SSD & NVMe · Migration · Desktops and laptops
SSD and storage upgrades
Moving a machine from a mechanical hard drive to an SSD is the single largest improvement most older computers will ever feel. It is not a small gain on top of what you have. It is usually the difference between a computer that feels finished and one that feels new.
Section 01 / Why it works
Why storage is the bottleneck on an old machine
People replace computers over this without realising what they are replacing them for. The processor is rarely the reason an older machine feels slow.
A mechanical drive has to physically move
A traditional hard drive spins platters and swings a head across them to reach data. Every file the machine opens waits for that movement. An SSD has nothing to move, so the same request is answered in a fraction of the time. That gap is enormous, and it applies to nearly everything the computer does.
Almost everything waits on storage
Starting up, opening programs, loading files, switching between applications, and installing updates are all storage-bound. That is why a machine with a fast processor can still feel slow at everything. The processor is waiting, not working.
It compounds with low memory
When a machine runs short of memory it starts using storage to compensate. On a mechanical drive that is punishing, and it is why an older computer becomes unusable rather than just slow once several things are open. An SSD softens that considerably, and adding memory removes the cause.
Which SSD the machine can take
There are two common forms: a drive that fits the older bay and cable, and a smaller one that fits a slot directly on the board. The second is much faster but only if the board supports it, and some boards have the slot but run it at a reduced speed. Which applies to your machine is worth knowing before buying.
Section 02 / Migration
Your machine comes back the way you left it
A storage upgrade should not cost you a weekend of reinstalling and reconfiguring.
Check the old drive first
The existing drive is tested before anything is copied off it. If it is already failing, that changes the order of the job and matters a great deal.
Copy the whole system across
Windows or macOS, your programs, your settings, and your files are moved to the new drive as they are, rather than reinstalled from scratch.
Fit and verify
The new drive goes in, the machine is started from it, and it is checked properly before the old drive is touched again.
You keep the old drive
It goes back to you as it was, so there is a complete copy of everything until you are satisfied nothing is missing.
Section 03 / Situations
When a storage upgrade is the answer
Section 04 / Machines
What can take a storage upgrade
Section 05 / Questions
Before you book
Will I lose my files or have to reinstall everything?
No. The system, your programs, your settings, and your files are copied across to the new drive as they are, so the machine comes back looking and behaving exactly as you left it, just faster. You also keep the old drive, so there is a complete copy of everything until you are certain nothing is missing.
Is it really worth it on an old computer?
On a machine still running a mechanical hard drive, this is the single biggest improvement available to it, and it is usually inexpensive. It rescues a lot of computers that were about to be replaced. If yours is past the point where it helps, you will be told that instead.
What size should I get?
Enough for what is currently on the machine with comfortable room to grow. Storage is cheap enough now that buying slightly larger than you need is sensible, and running a drive close to full slows it down.
My drive is clicking and the machine keeps freezing. Same job?
No, and this is important. That is a failing drive, which makes it a data recovery job before it is an upgrade. Every further power-on risks the files. Stop using the machine and say so when you book, so the data is protected first and the upgrade happens second.
Can you upgrade the storage in my MacBook?
On modern MacBooks, no. The storage is soldered to the logic board, so what it shipped with is what it has permanently. Older models can often be done. Which yours is takes one check, and it is worth doing before assuming either way.
Should I do storage or memory first?
If the machine is slow at everything including startup, storage first, and it is not close. If it is fine on its own but bogs down once several things are open, memory. When a machine shows both, doing them together is usually the sensible call since the labor overlaps.
Book
The cheapest way to make an old machine feel new.
Everything migrated across, the old drive returned to you, and the new one verified before it goes back. One year warranty on the work.