SSD upgrade for Alienware X51 R2 without replacing existing 3.5TB HDD

Any help pls? I'm stuck in this situation.

That Molex adapter doesn't appear to support 3.3volts (and maybe your drive needs it).

You can also just use a SATA power plug 1-to-2 plug splitter.

That SSD needs to be screwed down somehow.

Test SSD in external enclosure or other PC and make sure it works. At a minimum, it should appear in BIOS.

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19450393

Thanks for the answer. I'm posting some photos so that you can see that actually the SSD is detected in the BIOS,  but i can't do nothing with it, cause it is not an editable field.

I also see the SSD drive from my computer, as u can see drive (C) is main HDD, while drive (A) is SSD with cloned stuff. I just don't know how to choose drive (A) as main boot option. 

Does it depend on UEFI/LEGACY boot mode?I have UEFI right now, never tried LEGACY.

May i do something from inside the computer?Or is it possible to change boot option only in BIOS? I have windows 10 atm.

Thanks, Jack.

Oh, ok ... I misunderstood your problem.

If it is showing in BIOS, then your wiring is ok.

So, this is a "cloned" drive? Not sure what program you used but maybe it went badly and the SSD is not formatted properly to boot the machine (so it would not be selectable).

This is Windows10-64bit huh? I usually use uEFI, AHCI, and SecureBoot for those.

You can try Legacy and SecureBoot either on or off.

Re-clone or try Macrium (Free). Finally, you can clean install to a blank drive (disconnect spinning drive first).

Yes this is a cloned drive, i used Macrium (free version), the one you suggest me, cause samsung migration software (that came with the ssd) did not detect ssd when i connected via sata3-to-usb cable (i've found that this is a common problem of samsung migration tool).

 Yes, i'm running windows 10 64 bit.

Strange thing is that i can't find any option in my BIOS to change to AHCI boot mode, i only find UEFI and LEGACY.Tonight I'll try LEGACY as you suggested, hopefully it changes something. Is it possible that i have an old version of BIOS? If yes, where do i find the updated version?

If this does not work i'll try clone again with Macrium or do u think i should use another software?

The last option you suggest is the clean install, but what do you mean by that? I'm thinking about formatting the SSD, removing the cloned OS, preparing a USB with windows 10 on it, make a USB boot and install win10 on SSD from that. Is that what you mean?In this case what should i put exactly on the usb? Is the imagine of win10 (with the original product key) from microsoft.com sufficient ? Or do i have to care about other drivers/stuff?

Thank you very much for your time.

Jack

I came home and changed to LEGACY boot mode. Suddenly i could see my SSD in the booable devices. So i selected the ssd as boot device and pressed enter but what i got was a black screen with this words

"reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"

Actually i don't quite know what to do. I checked the cables and it's all connected. Somewhere i found that i should connect ssd to port p0, the one of the HDD. I actually tried to disconnect the sata 2 cable of HDD and to put the sata3 connector of ssd in that port, but nothing changed. Have you got any idea? Maybe i need to clone again?

Thanks, Jack.

Funny thing is i cannot find any AHCI mode in my BIOS, only UEFI and LEGACY. Regarding the USB device, the link you provided me is for windows 7/8,1 users, cause the tool may not work on windows 10. Should i use it ? Or do you suggest me another link ? Can u confirm the following: i have to put only windows 10 on the usb device, connect it and select "USB boot", install windows on SSD, and then install alienware drivers (i have the original CD).

I wrote this guide years ago for Win 7 so I don't know how well it will work for Win 10 - I have not personally installed this on Win 10, nonetheless I don't see why it should not work.

On the link I provided, there is an option for "Using the media creation tool" -> "Perform a clean creation a USB or DVD".  This should allow you to install Win 10 from the USB, please read this section thoroughly - i'm also assuming that you've installed Win 10 on your original hard-disk (3.5") so it should activate using the same activation key internally - I have read that you should skip the "enter activation key" portion during installation as it will automatically activate once Win 10 installs (assuming you had installed Win 10 earlier on this system).

Original CD will not have Win 10 drivers .. you'll need to download from Dell web-site.  The other option is to install Win 7/8.1 from original CD and then upgrade it to Win 10.

Funny thing is i cannot find any AHCI mode in my BIOS

I wouldn't worry about it.

My guess is it's locked on AHCI. There is no option to switch it because RAID setting is not available on this small machine.