Question Add an SSD drive and bypass existing optical hard drive

[bestremera]

I have a Dell XPS 8930 and getting messages that say my hard drive is failing. I really don't trust this message because the computer is only 3 years old. I feel it's Dell just trying to get more money from me. But obviously, I can't risk it so I am considering replacing the current 2TB optical drive with an SSD. I want to do the least amount of work inside the cabinet and don't want to have to remove the optical drive. I would like to simply add the SSD drive and use that for everything, booting up, installing Windows to it, etc. I want it to be like the optical drive was never there. Is this possible? I would want to clone/mirror my current drive and install it to the SSD. If I have to, I'll have all the folders and files backed up and can add them to the SSD drive. Is what I want to do possible?
Thanks!

 

[COLGeek]

HDDs can and do fail all the time. You should really consider replacing your HDD itself

Can you clone the HDD to a replacement SSD? Yes.

Can you replace the ODD with a SSD? Yes. There are brackets available for this. Like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/1B0-00Z8-00002

Looks like you also have the option for a M.2 SSD on the motherboard as well.

Given these options, what would you like to do?

https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/xps-8930-desktop_setup-guide_en-us.pdf

 

[Misgar]

This is a slim line optical drive, as fitted to laptops and some desktops PCs. The capacity for DVDs is typically 4.7GB or 8.5GB, not 2TB.

This is a WD 2TB hard disk. Is this similar to the component you are trying to replace with an SSD, because it is reporting errors?

 

[plausible_deniability]

at bestremera,
Could you have a HDD (hard drive) and an Optical Drive (for CD's and DVD's)?
What does the message say? (more or less) You're HDD or hard drive is failing or your Optical Drive is failing? 2TB is the size of your HDD, as stated above.
COLGeek gave you a link to some brackets to replace your Optical Drive, if you do you can no longer play CD's or DVD's.