David Prowse

Many laptops come with Serial ATA (SATA) drives, which incorporate two connectors: a 7-pin data connector and a 15-pin power connector. The bulk of the storage drives in laptops are 2.5 inches wide, though ultra-small laptops and other small portable devices might use a drive as small as 1.8 inches.

Know that SODIMM DDR3 has 204 pins and SODIMM DDR4 has 260 pins. Understand the pin format differences between them and standard DIMMs (used in PCs).

Laptop drives can be accessed from one of three places. The first, and maybe the most common, is from the bottom; this requires removing either the entire bottom cover or an access panel. The second is from underneath the keyboard. And the third is from the side of the laptop where the drive is located, in some kind of caddy. These last two options are much less common than the first.