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When I install a new HDD into a computer, I follow the following steps:

  1. Disconnect power from the computer
  2. Discharge static electricity and ground myself and my work surface
  3. Hook up the HDD's cable(s)
  4. Turn on the computer
  5. Partition the drive as 1 giant partition
  6. Format the partition
  7. Use a tool I wrote that writes a predictable sequence of bytes onto the entire partition
  8. Turn off the computer (to ensure caches are empty and to cause the heads to park)
  9. Turn on the computer
  10. Use a tool I wrote that reads all the content from the partition and verifies it is the same data written in step 7
  11. Re-partition the drive as desired, format the partitions as wanted, install software / copy data
  12. Use the computer with the new drive, hoping I got a good drive (maintaining backups, of course)

That process has successfully worked for me for many years. I've never lost any data by following my steps.

I'm now about to replace a laptop's HDD with a new SSD. This will be the first time I've performed this task.

I've been quite busy, and today is the last day a return is allowed for the SSD. So I'm not going to have much time to install it and get it going (I have many additional projects for the day).

Similar to the steps I outlined above, what are the best practices for replacing a laptop's HDD with an SSD? Or are the steps above also ideal for an SSD?

Amazon Dies In Darkness
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1 Answers1

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With an SSD you don't have to bother with all these steps and verifications.

When you format the disk, this usually uses the TRIM functions that erases the whole disk in one operation.

While the SSD is powered up, the firmware does housekeeping jobs that include sector verification and remapping if required.

My advice : Pop the disk into the computer, don't format if it's already formatted correctly, and just use it.

To be sure that it's of perfect health, examine the SMART data of the disk, which will tell if any serious errors have happened to it. A sample utility for displaying SMART data is Speccy.

harrymc
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