Complete Guide: Replace ASUS Laptop Hard Drive with SSD

Common methods to replace ASUS hard drive

Here are two effective methods to replace hard drive in an ASUS laptop such as the ASUS X555L, ASUS Q302LA, or ASUS Q504U: 

Method	Disk Backup and Restore	Disk Clone
Best For	Users who want scheduled backups and data versioning	Users who want a faster, direct upgrade without reinstalling anything
Required Devices	External storage for backup, new drive for restoration	New drive and possibly a USB-to-SATA adapter or cloning bay
How to Operate	Create a full disk backup and restore it to the new drive after replacement >> Full steps	Clone the existing hard drive directly to the new one, including OS, apps, and files >> Full steps

Preparations to replace ASUS laptop hard drive 

To be sure the replacement process runs 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 or M.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 Get the new SSD prepared.

Ⅰ. Initialize SSD

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 or GPT at the right side.

Ⅱ. Create a new simple volume

Go to Disk Management, right-click on the unallocated space of the new SSD and select New Simple Volume. Follow the wizard to finish the process.

5️⃣ Download all-in-one backup, restore and clone software - AOMEI Backupper.

• Backup and Restore: Create a disk image of the ASUS laptop drive and restore it to the new drive.
• Disk Clone: Directly clone hard drive to SSD and boot from it successfully without restoring the image file. 

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. Create a recovery disk

• Plug in a USB flash drive.
• Launch AOMEI Backupper. Click Tools > Create Bootable Media to create a recovery disk.

Step 3. 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 4. Restore disk image to new SSD

• Plug in the bootable USB drive and your external hard drive containing disk image. Boot your computer from the bootable USB.
• AOMEI Backupper loads up automatically after booting. 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. Click OK to continue if you are asked to backup important files first.
• Finally, click "Start Restore".

Method 2: Replace ASUS laptop hard drive with Disk Clone 

As AOMEI Backupper Standard only supports cloning data disks, you need to upgrade to the professional version to clone disks with OS installed. Download AOMEI Backupper Professional now!

Step 1. Connect your new SSD to the ASUS laptop via an adapter or hard drive enclosure. 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.

Further reading

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.

	Crucial P5 Plus	WD Blue 3D NAND	Samsung 870 EVO	Samsung 980 PRO
Disk Types	M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD	SATA SSD	2.5 Inches SATA SSD	M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD
Capacity	500GB, 1TB, 2TB	250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB	250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB	500GB, 1TB, 2TB
Read/Write Speeds	Up to 6600/5000 MB/s	Up to 560/530 MB/s	Up to 560/530 MB/s sequential speeds	Up to 7000/5100 MB/s
Warranty	5-year	5-year	5-year	5-year

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.

FAQs about replacing ASUS laptop hard drive

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!