Question 1

Does this come with the cable and software necessary to do the hard drive migration for a laptop upgrade?

Accepted Answer

It does not come with the cable but Newegg sells a kit that comes with the SSD and the cable.  You can also get the cable for like $20.  It does come with migration software though I didn't use it.  I used Acronis True Image to make a boot disc and cloned my drives that way.  If you go to Lifehacker and search for SSD migration, they have a detailed guide on how to do it using free software

Question 2

Could someone recommend reliable/free third party cloning software to copy my OS drive to this?

Accepted Answer

Newegg won't allow HTML in this answer, but if you Google "clone a hard drive," there's a PCMag article called "How to Clone a Hard Drive" that gives some great information. I've had lots of success with Macrium Reflect Free, which has an easy to use GUI.

As a note, you'll also need a method of connecting your SSD to the computer that is running off of the hard drive you wish to clone onto the SSD. If you have a desktop, you just need a SATA cable, a free SATA port on your motherboard, and an internal SATA power header.

If you have a laptop, or don't want to open up your computer, Google "2.5 hdd docking station" and buy one. This will allow you to connect your SSD to a USB or eSATA port on the outside of your computer and transfer the data that way.

Question 3

Can I put this in my desktop?

Accepted Answer

Yes. This is a 2.5" drive, if your desktop has bays for 3.5" drives (most likely), you'll need an adapter, such as the Rosewill RX-C200P 2.5" SSD/HDD Plastic Mounting Kit for 3.5" Drive Bay in order to securely mount this drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997013

Question 4

I want SSD for my laptop. Is it going to fit in laptops/notebooks? There is nothing mentioned whether it is for desktops or for laptops.

Accepted Answer

It does tell you if it can be used in a laptop/notebook, in a sneaky way.  Let me break the description down.

1: Brand - Samsung 
2: Model # - 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW (Its name)
3: Form Factor - 2.5" (The info you are looking for)
4: Drives Capacity - 250GB 
5: Connection type/speed - SATA 6Gb/s
6: What is it - SSD

Number 3 is your answer, all laptops/notebooks use 2.5", where desktops use 3.5".  Although most all SSD come with a bracket for 3.5". That way they can easily be placed in desktops.  So yes this SSD will fit just fine in your not desktop.

Question 5

can this drive be installed without the fancy usb cable and still use the software clone my c: drive?

Accepted Answer

When I installed this in my desktop I had to provide a SATA cable. The instructions showed a two step process. First connect to a USB port and migrate the software. Second, remove from the USB port and connect to the SATA port on the motherboard. I skipped the first part and plugged it into a spare SATA port. The USB to SATA cable is expensive and only needed if there is only one SATA port on the motherboard. That may be the case for laptops. But with spare ports on the motherboard it was not necessary. The SATA cable (different from the USB to SATA cBle) was cheap and you need one for as long as you have the drive installed. Next, it was NOT necessary to format the drive first. Although Windows did not recognize the drive when I plugged it in, the Samsung software did. I used it to migrate the operating system and all the data from my HDD to the new SSD and when that was done the drive was completely formatted. After checking that it was all loaded up I swapped the SATA ports on the motherboard so the computer now recognized the new SSD as C: and the other drive because D:. The computer had several spare power cables so it was not necessary to do anything other than connect one of them. There were no 2.5" bays so I just left the drive dangling by the cords in a 3" bay. Works great. It is so light you don't really need to worry about it being loose in a desktop. One thing to be aware of. You can't migrate more than about 80% of the capacity of the drive. The software that comes with it can exclude media files if that will get you down the the size that will fit. It will not exclude any other types of files. I had to move about 120G of data off the C: drive before I could migrate to the SSD. One final note. I did not have to contact Microsoft to validate Windows 7 on the new drive. Since I kept the old drive connected that might explain it. I don't know.

Question 6

The description says that is comes with a transfer cable but some of the reviews contradict this.  Does it include the cable?  Also, I am installing this in a dell inspiron 7000 model.  Do you know of any compatibility issues with this?  If it does not work, can I return the unit?

Accepted Answer

This model is just the bare drive in a retail package. Meaning: no data transfer cable, but you do get the software that helps you with the transfer. This model does have the data transfer cable: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147254 If you have a 2.5 hard drive external enclosure you can just use that instead. As for the computability, do you have the 15 years old laptop or the brand new model that just came out? In the latter case, there should not be any problem. The old laptop though might be problematic and the OS will be a major factor. Returns are a question that you should direct to Newegg. I had only good experience with them but different products have different terms.

Question 7

Can you put this SSD into the slot where the dvd w/r drive is now?

Accepted Answer

DVD drives are normally 5 1/2 inch drives, while this drive is  2.5".  There are adaptors/trays to allow you to use smaller drives in larger bays - I bought mine over the counter at Fry's, there may be one available at NewEgg, I haven't looked.

What is important is that these drives are SATA, so you must have both the right connection and power connector - if you're putting this where an ATA DVD drive was and expect to use that cabling, it won't work.

Question 8

will this fit in a desktop computer?

Accepted Answer

Hello, john

To answer your question simply... I see no reason why the drive would not fit into a desktop computer,  as it has the required mounting holes as any other drive would.
I will state that many cases nowadays come with bay's that fit 2.5" drive's however if yours does not the drive would still work although you may need to get a mounting case to assure a proper fit however it is not a required part as I have installed 2.5" drive's into a 3.5" slot with little to no issues.

~J

Question 9

does this come with the 3.5 in adapter?

Accepted Answer

No.

Question 10

When installing in a new build, do you use the included software before installing Windows?

Accepted Answer

I did not have extra software when I purchased it. I just used an old reboot disk from my previous version and installed it straight from the disk. Everything has been working fine with it, the performance is exactly what I expected (i.e. not as well as people say, but certainly well enough to impress me. All in all,  It's very easy to install and get running exactly as intended. Hardest thing I delt with was getting it to fit with my laptops silly nubs and grooves in the drive space.

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