How hard is it to mount a hard drive?
July 23, 2021 9:51 AM Subscribe
I have a new Lenovo T-15 with a 1TB drive. The computer has a slot for a second hard drive, and I have the appropriate 2TB SSD. I can either take the computer and the drive to a shop and pay to have somebody install the drive, or I can do it myself. If I choose the latter option, what do I need to know?
The thought of opening up the computer and physically inserting the drive doesn't bother me. I'm more concerned about what (if anything) I'd need to do in order to get the OS to recognize the drive.
How badly can I mess this up? I'm mainly on the power-user end of the user-programmer-technician-computer expert-and-guru scale of things.
The thought of opening up the computer and physically inserting the drive doesn't bother me. I'm more concerned about what (if anything) I'd need to do in order to get the OS to recognize the drive.
How badly can I mess this up? I'm mainly on the power-user end of the user-programmer-technician-computer expert-and-guru scale of things.
Response by poster: Oh, I should say it's a Windows 10 64-bit Pro machine, in case that makes a difference.
posted by sardonyx at 10:01 AM on July 23, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 10:01 AM on July 23, 2021
The "getting the computer to recognize the drive" part will be straightforward and may require literally zero work for you. Just boot the computer up and it'll probably find it and ask you to format it.
I am assuming that you got the right kind of SSD for the machine (M.2 slot rather than SATA connector) since I have personally messed that part up.
posted by goingonit at 10:04 AM on July 23, 2021
I am assuming that you got the right kind of SSD for the machine (M.2 slot rather than SATA connector) since I have personally messed that part up.
posted by goingonit at 10:04 AM on July 23, 2021
Response by poster: This is the drive (assuming they put the right drive in the box). I haven't taken it out of the plastic wrapper yet to avoid handling it too much.
posted by sardonyx at 10:10 AM on July 23, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 10:10 AM on July 23, 2021
I just skimmed a video that shows how to open up the T15. It doesn't look bad at all, but you will need a couple of tools that you might not have: a very small Philips-head screwdriver, a spudger (or old credit card may work) to open up the case, and it looks like perhaps a straightened paperclip or SIM-removal tool?
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:30 AM on July 23, 2021
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:30 AM on July 23, 2021
How badly can I mess this up?
Arbitrarily badly, in an endless variety of creative ways.
But if you restrict yourself to disconnecting the battery, then fitting the drive carefully into its slot and securing the retaining screw after making sure the little spacer is sitting right, and then reconnecting the battery and booting Windows, then finding the new 2TB drive listed under "This PC" in the file browser and formatting it with NTFS, you'll avoid pretty much all of them.
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 AM on July 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Arbitrarily badly, in an endless variety of creative ways.
But if you restrict yourself to disconnecting the battery, then fitting the drive carefully into its slot and securing the retaining screw after making sure the little spacer is sitting right, and then reconnecting the battery and booting Windows, then finding the new 2TB drive listed under "This PC" in the file browser and formatting it with NTFS, you'll avoid pretty much all of them.
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 AM on July 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Go to Lenovo's support website and look up the hardware maintenance manual for your model. It will have step by step instructions with diagrams on what exactly you need to do to install the new drive. Once that's done, you partition and format it like you would on any computer.
posted by wierdo at 10:52 AM on July 23, 2021
posted by wierdo at 10:52 AM on July 23, 2021
+1 on disconnecting battery - also, ensure you are grounded and not holding a static charge (and keep grounding yourself until the job is done)
posted by rozcakj at 12:50 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rozcakj at 12:50 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Assuming you have already bought the right drive for the right interface, and it's going into a secondary drive, leaving the OS install itself alone, you've already done the difficult part. The rest is pretty easy, as long as you take care to execute it on the right drive and right partition.
With Win10, Microsoft want you to do it with the built-in "DiskManagement" applet. You can use a third-party OpenSource variant like Gparted, but it's not required.
Basically, as long as Disk Management can see the new drive, then it's just a matter of configuring the "unformatted disk space" to your liking. I'll leave the full instructions from WIndowsCentral as a link:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-format-new-hard-drive-windows-10
posted by kschang at 12:50 PM on July 23, 2021
With Win10, Microsoft want you to do it with the built-in "DiskManagement" applet. You can use a third-party OpenSource variant like Gparted, but it's not required.
Basically, as long as Disk Management can see the new drive, then it's just a matter of configuring the "unformatted disk space" to your liking. I'll leave the full instructions from WIndowsCentral as a link:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-format-new-hard-drive-windows-10
posted by kschang at 12:50 PM on July 23, 2021
I think that for $899 Lenovo should send someone round to fit it. Am I alone in finding that a bit steep?
That aside, M.2 storage doesn't always play nicely. You might have to go into the bios to configure the slot. Check the manual.
posted by StephenB at 1:06 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
That aside, M.2 storage doesn't always play nicely. You might have to go into the bios to configure the slot. Check the manual.
posted by StephenB at 1:06 PM on July 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I was feeling more confident about tackling this myself until I started reading this thread.
According to the manual it doesn't seem as if I need to physically remove the battery (which involves prying off the entire back, only disabling it through the BIOS. But it makes my uneasy to rely on a software approach, when I feel like I should be pulling hardware. My old W-series had a battery that could just be pulled out without going into the guts of the computer.
It looks like I should just be able to open the memory cover on the back, connect it, screw it in and be good to go (from a physical standpoint).
If I'm feeling confident, I'll tackle the project next weekend. If not, I'll take it into the shop. Either way, I'll post my decision and results. Thanks for the advice.
posted by sardonyx at 11:49 AM on July 25, 2021
According to the manual it doesn't seem as if I need to physically remove the battery (which involves prying off the entire back, only disabling it through the BIOS. But it makes my uneasy to rely on a software approach, when I feel like I should be pulling hardware. My old W-series had a battery that could just be pulled out without going into the guts of the computer.
It looks like I should just be able to open the memory cover on the back, connect it, screw it in and be good to go (from a physical standpoint).
If I'm feeling confident, I'll tackle the project next weekend. If not, I'll take it into the shop. Either way, I'll post my decision and results. Thanks for the advice.
posted by sardonyx at 11:49 AM on July 25, 2021
If you needed to do other stuff, the manual would have a list of references to other sections you need to complete at the top of the section. Just make sure to shut down the computer rather than just putting it to sleep and you'll be fine.
posted by wierdo at 12:18 PM on July 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 12:18 PM on July 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
According to the manual it doesn't seem as if I need to physically remove the battery (which involves prying off the entire back), only disabling it through the BIOS. But it makes me uneasy to rely on a software approach, when I feel like I should be pulling hardware.
If the BIOS in a machine as tightly integrated as a laptop has settings for disconnecting the battery, I think you can rely on the manufacturer knowing how to make those settings disconnect the battery. To reassure yourself that it works as it's supposed to, apply that setting and then do your damndest to make the machine start up without its power brick connected. To get really convinced, plug something like a phone into a USB port while the machine's off and make sure it doesn't try to charge.
posted by flabdablet at 12:22 AM on July 26, 2021
If the BIOS in a machine as tightly integrated as a laptop has settings for disconnecting the battery, I think you can rely on the manufacturer knowing how to make those settings disconnect the battery. To reassure yourself that it works as it's supposed to, apply that setting and then do your damndest to make the machine start up without its power brick connected. To get really convinced, plug something like a phone into a USB port while the machine's off and make sure it doesn't try to charge.
posted by flabdablet at 12:22 AM on July 26, 2021
Response by poster: Well, I promised to come back, so here I am.
Getting the cover plate off was miserable. It didn't want to be pried loose and I was terrified it was going to snap.
Physically, putting the drive in was fine, but as I feared, getting the computer to recognize it was the challenge. I started out using a GUI utility (recommended by Lenovo) but I think that messed things up, so off to the command-line interface (also recommended by the company). That only kind of worked. Apparently I needed to "extend" the partition so back to the command line interface.
The catch, however, after all this is that now the main C: drive (which I didn't touch) is throwing up some kind of weird warning (yellow hazard triangle) that I can't figure out.
posted by sardonyx at 8:50 AM on August 21, 2021
Getting the cover plate off was miserable. It didn't want to be pried loose and I was terrified it was going to snap.
Physically, putting the drive in was fine, but as I feared, getting the computer to recognize it was the challenge. I started out using a GUI utility (recommended by Lenovo) but I think that messed things up, so off to the command-line interface (also recommended by the company). That only kind of worked. Apparently I needed to "extend" the partition so back to the command line interface.
The catch, however, after all this is that now the main C: drive (which I didn't touch) is throwing up some kind of weird warning (yellow hazard triangle) that I can't figure out.
posted by sardonyx at 8:50 AM on August 21, 2021
What was the GUI utility recommended by Lenovo, and what did you do with it?
What was the command line recipe recommended by Lenovo, and what happened as you followed it?
Also, immediately after installing the drive, did it not show up under This PC in the file explorer?
posted by flabdablet at 10:14 PM on August 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
What was the command line recipe recommended by Lenovo, and what happened as you followed it?
Also, immediately after installing the drive, did it not show up under This PC in the file explorer?
posted by flabdablet at 10:14 PM on August 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's pretty hard to mess it up. I suppose if you jammed the hard drive into a slot that didn't fit it, you could break a pin or something. But if you're a power user that seems unlikely.
Just google "recognize new hard drive laptop" and follow instructions if it doesn't work automatically. And congrats on your more space!
posted by bbqturtle at 9:54 AM on July 23, 2021 [3 favorites]