Windows 10: Like to install small SSD alongside large SATA 3.5" Hard Disk

Okay - bit of a 'noob' question here, hope folks can help.

My desktop machine (5 y.o.) is getting an upgrade.

I would like to follow the suggestions that have been made of fitting a SSD for boot, Win 10 and program installation and using my large 5TB 3.5-inch hard disk (Toshiba X300) for data storage.

The 3.5-inch hard disk has two plugs that fit - a 15-pin Serial ATA (SATA) Power connector and the 7-pin SATA Data cable (SATA 'L').

Does a 2.25-inch SATA laptop hard drive (or laptop SSD) have the same connectors?

Also, I'd like to dual-boot the Win 10 installation with Linux Mint. The recommendation is to install Win 10 then partition the drive as part of the Mint installation.

Can I do this with a SSD?

Does anyone have experience of doing this and if so, do I seem to have understood things correctly?

Thanks in advance,

Art

:)

 

Like to install small SSD alongside large SATA 3.5" Hard Disk

 

Like to install small SSD alongside large SATA 3.5" Hard Disk

Okay - bit of a 'noob' question here, hope folks can help.

My desktop machine (5 y.o.) is getting an upgrade.

I would like to follow the suggestions that have been made of fitting a SSD for boot, Win 10 and program installation and using my large 5TB 3.5-inch hard disk (Toshiba X300) for data storage.

The 3.5-inch hard disk has two plugs that fit - a 15-pin Serial ATA (SATA) Power connector and the 7-pin SATA Data cable (SATA 'L').

Does a 2.25-inch SATA laptop hard drive (or laptop SSD) have the same connectors?

Also, I'd like to dual-boot the Win 10 installation with Linux Mint. The recommendation is to install Win 10 then partition the drive as part of the Mint installation.

Can I do this with a SSD?

Does anyone have experience of doing this and if so, do I seem to have understood things correctly?

Thanks in advance,

Art

 

Like to install small SSD alongside large SATA 3.5" Hard Disk

Ummm.... "desktop" drives are normally 3.5 inch and "laptop" drives are normally 2.5 inch. Since SATA SSDs (excluding M.2, of course) only come in the 2.5 inch form factor, they are commonly referred to as "laptop" drives.

@ArthurDent,
Some desktop computer cases have 2.5 inch drive bays included in them, in which case the SSD would just go directly in there. If your desktop case only has the standard 3.5" drive bays, then if you want to securely mount the SSD with 4 screws, you will need an adapter such as:




Velcro works too, though. *Wink