Question Is it okay to leave the CD/DVD drive empty ?

[cxg2010]

Maybe dumb question, but is it okay to leave it empty for my laptop?
This is an old laptop already. I thought it was the HDD that was clicking but after i change to SSD i think it was the cd drive.
And i think keeping it affects the booting cause after turning it on, there is clicking sound and takes quite some time before the OS comes up.

 

[USAFRet]

There is no problem leaving the optical drive empty.

 

[cxg2010]

There is no problem leaving the optical drive empty.

Thanks for the quick reply..
Also one more question, is it really possible to use that slot for my old HDD? what are possible issues in case of doing that?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the quick reply..
Also one more is it really possible to use that slot for my old hdd? what are possible issue in case of doing that?

Depends on the laptop, but that is quite often possible.

 

[cxg2010]

Thanks! I guess that's all the questions I have for now on this topic.

 

[Paperdoc]

Just so you know and don't worry. That little clicking sound you hear from the drive is normal. At EVERY boot-up the system "polls" each of the devices connected (like HDD, SSD, keyboard, optical drive, etc.). Each such unit has its own Initialization process to self-check which includes responding to an external query with a coded reply to indicate whether it is working OK or not. And EACH unit's self-check does things most pertinent. For an optical drive (and for mechanical Hard Drives and Floppy Drives), the process includes moving the scanning head arm out and back which causes the little sound when the head reaches the rest stop. It also spins up the disk drive shaft (whether or not there is a disk installed) and then stops it.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Personally I'd prefer to keep it empty. You forget the disc is in the area it rattles around or the drive malfunctions, your disc could get destroyed.

Just don't use it as a cup holder 😭

 

[Moonstick2]

Personally I'd prefer to keep it empty. You forget the disc is in the area it rattles around or the drive malfunctions, your disc could get destroyed.

I'm pretty sure what the OP meant was leaving the cavity for the optical drive empty, i.e. taking the drive out and leaving the space exposed.

 

[BFG-9000]

Especially because OP is asking about replacing it with a HDD bay to avoid leaving a big hole for dust to get into.

If the laptop is old enough, even a FDD bay may be available for it. But as with the optical drive you have to make sure it's not ahead of the HDD in boot priority in the BIOS, or it will also make noise on bootup as it tries to boot from it.