Complete Guide: Replace ASUS Laptop Hard Drive with SSD

Choose the right SSD for ASUS laptop upgrade

Upgrading a hard disk to a larger disk often speeds up your computer but it's limited. Over time, your computer may start very slowly, can't run multiple programs at a time, etc.  So if you have enough budget, replacing laptop HDD with SSD is a wise choice. Here are some cost-effective SSDs at a high performance.

Opt for the ASUS hard drive replacement method 

In fact, the replacement hard drive for ASUS laptop is a reasonably simple task, whether for ASUS X555L hard drive replacement or for ASUS Q302LA/ASUS Q504U. You just need to open the back cover and replace the old hard drive with your new SSD. But what about the operating system and all the data stored on the old hard disk? Just leave them behind?

The answer is NO unless your hard drive or the operating system is damaged. First, reinstalling Windows is a time-consuming and challenging task. Second, you will lose the installed programs and personal data forever. So it will not be a good method. Fortunately, there are two methods to keep them:

🎈Disk Backup and Restore: It requires you to create a disk backup and store them on a second drive temporarily before replacing ASUS laptop hard drive. Note a scheduled backup task will backup all the changes you made after the first backup, minimizing data loss. 

💾Disk Clone: It enables you to clone HDD to SSD directly and include the operating system, system files, drivers, installed applications, personal data, etc. And it's the best choice  in terms of time spent, required devices, difficulty, etc. 

Preparations to replace ASUS laptop hard drive 

To be sure the replacement process run smoothly, you still need to make some preparations:

1️⃣ If your laptop only has one slot, you need to prepare a connector, depending on the SSD disk interface (SATA orM.2). It can be an adapter or enclosure.

2️⃣ Screwdriver. 

3️⃣ Connect your new SSD and be sure it's larger, preferably double or triple in the long run.

4️⃣ Initialize the new SSD in Disk Management.

Type diskmgmt.msc in the search box and select it. Locate and right-click the new SSD, select Initialize Disk. Select MBR or GPT, depending on your ASUS disk partition style, and click OK. 

Here are simple steps to check disk partition style:

• Go to Disk Management, locate and right click the ASUS hard disk and choose Properties.
• In the Properties window, select Volume and scroll down to Partition Style. You will see MBR o r GPT at the right side.

5️⃣ Download all-in-one Windows backup software -AOMEI Backupper Standard.

If you plan to use the backup and restore method, please create a disk image of the ASUS laptop drive. If it is unbootable, you still need to create a recovery disk. Vice versa, please upgrade to the professional version. 

Method 1: Perform ASUS SSD upgrade with Disk Backup and Restore 

Step 1. Backup ASUS laptop hard drive 

• Plug in your external hard drive and be sure it's recognized.  Then, launch free backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard, click "Disk Backup" under the Backup tab.

• Click "+ Add Disk" to add your ASUS hard drive and then select your external hard drive as the destination path.

• Finally, click "Start Backup".

Step 2. Replace ASUA laptop hard drive with SSD.

• Power off your ASUS laptop and remove its battery.
• Free up the laptop back cover with screwdrivers and place the screws in the small box.
• Plug the plastic card in the gap, twist, and move it to take off the cover.
• Unscrew the screws holding the ASUS drive. Lift it at a degree, such as 30 degrees, and pull it out. 

• Unscrew the screws on the bracket and remove your ASUS hard drive. 
• Insert your new SSD into the bracket and install it back.
• Finally, put the back cover of the ASUS laptop back on.

Step 3. Restore disk image to new SSD

• Plug your external hard drive containing disk image. Go to the Restore tab and click Select Image File.

• Browse the location of your external disk and select your disk image.
• Select Restore the entire disk. You will then be asked to select a destination path. Select the prepared new SSD. 

• Finally, click "Start Restore". Click OK to continue if you are asked to backup important files first.

Method 2: Replace ASUS laptop hard drive with Disk Clone 

With the Disk Clone feature, you can directly clone hard drive to SSD and boot from it successfully without restoring the image file. Note the cloning method is only available on the professional version. Please upgrade to the advanced edition. 

Step 1. Plug your new SSD hard drive into the ASUS laptop via a connector, or directly install SSD on your desktop. Then select Clone and Disk Clone.

Step 2. Select your ASUS hard drive (eg: disk 0) and click Next.

Step 3. Select your new SSD as the Destination disk and click Next.

Step 4. Tick SSD Aignment to gain peak performance of the SSD. Optionally, click Edit Partitions to adjust partition size or convert disk type with the following options. 

• Convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT: It helps to convert the partition style of the destination disk and clone MBR to GPT disk without losing data, and vice versa if it is different from the source disk. 
• Copy without resizing partitions: It will not resize the partition size.
• Add unused space to all partitions: It will reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk, appropriate for the disk size.
• Manually adjust partition size: It allows you to extend unallocated space to any partition on the destination disk you want. 

Step 5. Preview the Operation Summary and click Start Clone to execute the ASUS laptop SSD upgrade.

Step 6. Take out the ASUS hard drive and install the new SSD disk with screwdriver. Then, boot computer from it.

How to make full use of ASUS hard drive

If your ASUS hard drive is still working well, you can choose to format it as a second storage device. 

Step 1. Press Win +R and type diskmgmt.msc in the box, then hit "OK" to open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click the ASUS disk and select Format...

Step 3. Select a compatible file system (NTFS, FAT32, etc) and click OK to start the formatting process.

Conclusion

That’s all for how to replace hard drive in ASUS laptop. There are two methods in total, and it's not difficult to see that the second one is much easier. With the cloning method, you can directly boot from the clone SSD without restoring image first. Also, you can use it to clone NVMe SSD, perform Dell Inspiron SSD upgrade, HP laptop SSD upgrade, Toshiba laptop hard drive replacement, etc.

Aside from above functions, AOMEI Backupper can still provide other functions, such as system backup, file backup, file sync, etc. In a word, AOMEI Backupper not only can help you upgrade hard drive to SSD, but also can be your best assistant in helping you keep your data safe all the time. Just download it to explore yourself!