Question 1

Does it come with software to duplicate my existing drive?

Accepted Answer

This Crucial SSD did not come with software to copy my old hard drive. I purchased an ORICO Docking Station: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0VN-0003-000N7 and used the clone feature. I hit the button between the old 250GB Seagate Barracuda and this Crucial SSD, cleaned the kitchen, and when I was done, it was done. There are lots of free software available for this kind of cloning, but I did not have a lot of luck with all SSD in all software. Hope this helps.

Question 2

Does it include software and hardware needed to transfer from the old drive to the new one?

Accepted Answer

No, no software or other hardware (i.e. USB to SATA cable) was included with the BX100.  It is my understanding the similar MX100 SSD does include a CD with a version of Acronis for cloning your OS onto the new drive. (not sure if a cable is also included).

Micron does have a cloning kit consisting of a CD and cable which is probably also available from Newegg.

Performance-wise the BX100 and MX100 appear to be very similar. I bought the BX100 assuming it was the "newer" of the two, and I think it is, but the specs and Newegg price were essentially the same, so the MX100 is perhaps a better value and better choice for you assuming it is still available and the same price.

In my case, I planned to replace my existing hard drive with the SSD and then use my DVD slot with a hard drive caddy for the hard drive. In other words, I had a way of for the system to see both drives at the same time without employing a USB to SATA cable.

I also had planned to use cloning software to bring my Windows 8.1 system over to the new SSD. This was important because of the significant amount of time I had previously invested in installing Win 8 and then upgrading to 8.1.  I didn't want to repeat that!

There are any number of free or inexpensive backup tools which offer cloning functionality.  I tried two without success, but I'm not sure I used them correctly.

However, after a fair amount online research, I ultimately hit on (in retrospect) possibly the most obvious and surefire solution which was to simply use the built-in system imaging tool, in Windows itself.  This consists of creating a Win 8.1 Recovery Environment on a USB stick, creating a system image, and then "recovering" the image to the new SSD.  This worked very well for me, and the net result is I have installed the BX100 SSD in my laptop and successfully brought over my Windows 8.1 system without the pain of a Win 8.1 re-install.

The performance improvement with the BX100 SSD is significant!

Question 3

Does this item come with cloning software?

Accepted Answer

Thievy ítem is not sold with a y tupé of software. EaseUS makes a clinic software that works well with SSD drives. Partition Master is the software. Works well if when copying partition to partition. Read the information about how to use the software as it is important as to what size drive you may need to purchase.

Question 4

I have a Dell Precision m4500 Laptop.  Is this compatible as a boot drive?

Accepted Answer

I don't see why not - Dell published specifications say this model can handle up to a 256 Gb solid state drive as the primary (boot) drive. I'm sure you will enjoy the extra speed but, just to be safe, I'd suggest you call Dell tech support (number pops up easily in Google search) and give them the service tag number on the bottom of your computer and ask them to confirm. Good luck and happy computing!

Question 5

Will this work in a Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830T-6682 ?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this Crucial Solid State will fit in the Acer you've specified. Because its so thin, it even comes with a mounting bracket that allows it to fit into a standard 2.5" laptop hard drive slot. The only problem you will have is disassembling the laptop in order to install the new SSD

Question 6

Will this sdd fit my desktop??

Accepted Answer

Yes it should. You may need an adapter kit to mount it. Check inside of your case to see if there is a place to mount it (mine had one). If you don't, you'll need a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. It is the same size as a laptop, but will work perfectly in your desktop ... I guess you also need to ensure you have a SATA connection available. I believe it will down itself from a 6Gbps to 3Gbps if that's all you have. You'll also need the SATA cable as well. This is bare bones SSD. The only thing included is a spacer, which I didn't need.

Question 7

What do I need to change my hard drive in my laptop to an ssd drive?

Accepted Answer

You will see a big jump in performance with an SSD, even on older systems. The easiest way to switch from the current hard drive to an SSD is to use a utility called "cloning" software with allows you to copy everything from one drive to the next as an image rather than having to reinstall everything.  There are great free tools available.  My favorite is Easeus Partition Master but there are several out there.  Each program has its own quirks, but look at the help section to see how to use each program.

Question 8

include software?

Accepted Answer

No software included in package. I didn't need any for my build as the mobo recognized it right away and I was able to install windows to it without any trouble. There may be auxiliary driver software via crucial but I haven't checked.

Question 9

Looks interesting, but which versions of Windows is a driver available for?

Accepted Answer

I've installed about 20 of these on all variety of Windows 7 and one windows 10 laptop.  I haven't tried Vista or XP since we don't have any of those around anymore.

The drivers seem to load from the SSD firmware so they may be OS independent.

Question 10

Will this SSD work with my old HP G62? From what I can find my computer uses a SATA II, is this a proble?

Accepted Answer

This drive is backwards-compatible with SATA II which means that even though it is designed for SATA III, it will work fine with SATA II. You may get a slight decrease in performance since SATA II has less bandwidth, but it's very slight and won't make a difference for everyday usage.

The thickness of this drive is slightly smaller at 7mm versus the standard size of 9.5mm so it should also fit fine in your laptop.

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