ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, SportsTechBits: laptop hard drives- go hybrid! (2.8.12)

    Upgrading your laptop's hard drive is simple- and can save you money if you do it yourself.

    The first thing you'll have to do is transfer your data to your new replacement drive.  Many drives will come with cloning software, and a USB cable for connecting the new drive.  Once that's done, it's time to swap the drives.

    The hard drive will probably be under a panel on the bottom side of the computer.  Simply unscrew the panel and pull it out.  It may have to be removed from a cage assembly, and may have an adaptor on its connectors.  These are usually easy to remove.  Once it's all off, reassemble every thing wit ht he new drive in place.

    When replacing your hard drive, consider upgrading to a hybrid drive.  They incorporate flash memory in addition to the platters.  This can increase performance and make your drive run more efficiently.  Hybrid drives have some of the advantages of solid state drives, but without the huge price tag.