***** can you use 2 hard disk drives on your laptop? also how do you install an extra disk drive while keeping my first one in the same place?

I don't believe you can use two HDDs in the Alienware 14.

***** WHAT ABOUT SSD?

An mSATA SSD can be installed in addition to the HDD, which is what the video shows. But as it sits, there is only one place for a 2.5" HDD or SDD.

i just want more space, without getting rid of my first hard drive

How much does the performance feel? I m thinking of upgrading the laptop but if the ssd makes a huge difference then i will keep my alienware for some time

Persian SS The only performance boost you get from an SSD is loading times, FPS in games will still be the same. Here is what I get when I benchmark the HDD i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii258/0nf1re/20180322_135711.jpg and the SSD i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii258/0nf1re/20180322_135525.jpg

Bra1th Thanks heaps man. So you feel the improvement in overall performance of the laptop I assume?

Bra1th Just ordered a msata now off of ebay and will be in touch if i have a question regarding the bios. My bootup is a bit messy

No worries :-) If you get one I don't think you'll be disappointed, everything starts so fast now and FYI I didn't bother using the disc that came with the laptop and instead used a copy of Window 10 pro

***** thank man! Can i set UEFI as a boot option? what are the differences between legacy boot and Uefi. I found most of the time I can't enter BIOS? It's not because of timing or which button to press.

Edmond Karl UEFI is basically a boot alternative to BIOS . The BIOS is the firmware that the computer uses to get going before the operating system is running, and it gets the process going of booting the operating system. UEFI is an alternative boot system that a computer can use instead of the BIOS. Legacy boot means the computer uses the BIOS system, UEFI is a more newly adopted system. There aren't really any huge differences from an average user's standpoint. Assuming you are using Windows 7, here are some instructions to install Windows 7 to use UEFI, if you'd rather use that system vs. the legacy boot (BIOS) system. www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/186875-uefi-unified-extensible-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html It's not as simple as just selecting the option in a menu infortunately. Keep in mind, I'm hardly an expert on the subject. A quick google search will yield far more information on the subject that what I know.

***** thank u very much!

I don't know off hand. I have a feeling it would be more work that it was worth to upgrade, even it it's possible.

Thanks for the tip. Someone else pointed that out as well. Guess I didn't look that hard after taking the cover off that those two screws didn't actually hold the cover on. I probably would have changed the video, but taking them out didn't hurt anything either, so I didn't bother.

Yup, mostly for the increased speed. An SSD has higher read and write speeds than a standard HDD. This gives faster computer boot times and faster load times for programs and while in games. The frequent loads in Skyrim are never more than a couple seconds, and often are so quick that by the time the load screen appears, it goes away again. SSDs also have lower power consumption than a HDD, which can extend battery life on a laptop, though that wasn't a huge factor for me.

+Riverboat That's on the original HDD. It wasn't used at all during my upgrade. I believe that partition can be used to store a recovery backup, but you have to actually make the backup. Windows has the ability to make a recovery file, either stored on DVDs, USB drive, or on that partition.

You would have to set it up with software, it wouldn't function as a caching drive by default. If you search Google for how to set up a caching drive you will find guides on installing Intel RST and setting everything up. I haven't personally done it, so I can't really give you the details.

I didn't change the existing HDD at all. I left it exactly as it was. I simply performed a regular Windows install on the new SSD.

Is it mSATA or is it a 2.5" drive? If it's a standard laptop size 2.5" SATA drive it would be a replacement for the existing hard drive, not something that could be installed in addition to it (at least in the Alienware 14). Just a heads up. In either case, SATA 2 would be slower than a SATA 3 drive. You just have to decide if the discounted price is worth the reduced speed potential.

Zeruda Densetsu For Alienware 14 go her and follow these steps 1. Select the option that has the windows your computer came with 2.Buy it it costs 20$ it is cheaper than the 50$ alienware charges 3.Now you can either download the ISO yourself on a USB or disk and follow this guy's instructions after the download 4.Or if you lack either the confidence in you computer skills or have no idea on what to do with the ISO you can pay the same 20$ dollars and they will send a disk like this guy has (won't Have an alienware logo,color,or the same text as his disk) or 5$ more for the USB version

Pretty much any 2.5" drive should work. I know the thickness can vary slightly between drives, but I don't think the Alienware 14 is a tight enough space to matter. However, the 2.5" drives would only work as a replacement for the existing HDD. The drive in the video is an mSATA drive, which is a smaller size than a 2.5" drive. Any mSATA drive should work in the mSATA slot. I hope that answers your question.

I haven't tried it, but I don't think it supports them. Most slot load drives do not support mini CDs (or the odd oval or star shaped disks I've seen). I believe they used to make adaptors for mini cd use in slot load drives, but I don't know how easy they are to find these days.

I set it up that way even before I installed the new drive. I don't know why, but I like the minimalist look. Nothing to do with the new drive or Windows install. Maybe it's just a weird nostalgia I have for Windows 3.1, haha. No, I don't know why, I just set it that way and it's how it was for the video. I believe it defaults to the standard Windows Aero theme initially after the install.

Yeah ok traditional Windows lol

Brandon Neil All the drivers and needed files (with the exception of Windows itself) used to be available on Dell's website (they own Alienware). I haven't checked lately, but you can likely still get it from them.

PvPandaGaming trying to Replace you HDD with an SSD or just add one like this guy

You should install Windows on the SSD. You say you "changed" your HDD, do you mean you took it out and put in a different one, or something else? Did you install Windows on your existing HDD? If so you may have formatted the drive first, which would get rid of all your data. If you made a new partition your old stuff should still be there, but it's on a different partition. Hard to say exactly what happened.

all my data is gone.. so ima make it like new. i changed new hdd and i have ssd 32gb.. so i will install windows on sdd 32gb?

mSATA is a mini SATA interface. If you are going to replace the included hard drive with an SSD you could use a 2.5" SATA SSD. The fastest 2.5" SSDs are likely a bit faster than the mSATA drives, but not a night and day difference. I used the mSATA drive because it is a physically different port so I could keep the hard drive as a storage drive.

***** thank you, i already buy the alienware, i'll put the msata ssd.

Are you wanting to replace one of the drives with a larger drive, or add an additional drive? Is it an Alienware 14, or some other computer?

It's an Alienware 14, and I want to replace the second hard drive with a larger one.

SupremeGoatOverlord The second drive is likely the mSATA drive. If you just wanted a larger mSATA drive all you would technically have to do is remove the existing mSATA drive and replace it with a larger capacity one. However, Dell currently offers Alienware 14 models with the mSATA drive as the boot drive. If that is the setup you have you would have to re-install Windows on the new drive.

There should be a way to disable the caching in the software (Intel Rapid Storage probably). However, if you make the boot order what is shown in the video and restart with your Windows disk in the DVD drive you should be able to go through the Windows install process and choose the SSD as the install drive.

***** ummm im a stupid could you make a video showing what to do... loll

Kevin August What are you looking to do? What Joshua asked about?

I don't think formatting you HDD would help because that shouldn't affect the BIOS. Could be a setting in the BIOS. I don't know if I can be much help, but I can check a couple things later (probably not today as I'm stuck working late). If I find anything I'll reply back, but no guarantee.

Sorry, my power supply/cord isn't working right now, so I can't use my computer until I replace it. I've been busy and haven't gotten around to finding one yet. I can't say when I'll have time to mess with it at this point.

Buy a smaller size like 80 or 60 gb and just use it as a boot drive for speed

As far as I know that drive should work, however it would be a replacement drive for the existing HDD. It would take the place of the existing drive and could not be installed along with the HDD as it is a 2.5" drive, not an mSATA drive. I have not timed the boot up speed of the computer, but I will time it when I get a chance it you like. It will likely be a couple days as I am busy with holiday stuff right now.

Ahh ok I am going to buy the one that you have then :) and yeah if you could let me know the time it takes to boot up when you can that would be great thanks :)

+Hatake Kakashi The screw for the mSATA drive is M2x3mm

thanks buddy.

I used a stop watch. From the time I hit the power button, to the time my browser was open was 36 seconds. Keep in mind, that included the time it took me to remember I don't have a desktop icon for the browser on that computer, open the start menu and click on the browser icon (the browser opened instantly upon clicking the icon). While 36 seconds might sound like a lot (some claim boot times of 10-15 seconds with SSD), it feels quicker to boot than any computer I've used before. Also, from the moment the desktop appears, anything I click opens pretty much instantly. There's no period of sluggishness as everything finishes loading. Once the desktop appears, everything is ready to go.

Thank you for your input, just wanted to share that I ordered for the Mushkin Atlas Deluxe 240 GB www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089W4RDW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I recently got the Alienware 14, will let you know the results. Thank you again.

Daniel E. Contreras No problem. Good luck with the new drive. I'm still liking mine.

***** Of course man, it is a beast, I finally got mine and had some time to play with it, I can tell that I'm using dual boot with debian linux and ubuntu as well, the boot time is amazing, after restoring windows 7 with the Alienware DVD, no drivers, since I pressed the button power (counting bios loading time) it took 23 seconds to boot, after installing drivers and AW command center the boot time increased about 2 seconds. When I boot into Debian the boot time is about 22-23 seconds with all my programs installed. Hope that can help somehow in anyone interested in the subject. Thank you for taking the time for sharing your experience through this great video.

Most of the noise you are hearing is the CD drive. I have a disk in the drive, and at first boot up it spins up for a while before stopping, and again when I leave the BIOS, and when I open Windows Explorer it spins up again. The fan can also be heard just a bit because the camera picks it up strong for some reason, but it isn't really noticeable at idle like that in person. The HDD cannot be heard.

The screen is the 1366x768, base display (Not the 1080P IPS). It's ok, but it doesn't wow. I have no problems with it for games. For editing pictures I prefer the display on my old Macbook, but the processor in the Alienware tempts me to use it for editing. Display is 14", so it's not optimal for anything that puts a premium on screen real-estate, but whether it's enough for you is debatable.

***** A least your performance will be better because higher resolutions will put more stress on your gpu. I have a m18x r2 with a 1080p display . To be honest I can't really tell the difference. Maybe my eyes are going bad now lol.

I can't remember if there was an option during the Windows install process to create a recovery partition or not, but there are plenty of guides and videos online that show how to create a recovery partition, so after the install you could create one if there wasn't an option during the install.

must be automatic cause it showed a recovery partition when you were looking in my computer at the drives

generationdooooom That is the recovery partition of the original HDD.

A 2.5" drive is a standard laptop sized drive, and could be used to replace your HDD, but it is not an mSATA drive that you could add as shown in the video. An mSATA drive is much smaller than a 2.5" drive. When you say "used up" do you mean basically worn out? SSDs do have a write-cycle life, and a larger drive theoretically will last longer under the same write conditions vs. a lower capacity drive. How long the drive lasts will depend on the size of the games you are downloading. Most likely you won't have an issue with either size drive, but you can look up write life of SSDs to get some idea.

***** So I wanted to add and ssd drivewith my hdd drive. I was going to get an mSATA, but wasn't sure which one to get (I was look through amazon under the seller that was mentioned in the video). When I meant used up, I meant will the amount of capacity from 124gb nd 258 gb make a huge difference if i am just downloading a couple games. i was asking all this because I am having trouble picking out correct ssd driver for my Alienware 14

msata are micro ssd... so the usual ssd are 2.5 and msata are small as u can see... :)

What you are looking for would depend on what you want to do. Do you want to add an SSD to the mSATA slot as shown in the video? If so, you want an mSATA SSD. mSATA is the size essentially (mSATA is technically the interface connection the drive uses, but as far as I know, all mSATA drives are the same size). If you want to replace the existing HDD, that is a 2.5" drive. Hope this helps.

Glenn Gilbert Donald Thanks for the reply! Makes more sense to me now.

***** Thanks! Didn't know mSATA were the smaller size, now I at least know what to go and blow my money on for boxing day!

If you added an mSATA drive and installed Windows on it you would have the remaining space on that drive (bare bones Windows install is around 9 Gb). Plus you would still have the space on your original HDD. However large a SSD you add, you would have approximately that much more space.

mSATA drives most likely wouldn't keep up with the latest, fastest 2.5" SSDs. However, I would say this is because they simply aren't as big of sellers, so they aren't being updated as often to stay on the cusp of the latest technology. The speeds shouldn't be dramatically different though. From the benchmarks I came across the Plextor mSATA drives compare favorably to the 2.5" drives I had been looking at.

Thanks, I'm not super picky, but I need solid state speed. I might pull out the DVD drive and add an ssd.

Ryan Connolly With an mSATA SSD you are getting true SSD speed. Read/Write specs are basically the same as any other SSD. They use the same components and are only smaller because the interface itself is smaller and they don't have a case around the board. Online benchmarks aren't everything, but with the ones I looked up the mSATA drives were right up with most current SSDs. There are some recent 2.5" drives that are benchmarking faster than the mSATA SSDs I looked at, but they are also faster than most other 2.5" SSDs as well. Either way, good luck with whatever you decide.

No, it isn't practical to change the GPU. If it used to be ok before, has anything changed to make it worse? Are any unnecessary processes or programs running? Viruses?

Format and reinstall Windows. That will clean up your registry and clean up all the useless files and temp files. I've got this exact laptop and the HDD is starting to make slight clicks, so I'll be installing an mSATA and a new HDD soon. Maybe someone can help me? Does installing Win 7 make the back-up partition on its own?

I have this PC but no windows cd or drivers cd, want to format but dont know what to do, any suggestions?

Also my SSD is a SATA not mSATA will it still fit into my Alienware 17? Will it work just the same?

Jesse Custance A standard 2.5" SATA drive (vs an mSATA) would either replace the 1TB drive, or would install in a free SATA drive bay. I believe the 17" Alienware laptops have two SATA drive slots, so you may be able to install the SSD without removing any of your existing drives. In that case, you would simply install the drive, change the boot order in the BIOS, and install Windows on the new drive. At that point you would be using the new EVO SSD as the main boot drive and the 1TB drive would still be available for storage. The 80 GB mSATA SSD would still be available as well and could be used for whatever. If you don't have two SATA drive slots, the drive you have would mostly likely have to replace the current 1TB drive. If will not work as a replacement for the 80GB mSATA drive because they are physically different sizes. Hope this makes sense. Good luck.

Oh okay, Yes i understand now. If i am able to install the SSD into my laptop along with the HDD once i have installed windows onto the SSD do i just add the Alienware disk to install all drivers? Thank you.

You don't have to format the old hard drive. Once you have the OS set up on the new SSD the old drive will function fine as a second drive without any changes. If you want to maximize storage space you could delete what you don't want, but you might have to do a google search for a good way to go about this because from what I've hear it's not that easy to simply delete Windows from the drive. I left my old HDD as it was and I can change the boot order back and boot off it in the future if I ever need to.

Oh right but if I did format the hard drive wouldnt it then have loads of storage on or is not that easy?

Ben Weeks You would gain definitely gain some storage space. However, I think the Alienware Windows install (on my computer anyway) was only 10 gb or so. If you need the space you could delete anything you've put on it that you don't need. If you really need to format the drive you would be best to do a google search on a good way to go about this because I don't think Windows easily lets you format an OS drive.

No. I didn't change my HDD at all. I could change the boot order back and boot off the HDD again if I wanted. When booted off the new SSD I can still access the HDD as another drive and use the stuff on it, no need to format it unless you want to.

Well, they would load faster if installed on the SSD. I can try to load some programs from my HDD and reply back when I get a chance. I think it would work. Might be a day or two.

***** Thanks for the quick response! I'll check back here daily so take your time. Like i just want to put my OS and few games on the SSD and all the other programs/documents/music on my hard drive. I just want to make sure that it allows me open itunes and listen to my music from my regular hard drive(i have 20gb of music and i wouldn't want to put that on the SSD)

tpatel6 You should be able to store your iTunes library on the HDD, even if the program itself was installed on the SSD, but I will check it out tonight if I get a chance.

I actually didn't have much on the old HDD, so I booted it up and installed iTunes. Then I booted off the new SSD and tried to run iTunes. No go. iTunes installed on the HDD will not work when running off the new SSD. I tried a game and it did work, but I have an expansion of that game on the SSD, so I don't know if that affected it at all. So it may be hit and miss. I believe you can install iTunes on the SSD and keep your music library on your HDD, but I haven't tried it to be sure.

***** Okay that makes sense. Thank you for your help. I just wanted to make sure because I would like to install some programs on the SSD and some on the HDD but wasnt quite sure how it worked. I sortof understand, gotta do more research about it.

There are programs that can mirror the contents of a hard drive onto another drive (such as an SSD). Some SSDs even come with such a program (or a code to download one from the web). You will have to figure out what program will work for you though as they all function a bit different, and some can't mirror onto a drive smaller than the original (which is often the case with SSDs). Did you get an mSATA drive, or a 2.5" drive to replace the HDD?

***** I got a 250gb Msata drive to add to my computer for the main OS drive and use my 750gb hdd for secondary storage. mine measured more than 2.5 inches across will it fit??

nautticks it was just a bit bigger its a samsung 840 evo ssd

nautticks As long as it is an mSATA drive it should fit.

RAID

***** Are you using the stock SATA driver installed by Windows or did you install IRST? I noticed a good performance increase going from the stock installed Windows driver to Intel's RST v12.9 with my Samsung 840 EVO 250GB mSATA (boot / OS drive)...

SWebb The Alienware comes with Intel RST drivers. I did re-install the Intel RST drivers after the swap. Don't know off-hand what version I'm running.

You mean if you want to format your existing HDD? You could do that if you are sure you want to format the HDD. As I'm sure you know, there is no going back from a format, so be sure you have things backed up. I preferred the security of knowing I had another OS drive ready to go if needed. The 10-15 Gb of space used (out of 750 Gb) was worth it to me. I figured if I ever needed more space down the road I would just buy a 1 Tb drive and swap it for the existing one. Then I would still have a drive I could swap out with a working OS if I ever needed it. Good luck, enjoy your new drive.

Yeah thats a good idea I just really need as much space as possible for games lol :)

I sold the laptop a while back, but it was still running great to that point.

Yes, your Alienware 14 should have the same setup as mine, with an mSATA slot in addition to the standard 2.5" SATA HDD. The M6M looks to be a newer version of the drive I have (newer version Marvell controller, should be a bit faster). It should work just fine.

thank you very much

***** and hey just one more thing regarding the installation of windows. 1) So first I would have the Windows DVD inserted into the optical drive. 2) Then place the SSD inside the laptop. 2) Then switch on the laptop, go to the BIOS menu and set the CD/DVD drive as the first on the list or should I put the SSD drive as the first one? How do i go about with the installation...Please elaborate..Thank you again

Prashanth S For simplicity I put the Windows DVD in the drive first. Then I shut the computer down, unplugged it and installed the drive. Started it back up, went into the BIOS and changed the boot order. It's simplest to set up the BIOS as I did in the video, with the SSD first on the list, and the DVD drive second. Since there is no software on the SSD, it will boot off the DVD and you can begin the Windows installation. The installation of Windows is fairly straightforward. You will have to chose a new install (not a repair or restore) and simply follow the on-screen prompts. Choose the new SSD as the install location. It will have to format the drive and will warn you that all data will be lost (which is ok, because there isn't anything to lose on a new drive. Once Windows is installed you will have to re-install the drivers off the resource DVD that came with the computer. There will be drivers for everything. Dell has information about the process and there are plenty of walkthroughs on-line that cover Windows installation. Once all your drivers are installed and everything is working, you should run Windows update. You will have to run it many times to get all the available updates since many are prerequisites of others. It will have to re-start after each update.

***** By the way, this is the driver update order recommended by Alienware: 1. Chipset Driver 2. USB 3.0 Driver (11xR3, 14x, 17xR3, 18x only) 3. Intel RST Driver / Intel Management Engine 4. Freefall Sensor Driver 5. Alienware On-Screen Display Driver 6. INTEL/AMD/NVIDIA Display Driver 7. LAN Driver 8. Wireless Network Driver 9. Audio Driver 10. Bluetooth Driver 11. Touchpad Driver 12. Media Card Reader Driver If there is anything else just do it after all this is done.

Where is this cellophane? I don't remember having anything like that. Is it just covering the general area where the mSATA slot is, or is it down on the board?

Yeah covering general area just where msata port is? Strange material

If it's covering the mSATA port I would say it has to be removed. If it won't obstruct the port itself (importantly, the contact points) I suppose you could leave it. Hard to say for sure without seeing it.

Yeah it is like a see through material

I have also noticed thst there is a bit of dust in my laptop is it safe to use air can?

You have to go into the BIOS and go to the boot menu and move the SSD to the top of the boot list. I don't have the computer anymore, so I can't go into the BIOS to spell it out exactly, sorry.

Gustav Marquez how you clone it to the msata?

At this time I have personal experience with Toshiba, Samsung and Plextor drives. So far no issues with any of them. If you don't need a ton of space you can get some great deals on 100-128GB SSD drives. I recently picked up the Samsung 850 Evo, 120GB for $59. That said, I can't say a "generic" drive wouldn't be fine, just make sure anything important is backed up, as any drive can fail, regardless of the brand.

Okay, thanks. I was just wondering because some generic brands are just as good, and some are basically worthless. I'll just keep looking for a good name-brand one. All I want is my OS and possibly one or two games on it, so it won't have to be more than 60.

The only way I know of to do it clean is to format the HDD. Other than that, you may find some how to online somewhere, but I can't tell you unfortunately.

No worries thanks for help. I could back up files on external hdd and then use windows formatting tool to do a clean wipe?

presume there is a windows formatting tool of some sort that just lets you wipe it clean?

You have Windows 7 or 8?

***** win 7!

Yes, the mSATA port is there even if you don't order the computer with the drive. I didn't order mine with a mSATA drive.

***** my samsung msata is running at almost 60C.....is that normal?? I'm a bit worried since my Kingstone in my desktop is only running 37C

Silver Exia Sorry, I don't know what the normal operating temp is for that drive. I believe the max temp is probably around 70C. One thing to consider is that the cooling is probably much better in the desktop. What program did you use to check the temp?

***** I'm using CrystalDiskInfo to check the temp. I'm thinking if I should just take the sticker thing off of the bottom panel since it seems to be blocking out a lot of the air, not sure if that's going to help or not. my mechanical drive is ruuning atmost 40C

Ram, storage drive and optical drive are all upgradeable. The processor and graphics card should also technically be upgradable, but personally, I wouldn't bother. I would recommend getting the best you can afford now and buy a new laptop in a few years if it isn't keep up with the latest games to your satisfaction. You might run into cost, availablilty and possibly heat and compatibility issues if you go much beyond what was available when you originally bought the laptop in the first place. If you want a real jump in performance years down the road you are likely going to be looking at new generations of processors and graphics cards which may not be compatible at all (sockets, etc.), and if they are, power requirements, heat dissapation and driver compatibilty may be an issue. That's why I personally feel you are better off buying the fastest stuff available at the time and rolling with it, vs. trying to upgrade years down the road. Just my opinion (not an expert), so take it for what it's worth ($0.02).

Thanks, although I was considering getting the alienware, I think its best if i get a desktop for gaming, and get a notebook or ultrabook for portable computing later on. I've read that getting a desktop for the same price will allow me to get better performance and more upgrading ability for the money. I'm asking so many tech youtubers and pc gamers and checking forums to find the best gaming pc, keyboard, mouse, and monitor combination and complete with windows OS for 1000 dollars or less. I want to get the best for my money so i have to do all this research to fit my needs. Maybe you can also help me if you want, I would really appreciate all the help I could get.

iloverock6556 If you don't need a laptop (portability, etc.) you are better off with a desktop for gaming overall. My recommendation would be to build one from components rather than buying a pre-built model. This would allow you to get the best performance for you money.

Is it Windows that doesn't recognize it, or does it not even show up in the BIOS?

@@bigtb1717 ok it was in the disk management to send a letter to the drive. Another thing is that os is installed on the ssd hard drive, and in the boot menu first in the list is the msata as in the video. Should I change it? whats the difference? Thank you.

The boot order in the BIOS is the order the system will look for an OS to run at start-up. If the first drive in the list has an OS on it, that is the OS that will load. If the first drive doesn't have an OS, it will moved down the list. It will either try the next drive automatically, or it will ask you to hit a key to continue. If the computer starts and loads the OS you want, then you don't have to change the order.

There is a option to change boot mode to UEFI or LEGACY in the bios menu

Yes, just have to be careful of what you replace it with as some end up having thermal issues. It only seems to be the 7-900 models though. I've got 580m & it runs hotter then I prefer even though it's supposed to

Does the mSATA run hot, or the laptop in general? How hot is it running?

***** I'm using Speccy to check the temperatures and other components are running fine but the msata is running in standby at 55 and sometimes playing a game it goes to 57/58.

matlucmasdi Max operating temp is 70C, so it's probably fine. It does seem a little high for idle, but I think it's an unfortunate reality with a cramped, high performance laptop. Just as a precaution, I would check to see that everything is disabled that could be stressing the drive unnecessarily. Make sure automatic defragmentation is off for sure (it should be regardless with an SSD to extend the drive life), etc.

Cool! Thanks man! :)

Sure. I went smaller to save cost, but I don't see any reason why a 1TB drive wouldn't work just fine.

If it comes with only an 8GB SSD, probably isn't for boot, it's probably a caching drive. You could upgrade either or both if you want. The 500GB HDD should be the OS drive, so you could either clone the drive onto a new one, or you could simply install Windows fresh on the new drive. If you go with an SSD on the main drive, you could still upgrade the size of the mSATA drive, which would give you more storage overall. But I don't know if it's really all that important to have both drives solid state. If I were going to upgrade both drives I would get a larger HDD to take advantage of the price per GB of HDDs and use that drive for storage, and get an mSATA SSD large enough to use as the OS drive. That way you have the speed for your OS and programs, and the relatively inexpensive storage for your files. Just my thoughts. Both drives being SSD would be fine, it would just be expensive.

***** so basically for the main OS drive I should get a decent size SSD. and for the other drive I should just get a larger hdd right(because they are a lot cheaper)? are both of the drives the same size? sorry I'm new to all this.

***** 500GB is enough size for me because I have external hard drives. so I think I should just upgrade the 8GB SSD to about 256 and run the OS on it, right?

arsh khosa It's up to you, but that's what I did (256GB mSATA SSD and left the 500GB HDD in place). The drives are physically a different size. The mSATA SSD is very small, about an inch and a half by about an inch.

So what happens to the cache if I change the 8gb with 256 and run OS of it? Like what drive take cares of that? Noob question i know.

You could I suppose, but I would recommend keeping it. You can still boot off the hard drive if you ever need to. If you delete the Windows folder it's not like un-installing it. It will gain you some storage space, but it would take some work to install Windows on it again if you ever needed to.

***** Thanks for the fast answer, now how do i completely delete Windows off the hdd? :D

DrFuuuur If Windows is in a separate partition, you could delete that whole partition and that would basically get rid of it completely. If not, and all you want is the extra storage space you could just delete the folder. If you are just using the drive it wouldn't make much difference either way really. Are you just looking to maximize storage space?

***** You may run into problems with permissions since it may still show up as an OS drive. Your best bet may be to search around for good way to go about it.

ok thanks mate! Maximum storage basically, and also i dont see any sense in having windows on both drives... im the kind of person who wants to have a perfect cleaned up computer, it would probably drive me crazy xDDDD

bigtb1717 i have the windows on the hdd. How to migrate it to the ssd?

Alienware 14, current model.

Yes, did it yesterday on a 17xr3. All 2.5s shouldn't have any issues installing. Depending on your exact model you maybe better off going m.2

dodgersfn Shepard mine is exactly the same as the video Alienware 14 2014

Sorry, I'm not sure what you are asking.

+Michael Smith If you were able to install Windows on the drive the BIOS must be detecting it. Which Dell do you have?

+bigtb1717 A Dell insperon 7720 SE

+Michael Smith When you are in the BIOS boot menu, do you see "Add Boot Option"?

+bigtb1717 yes but it won't let me add the msata

+Michael Smith also i found that it may not be showing up because of a raid controller but there is no option for a raid in bios setup on my pc.

You changed the text size or the resolution? I haven't changed my text size, but my resolution is 1366x768, because I have the lower resolution display. I can check my text size when I get home, but it might be a few hours. Does it only flicker once or twice at the welcome screen, or does it continue for a while after it starts up? In some instances the settings during initial start-up are default, and once all the drivers and your settings are loaded it has to switch to them and you will get a moment of display black-out as it switches. I don't know if this is what's happening or not. It could be something to do with the auto switching display adaptor setting (where it switches from using the integrated Intel graphics to the GT 750). If that's the case it may be something as simple as a power saving setting.

Twice and just before welocme screen well during but stops after yeah if you could please check your text size as this may solve it for me ? :)

Nevermind, I know what setting your are talking about. I bet mine is set at "Smaller 100%" because I have the lower resolution screen. With a higher resolution display, icons and things will look smaller, so they include the option to upsize them.

Ben Weeks I'll check my settings when I get home. Maybe I'll try changing the setting and see if it causes the flickering as well. I would say that if the flickering is just due to Windows adjusting the display settings then it probably isn't a big deal, but I understand if it bothers you. I'll reply once I've checked it out.

Ok thanks yeah just everything is alot smaller you know when you lock computer you should get a big picture whatever setting I put on it is pretty small as well?

Any 2.5" SSD should work as a replacement for the existing HDD. an mSATA drive should work and could be installed while leaving the HDD in place. If you installed the mSATA drive, but didn't install and run your operating system off of it, but instead continued to use the HDD as your main drive, you could set Windows to use the SSD for caching, which could increase the speed of some operations, but it wouldn't be as fast as installing the operating system on the SSD and running it off that.

***** does this one work? www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8466640

dragothunder wolf That drive would work as a replacement for the existing HDD. It is not an mSATA drive, so it would not work in the mSATA slot (It couldn't be installed along with your current drive.).

Thanks I understand now :)

***** One last thing. You said a 2.5 size SSD work as replacement for the HDD then am I suppose to use a 2.5 size SSD mSATA for the MSATA slot or any kind of mSATA size will work for the alienware 14?

Didn't have any issues. What is the issue you are having? You say you can't install the drivers, are you getting an error? If you look at the device manager are there unrecognized devices or errors showing on any of the devices?

***** well it says I do not have the requirements for installing the software. Checked device manager and I dont see any errors... Were you able to install all drivers from the cd?

mhadsmhadz You may not need everything. Does everything seem to work ok? I believe the USB drivers are build onto one of the other drivers on some setups. The free-fall sensor driver I believe I was able to install, but it has to do with your hard drive, so if may not let you if you changed or removed your HDD. DPTF drivers have to do with power and fan managment and may be affected by BIOS and/or overclock settings. Sorry I'm not more help. Is this an 14, or a different model? Have you changed anything in your configuration other than installing a mSATA SSD? Do you still have your HDD in place?

yep turns out they were for other versions. thanks for the vid ^^

Carson Clark That depends on the SSD you are using. If you are using a mSATA SSD you do not have to take the HDD out. If you are using an SATA SSD the slot SATA slot is already used by the HDD and you have to take the HDD out in order to put the SSD in. But since your HDD is gone then you need to set up Windows on the SSD and copy the data from the HDD. Not every laptop has a mSATA port so first look up if you can use a mSATA SSD. If your laptop has a mSATA slot I would definitely recommend you to buy a mSATA SSD because the SSD and the HDD work together then. So you can use the SSD for booting and save big data on the HDD.

CaptainSkeleton Thank you Skeleton, that reply was extremely helpful.