this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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So I have an Inspiron 3847 and it has a 3.5' 1TB hard drive. Sorry, I'm not at home right now and forget which brand.

I was hoping to upgrade to a SSD and therewithin lies the problem. I can't find any 3.5 SSDs.

I'm very confused. But would it be possible to connect a 2.5' SSD to the same Sata connectors my current (old) hard drive uses? I'm unsure which version of sata it is.

My PC was built in 2014 if that helps.

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[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (14 children)

While possible, the issue is the molex connectors from your power supply as they often have an overlap which would butt up against the data cable and it may not fit snuggly.

You're better off either using esata (most systems have an estata connector) with an external esata caddy, but if you do not then I would actually recommend a sata to usb caddy like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-free-Enclosure-Optimized-EC-UASP/dp/B00OJ3UJ2S

Basically just install any 2.5" SSD into it and plugin into the back of your pc usb port. It's not as fast as esata or direct sata, but great for backup and archive.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (13 children)

I don't think that idea would work, for exactly the reason you said at the end. It's not as fast as sata. I would be leaving it like this as my daily setup, and I recently tried a linux usb persistant drive. It's usb 3, but based on issues I had, everyone said I'd have been better off with usb 3......which it was. But the time to install did not reflect that. To install the persistant usb stick, it took about 5-6 hours. When everyone online says an internal sata hard drive instalation takes 20 minutes.

Basically I have a raspberry pi, and it's not good enough to be a daily pc.....but I DO love the idea that I swap sd cards, and it's a TOTALLY different os. I love that. But Raspberry pi is arm. I want to do it with my full pc using sata.

I feel very mad scientist right now.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (12 children)

I would bypass all that and try to find a removable caddy like this one, they're just not as popular as they used to be:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176107878288?gQT=1

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Ok, so THAT particular seller doesn't ship to USA.

I found THIS which appears to be the same thing. But all the ones I see only support up to Windows 7. Not windows 10/11, and not linux.

Am I missing something, or should those OS's support my linked product just fine?

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

"No drivers or software required, supports hot swap, plug and play."

Meaning, it's OS irrelevant. The reason it shows "support up to windows 7" is just because it's an older unit, but will be perfect for your older rig.

Edit: Buy it, never look back, enjoy swapping operating systems!

as an alternative, here's one that you just push the drive into and eject out, plus it supports newer sata modes:

https://www.amazon.com/Kingwin-Universal-Tray-Less-Backplane-Enclosure/dp/B00M3WNWB2

or like the one we are discussing

https://www.amazon.com/Kingwin-Universal-Tray-Less-Backplane-Enclosure/dp/B00475DQ6Y

Note the reason these are more rare now a days is because of higher capacity drives. No need for most so now these are usually geared towards system integration and testing beds. Still, it's perfect for dual boot.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I saw one a few days ago where I was looking. It supported SSD and HDD, just like the second one you linked on amazon. But while I was reading, it said the setup had to be 1 SSD and 1 HDD.

The second one you linked on amazon, could I do 2 SSD's? I see nothing about requiring types. Just that it supports both.

For me, it wouldn't even be "dual boot". It would be 1 drive, 1 OS. The second drive would be pure storage. And I'd have multiple drives with different OS's. I'd even have a smaller one just for test purposes. Flash this or that linux os to a small drive, test it for like a day, or a week, and always have my main drives never even touched. I don't trust myself constantly repartitioning to not erase a drive. If it's not even connected, it can't be accidentally formatted.

Now as far actual drives go. I was thinking THIS ONE unless you know of some recognizable brand being sold through their own official amazon or ebay store, and 4TB or higher, while not being absurdly expensive.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Just ignore anything that says it's for one hdd and one ssd as you can use those trays to make a 2.5" ssd appear as a 3.5" hdd any day of the week.

If your intent is just one os and one data drive, get 2 small ssd drives for different OS' if you want and one 4TB drive for data.

As for good cheap drives, there's none better than the Crucial MX500 for 1/2TB

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NAND-SATA-Internal/dp/B078211KBB/

When it comes to quality cheap 4TB, the following brands are best:

edit: Note that the MX is higher quality, but older, which means more reliable at the cost of speed whereas the BX is less reliable but cheap and faster. The team group is pretty much the same as the BX, but has a better cache system and thus a bit more reliable than the BX

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Well. I did it! I bought THIS ONE along with a 4TB WD Blue ssd hard drive.

Now I just have to decide if I'm going to reinstall Windows 7 from the backup I made. Install a whole new Windows 7 ISO from scratch, or try that Windows 10 version pirated without all the bloat.

Then in a few months I'll buy a second 4TB and then the next time I see some big sales on 2.5" SSD's for like $20 I'll buy 10 of those. Even if it's just 100GB.

I also have a couple of old laptops in storage people have given me, saying I could try fixing them if I wanted. Maybe one of those has a 2.5" hard drive. Even if it's HDD. Just a little playground to test on.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

You'll find that Kingwin to be useful at multiple things, I promise.

I have something like 20,000 Windows 10 keys, send me a private message and I'll set you up with a legit iso and key if needed. Otherwise, have fun nerding out with your new toys!

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Are any of them for Windows 10 LTSC? I heard you can get rid of all the bloat.

Oh, also, I bought ram too. Gonna max out at 16GB now. Which doubles it from my current 8GB. I'm told 16GB is the most my motherboard can take.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Windows 10 Enterprise is probably the least bloated version, it's a company version after all and lacks a lot of the crap. Windows 10 debloater is a nice powershell app that does a good job too though.

16GB is easily comfortable and can even game on with zero issues.

Let me know how it goes.

[–] comador@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Zero chance. ltsc is a per license subscription cost. no company or person would give those out to anyone for free no different than giving a stranger your Netflix account.

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