Upgrade your hard drive
Another way to increase storage is to migrate Windows to a separate, faster SSD drive.
Why not turn your problem of storage space – or lack of it – into an opportunity? If you’ve not done so already, now is the perfect time to investigate one of the most effective upgrades money can buy: a fast solid-state hard drive to run Windows and your programs on. Switching from a clunky old hard drive to a SSD is like leaving the Stone Age. Windows loads in under a minute, apps open in a matter of seconds and your computing life is no longer held up by clicking and waiting for files to load.
With SSD prices tumbling to put even relatively large amounts of storage space in your hands for a modest sum, there’s never been a better time to make the move. The upside? Your old drive can stay in use as a dedicated drive for data, with tens – if not hundreds – of gigabytes of space freed up by moving Windows and your programs to the new drive.
It’s a three-step process: first, work out what your PC can accommodate and pick the appropriate drive for the task. Once done, investigate the practicalities of fitting it to your PC, and then finally follow a method for migrating everything (or the key elements) of your old drive to the new one.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT DRIVE
If you’re a laptop user, you’re basically looking for a larger single drive to accommodate Windows, applications
and a decent amount of personal data.
This may involve moving from a relatively small SSD drive (say 128GB or less) or migrating from a large (say 1TB or larger), but cumbersome drive. As always, while it’s tempting to save money in the short term, try to stretch your budget to futureproof your purchase for as long as possible. With 500GB SSD drives weighing in at under $100, this should really be your minimum spec. Increase your budget to $200 and you’ll find several 1TB SSD drives falling within your grasp too. You’ll then need to invest in a USB or NAS drive for those files you access less frequently.
If you’re looking to upgrade a desktop PC, then check to see if your case can accommodate a second drive in addition to your current one. Chances are it can, giving you get the best of both worlds: a new SSD drive that can be smaller (say 256GB, or
500GB for those with a gaming habit or the need to run virtual machines), plus your old drive now exclusively used for data storage.
If you have a modern PC with support for the M2 NVMe interface (a small slot on the board into which SSD drives shaped like RAM sticks are plugged), then pay the small premium for this type of SSD storage as it’s up to six times faster than SSD, never mind regular hard drives. Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus is currently the best – 256GB will set you back around $110, and 500GB around $150.
FITTING THE DRIVE
The step-by-step guide opposite reveals how to clone your drive using Macrium Reflect Free. There’s one major caveat here: both old and new drives need to be connected to your PC at the same time. For desktop users, this means screwing in your new drive to an available 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch bay if connected via SATA, or carefully slotted into the NVMe slot before being pushed down and held horizontally in place using the screw supplied.
Laptop users have a choice: if you plan to keep the old drive as additional storage, invest $10-15 in a cheap USB 3.0 2.5-inch enclosure and fit the new drive in there. If not, purchase a USB-to-SATA adapter from eBay for as little as $3 online and use that to temporarily connect your new drive to a spare USB port. Once the old drive has been cloned to the new one, swap the two around and your laptop should boot with all settings and data intact