Laptop SSD failed; Need help/advice for replacing

[Brent Tucker]

The SSD in my Sony Vaio Ultrabook died on me this week. The laptop is barely even a year and a half old making this quite surprising. When I turn on the laptop, I get the message "Operating System Not Found". Upon going into the BIOS, I see that the SSD is not even being recognized. I am planning to buy a new SSD along with 2 USB3.0 to SATAIII cables and attempt to clone the OS and data to the new SSD (can this be done from the "broken" laptop, or does it have to be done through another PC?). I guess what I'm looking for is advice on if this is the best way to go about doing this or not. Also, please recommend your best/favorite cloning software as this is the first time I've ever had to do something like this. Any help is greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask any questions as well.

 

[drapacioli]

Try using the SSD in another computer first or a different drive in the Vaio, there's always the chance the motherboard just isn't recognizing it. If you don't have that option, a cheap $15 hard drive enclosure will allow you to plug it into your laptop via USB and see if it recognizes it then. Doing one of these two will make sure you aren't buying a replacement drive for nothing.

 

[Brent Tucker]

Try using the SSD in another computer first or a different drive in the Vaio, there's always the chance the motherboard just isn't recognizing it. If you don't have that option, a cheap $15 hard drive enclosure will allow you to plug it into your laptop via USB and see if it recognizes it then. Doing one of these two will make sure you aren't buying a replacement drive for nothing.

Do you have an enclosure you recommend?

 

[drapacioli]

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-External-Aluminum-Enclosure/dp/B00E362W9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409944304&sr=8-1&keywords=SATA+hard+drive+enclosure

This will do.

 

[orlbuckeye]

I cloned my hard drive when i bought my laptop 3.5 years ago. I bought a kit from buy.com (kit = SSD, USB enclosure and Cloning Software (Acronis True Image). I've used this 3 successful time 1. When laptop was brand new and after I installed apps I cloned the 750 GB HD which had about 70 GB to a 120 GB SSD 2. The i purchased a 256 GB SSD and cloned the 120 GB 3. My 740 gb HD was filling up so I bought a 1 TB that I cloned. It only cloned the 750 GB so I had to extend the partitian from 750 Gb to 1 TB.