I just ordered a Samsung 870 Evo Sata SSD for my PC

[KillaAvery1]

Alright so basically, I ordered an SSD for my pc because I'd like for it to be faster and to have less stutters in certain games. The problem is that I don't know what I'll need exactly to install it. What I mean by this is I was scoping out the internals of my pc and I realized that it only came with one cord (which I had expected) but the problem is that I don't know how to install an additional SSD along with my HDD.  I came here to ask for help. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with this.

[BeemerBiker]

There is a picture of your motherboard here

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05389962

There are 3 SATA connectors in the bottom right:  dark blue, yellow, light blue.

Two of them are used: DVD/CD and HDD.  If no DVD then there are 2 empty slots.

You just need an sata cable to connect to your new 2.5in SSD drive.  I assume there

is plenty of room and you do not need a low profile right angle connector.

The SSD has a plastic housing and you probably can just let it dangle in some empty area

as long a fan is not hitting it.  Maybe your system had a mounting bracket somewhere

which can be used.  There should already be a spare power connector or or cable.

[KillaAvery1]

Alright I see what you’re talking about but there’s one issue. Don’t you need 2 for plugs in order for it to work? What I mean by that is on my HDD there’s the thing that’s connected to the motherboard and another that goes somewhere completely different. I’m referring to the long horizontal cable with a bunch of cables(I know that’s a terrible explanation of what it is)

[BeemerBiker]

Yea, sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words.  The power cable plugs into the wider connector.  It only goes in one way so don't try to force it on.  Same for the SATA data cable.  Look at the end for the "L" shape and align it.  Note that there are locking mechanisms on the data cable unlike the power cable.  If you ever remove the cable be sure to pinch the mechanism in to RELEASE it or you will damage either the motherboard or drives connector. I showed a picture of the blue adapter that came with one of my kingston ssd.  It allows the 2.5in to fit in to the 5 inch drive bay.  Most new cases have a space and do not need those adapters.  The space can be fancy and slides out or it can be cheap and just 4 screw holes somewhere.

[KillaAvery1]

Wait so where exactly do I plug the other side of the wider connector into?

[BeemerBiker]

That cable is part of your system.  There is either an extra cable or, more likely, the cable that goes to the hard drive has an unused connector on it..  

If there are no available connectors then you will have to buy a Y or splitter adapter to add an extra connector.

[KillaAvery1]

 

Wait so I can just connect it into one of these things and it’ll work the same? Also I’m aware I’m going to clean the inside of my pc pretty soon.

[Prométhée]

Hello
Warning, @KillaAvery1 
so that your computer is functional and faster
it is not enough to connect your SSD drive
You must either install windows on it directly, with an installation media support
Either make a disk image of your HDD, and transfer it to the SSD
It will probably be necessary to disconnect the HDD disk, in order to verify that the computer boots correctly on the SSD, once done.
In general, this type of power supply unit must have several sata power supply cables.
If you can not find it directly, follow the cables which are towards the power supply box.
If nothing has the choice, you actually need a Y-cable

You have a free slot in the HDD cage
either you will manage to fix it like this, otherwise, you will need a 2.5 / 3.5 adapter

it is better to prevent him from walking around the tower

[KillaAvery1]

Wait so how do I transfer the data from my HDD to my SSD without them both being connected. My main issue is that I’m struggling to comprehend how to connect them both at the same time.

[BeemerBiker]

Just connect the new SSD to the power cable and the motherboard SATA.

You need to verify it is seen by the bios.  Later, after cloning it with windows,

you will have to go to the bios and change the boot drive from the HDD to the SSD

Your SSD probably came with software to allow cloning the old drive to the new one.

Probably a url to the company where you can download the app.

Here are a few free apps that can clone a drive

https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-free-and-reliable-cloning-tools/

I once used Clonezilla on a Mac drive but don't know about any of the others.  I use Acronis True Image which I bought.

Basically you run the app and the source disk is the old one and the destination disk the new one.  It is possible the new drive has stuff on it so the cloning program may ask "are you sure".

If the new drive has a partition and been formatted then it needs to have its partitions removed. Just make sure the source is the old drive usually "drive 0" and the destination is the new one "drive 1"

If there is an option to make the clone "proportional" then select that.  Just make sure to use the entire new drive and there is no unallocated space left.

After cloning, get into the bios and select the new drive as the booting disk.

If a problem come back and let us know.