Just about to fit my SSD

[bluenose1940]

Hi folks, I am going to fit my SSD today but I would like to clarify something if I may. looking at the SSD there is a small connector to which the data cable connects, this seems to have just 7 connectors. The cable is red and has the words Serial SATA on it

Am I correct in thinking that the other connector is the one for the power, this one has 15 connectors.

I am a little confused in that when I have looked at a power connectors previously it has always bee a little plug type thing with about 3 or 4 connectors.

I haven't taken the pc apart yet to see for myself but hope to clear this up before I have a go at it.

Thanks for any help.

 

[strollin]

Yes, the wider connector is the power connector, looks like this:

As you can see, has 4 wires going in, pretty much the same as the older 4-pin Molex connectors. As to why there are 15 connections to the drive, most likely every other connection is a ground. That's done to minimize noise getting thru from the power supply.

If your system's power supply doesn't have any SATA power connectors, then you can buy an adapter that will adapt the older style to the new.

You won't know if you need an adapter until after you crack open your case and look so better get to it!

 

[bluenose1940]

Brilliant! Thank you strollin. Another question please. I will disconnect my current 'C' drive when I have fitted the new SSD ready to do a clean install of my O/S, the question is, do I go into the BIOS to set the boot to CD/DVD BEFORE I switch off and disconnect the original drive or, can I still get at the BIOS if I disconnect the drive first and the fit the SSD. Thanks again.

 

[BK_123]

Regardless of switching drives you can still access the BIOS to change the boot order as the BIOS doesn't get stored on the hard drive. Depending on the make/model of your computer you press a button like f10, f11 etc to quickly select which device you wish to boot from without accessing the bios and it will not change the order in which devices boot first, It varies on makes/models, This link shows the options for most common makes https://www.desertcrystal.com/bootkeys

BIOS software is stored on a non-volatile ROM chip on the motherboard. ... In modern computer systems, the BIOS contents are stored on a flash memory chip so that the contents can be rewritten without removing the chip from the motherboard.

 

[bluenose1940]

Regardless of switching drives you can still access the BIOS to change the boot order as the BIOS doesn't get stored on the hard drive.

Thank you BK_123, that's just the answer I was hoping for. I can now get on with the job.........a little later. I have to go and do some weeding in the garden first.............................unfortunately!

Thanks again to all for the valuable help. I will post again with the results of my efforts, fitting the SSD that is, not the weeding.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[BK_123]

Hope it goes well..

 

[bluenose1940]

Well I've done it and it seems to have worked a treat. It's taken me a while to reload everything as I chose to do a clean installation of the O/S.

I might be wrong but, having done this clean install, Windows 8.1 pro does seem to be a little different to how it was when I first did it as an install over Windows 7 Ultimate.

The other surprising thing (to me) was that during the installation, the new SSD was the only drive connected and in use, and yet when I went into IE, all of my favourites were still there and I just had to click on any of them to get in. I did though have to sign back in on each of them but, it just took me by surprise to see the links still available. When I have reloaded the O/S on previous occasions I have also had to reload the favourites.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[BK_123]

Did you use a Microsoft Account login, If so it syncs all your data and settings.

 

[bluenose1940]

Did you use a Microsoft Account login, If so it syncs all your data and settings.

Yes I did, thank you for that information.

I'm now going to reconnect my original hard drive which has the O/S on it. can I just format it now and use it for data storage and if so, do I need to format it in any particular way>

Thanks again for your help and guidance, always appreciated.

 

[strollin]

Yes, you should be able to just hook your old drive up and format it. I would go with NTFS.