asus laptop used has a completely removable cover.
On the Asus laptop, you first need to remove the battery cover to access the 5th screw of the cover:
After removing the 5 screws from the cover, we can take it off and access the components of the Asus laptop:
We notice at the top left the location of the hard drive. Simply unscrew the 4 screws holding the hard drive in place.
After removing them, simply slide the hard drive to the left to disconnect it from the SATA connector.
The hard drive is secured by 4 screws on a bracket (also called a rack); you need to remove these 4 screws and take the hard drive out of the bracket.
Once the hard drive is removed from the bracket:
Next, you just need to screw the SSD onto the bracket:
And then reverse the process to reinstall everything, and you're done!
- Turn off the PC and disconnect it from any power source while removing the battery.
You can also opt for an external SSD (120GB to 2TB), often equipped with a built-in battery lasting up to 8 hours. This functions just like an external hard drive, allowing you to store photos, videos, and large documents without the need for physical installation inside your computer.