Haha - I'm not offended by "old age" since it beats the alternative. I try to be calm as even for me - who has been working on computers since 1983 - I get aggravated when some one is explaining something either at warp speed or simply leaving out crucial steps. Thanks so much for commenting! ~John
Thanks. I just purchased an SD card for the first time to use as an extra hard drive for a Chromebook and I never would have figured out how to set it up without this video.
4KCC - hey john, can i just take a second to say thanks. i read all the comments and i noticed that you actually had a couple people reach out to you and you offered to help them out for free. i almost can't believe there's still people like you out there. just wanted you to hear that from me, thanks for all you do:) -barbie
I'm never too sure about the gentleman part (LOL) but thanks. As for views, hopefully, with nice people like you visiting my channel, they'll increase. ~John
Honestly glad I found this video… I have a gaming laptop that only has 250gb of storage, but planned on getting a 2tb storage SD to use for storing downloaded games.
Very clear explanation how to use sd card as a second hard drive . God bless you with good health and wisdom to continue helping the humanity . Thank you
Thank you so much for these easy to follow steps! The only thing I had to figure out on my own was the fact that I had to move each of my son's games to the SD Card file before they'd run again (since his laptop was out of storage). This video saved me a trip and some $$$ to a computer pro. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!
Lisa...I'm glad it helped. Games are in a field of their own. Some will play off the SD card and some won't. Congrats on figuring out that you had to move them. And, I'm glad you saved some money! ~John
This video thoroughly explains a lot of information I was curious about. the fact that your explanation was simple and easy to understand made your directions easy to follow. I am going to purchase a SD card for my laptop soon and mount it to my laptop following the instructions from this video. I do have one question. what is the difference between using a standard SD vs using a Micro SD?
Thanks for your comment. I'm sorry for the delay in answering. I was moving! Ugh! Anyway, a micro SD card is a physically smaller card. For many computers, you have to use an adaptor because they don't have mini ports. You might see what I mean by visiting amzn.to/465TfUd. ~John
this was one of the best tutorials I've ever seen, thank u so much, it's exactly what I've looking for. I tried many videos on my native language and even in English this tutorial is the best. I have one question, is possible install and run softwares in that SD storage?
Thank you for your very nice comment. I really appreciate it! When it comes to running software on the SD card, the answer is "It depends." You can't run Windows or Windows updates but some programs WILL run on the SD card. It really comes down to just trying it. ~John
@@4Keystone i need to know, not even with cloning tools,apps? like Aomei backupper, Macrium reflect, Acronis (i just saw these names in the net, do not know much about...)
@@josepeixoto3384 To the best of my knowledge, Windows will not run off the SD card even if you make it a hard drive like I show in this video. I don't see that cloning tools would make any difference. I'm making assumptions here as I haven't actually tried the process. ~John
@@4Keystone btw, is there a way to do the opposite process to this? Unmount the sd card? Just in case I purchase another SD card later and want to remove this one as hard drive? Or use it for another device
Thanks for the excellent tutorial, John! I'm an amatuer, so here's an amatuer question. What size sd card would you recommend, or what would be the largest sd card you'd recommend? (I have 4gb of ram in my laptop right now. Hp Stream 14 w/Windows 11)
Thanks for your feedback. There are some considerations besides size. I would direct you to my blog post on SD Cards found here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/ I would recommend 64GB or 128 GB. However, if the card reader on your device can read HD SD cards, you can go even higher. ~John
very very informative video, so neat and easy to understand . is it okay to remove the SD card and insert it back again? Sometimes, i will need sd card slot to read/transfer my other sd card files. thanks!
Eric...Thank you for your nice comment! I'm glad you found my video easy to understand. As for your question about removing the SD card: Yes, you can remove it to insert another card to transfer data. The Library that you created will remain. However, if you had changed the storage areas like I showed near the end of the video, anything new you store while the original SD card is out will default to the original area. For instance, if you set all new documents to save on your SD card, any document you create while that SD card is not plugged in will default to c:\Users\[User Name]\Documents. You would then have to move those new documents to the SD card when you re-insert it. I hope I didn't make that sound too complicated! 😊 ~John
OMG. My PC has a sd card slot and I always wondered what was the point of it. This is absolutely the most useful information, and so clearly explained. Thank you!
Harry...I'm so glad you found my video easy to understand! Don't forget, age is just a number. My Dad who made it to 99 1/2 (may he RIP) never had a computer until he was in his 80s and he wrote checks online, sent greetings cards and did lots more. So, keep plugging away! ~John
very good information and explanation! appreciate your efforts. I would like to post a query here. when you use the SD card as internal storage for longer duration, have you faced any issues, except speed? (I understand the fact that the drive may be slower than SSDs)
Thanks for an excellent question. I haven't faced any long duration issues but, I actually take some steps to avoide them. Here's what I mean: SD cards can sometimes become corrupted for no apparent reason. With that in mind, at least once a year, I copy the data from the current SD drive to a new one. Then, I remove the older SD card and use the newer one. Again, I've never really had an issue but I take this step to avoid one. ~John
If you eject the SD card, you would defeat the ability to automatically save files (downloads, for example) directly to the card as if it was a second hard drive. But, the answer is "yes" you can eject it. ~John
@@phosphor6531 I really like helping people and I figure if they take the time to comment, I need to take the time to reply! Thanks for noticing! ~John
Hi - thanks for this. I may resort to this method of adding storage to my cheap HP Stream laptop, which for some reason is not recognizing internal SSD. It's weird, it has a PCIe slot and the m.2 fits perfectly. I think it's b/c there's a soldered emmc 64 gb unit, but I just wanted to add secondary storage.
There are a lot of things to consider when trying to use a m.2 in a PCIe slot. Which version is the PCIe? Is the m.2 a Sata or PCI hard drive? Will the motherboard and/or BIOS support what you are trying to do? If you were working with a tower, it's much easier as you can install adaptors to accomplish your goal. But, for your laptop, using a SD card as the hard drive is probably the easiest and least expensive route to go. ~John
Thank you so much for helping us all, liberating our laptops and giving new life. as previouse comments quaity and a gentle old school approach to teaching. Thanks
Thank you for your positive feedback! I appreciate it very much. Yes, I us an SD card as a hard drive on one of my own laptops so I'm sure you won't have any trouble! ~John
This man put me on. Thank you so much for the help. As someone who grew up in the generation of technology and an avid gamer (with a computer tech for a dad) you still did a better job than us both explaining it to me. Thank you kindly 🙏 I have one question, if I take it out to add an external ssd will that corrupt the micro sd?
Thanks so much for your comment and question. Glad I could help. No, you won't corrupt the SD card if you take it out. You'll just lose the ability to automatcially save to it if you set up that option. (Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I'm in the middle of moving my company to a new location. Grrrr Not a fun job!) ~John
I understand the SD card cannot be used as a drive to run the OS. However, can it be used to store and run Program Files of other software (e.g. Office, PDF editor)? How to do that? BTW, I have a 11.6" Lenovo 120s that I like to use as a portable but most of the space on the installed 32GB SSD is taken up by Win10 OS and in the SD card slot I am using a SanDisk 128GB Extreme Plus card with a top read/write speed of 150/90. If you have any other suggestions to make a computer like this more useable, please add those. Thanks for the great tutorial!
Hi and thanks for your question. You can run programs off the SD card IF the program installer allows you to choose where to install it. Unfortunately, Office 365 and Office 2019 or 2022 do not allow you to install the program anywhere except on the drive that contains Windows. Still, for many other programs, if you check the install wizard carefully, they will often allow you to move the installation to a different drive. It's unfortunate that manufacturers, including Lenovo which I like alot, make computers with such small hard drives. Thje only other suggestions I would have is to store as much of your data online - like as in OneDrive or Dropbox or somewhere you dont' have to store all the data on the computer itself. ~John
Thanks for taking the time to ask me your questions! I prefer either PNY (like this one: amzn.to/42K1mlN) or SanDisk (like this one: amzn.to/3X9E7QS). As for performance, may I suggest you read my blog post on SD cards? You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/. ~John
Great question! As long as you're only using the SD card to store data and not any program installations, you can always copy the data to another drive then delete the data on the card to get your SD card space back. As far as the computer part, you can just undo what you set up to make the SD card a hard drive. If you ever get where you need to that and you have an issue, just send me a comment and I'll be happy to assist you! ~John
Thanks for your question! While technically it's possible to do what you're asking, I wouldn't recommend it. If you did that, it means you could never remove the SD card from your machine or the program or driver wouldn't work. Additionally, an SD card is more likely to get corrupted or fail when compared to your device's actual hard drive, you stand a higher chance of something going wrong.
Great question! You will not need to repeat the process if you re-insert the same SD card. The drive will re-appear in the Library you created. If you modified where new content is stored, that drive letter will still be there. ~John
Hey i dont know a lot about about computers but wanted to know if this can help improve my old laptops performenc.....BTW great containt love it from bangladesh
Hi and thanks for your comment! Yes, it can help improve old laptop performance if they old hard drives are 90% full or more. Beyond that, it probably won't make much difference. ~John
Someone else asked me that same question and I'm going to testing it later this week. I believe it will since storage is storage but I'll get back to you after I give it a shot! Thanks for asking. ~John
You can install some programs on the SD Card although it really is better to steer your data there and not programs. Ejecting the SD card simply removes accessibility to whatever you stored on it. You should not have to redo the process if you bring the card back...however, if you've added something else (external drive, for example) and the SD cards Drive letter has changed, then you'd basically have to redo the process. ~John
already known this information for more than a year, But the way you explain it forced me to continue watching Very clear, definite, and useful worth seeing, thank you very much, actually the reason I still use youtube is people like you.
I appreciate your apparent effort by the content, whether on the website or on the channel ** subscribed ( -_- )
Thanks for your question. The answer is, it depends. A traditional hard drive operating at 5400rpm has a transfer rate of about 100 MB/s. SD card transfer rates depend on the SD card's rating. If you need a full explaination as to the writing on an SD card, I would direct you to my blog post from February, 2021 titled "SD Card Info." You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/ Hope this helps you! ~John
Hello Sir, Your Tutorial Worked Very Well But I had A Question If it's possible to download applications to the hard drive with the sd card what would happen if I removed it and put it back in would the applications still work?
You need to be careful downloading applications to the SD Card as the Windows registry will keep looking for the apps you installed on the card. They should work while the card is installed but when you remove it, you might possibly get lots of error messages - especially if the app uses background services. To be safe, I would limit what you put on the SD card to data only. ~John
Can I download movies and TV shows into the SD Card i have just converted to a hard drive. And will the videos play without saying that it has been corrupted?
If the videos did not say they were corrupted when they were played from a built-in hard drive, they should not be corrupted from the SD card. You are merely changing the storage location of the videos. ~John
This helps alot and no need to carry external hard drive with case no fear of any fall down of harddrive and any physical damage etc and i would like to thank you brother for this guidance.! ❤️😘. And can u tell the approx speeds sd card VS hdd ..? Only for files storage like photos videos or some softwares..?
Thank you for your comment, Raja! I'm glad this video helped. As for read and write speeds, I would direct you to an explanation page from my good friends at B&H Photo. You'll find it here: www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/computers/tips-and-solutions/numbers-your-memory-card?BI=572&gclid=CjwKCAiAxp-ABhALEiwAXm6IyQ0NtyZCkdcehL79TOM4bcNml9vDUfUz2yvQ3VuDLAxIdN19mbNy3hoCTd8QAvD_BwE ~John
Great video. My son has a hp all in one computer and his memory gets so full with only a couple things! All he uses it for is games but it only has two! We have nothing else on the computer so I find it really strange. Anyway if I were to do this would this allow us to download apps to the sim card? Like gaming apps or even something like zoom meetings? Thanks!
Hi, Amanda! Thanks for posting your questions. Unfortunately, I can't give you a blanket answer. Some apps will work off the SD card when it's set up as a hard drive and some won't. One thing is for sure - Windows updates will not operate off the SD. But, when it comes to games and other apps, it comes down to just trying it. ~John
Thanks for your comment! The transfer speed depends on the speed of the card reader itself which, if you're using one built-in to a computer, there's not much you can do to make that faster. However, SD cards themselves have different transfer speeds and you may be able to increase the speed by changing to a card with a faster transfer rate. You might want to have a look at a blog post I did recently regarding what all the "stuff" printed on a SD card means. You'll find the post here: www.4kcc.com/blog/?p=5201 ~John
How about installing as primary in a sd card? ...suppose if you don't /can't have a hard drive and try to install on a sd 128gb (more or lower). Also... can it be working on old computers?
Hi, Luis! Most operating systems won't allow you to use an SD card as the primary drive but I'm one who always believes in trying it! As for older computers, this will work there, too - assuming they have a SD card reader. (If not, you can get a USB/SD Card adaptor. Of course, older computers will probably transfer at a slower rate but it still should work. ~John
Thanks for your question. IF a program will allow you to change where it's installed (some do, some don't), then yes, you can install to the SD card if it's running as a hard drive. Windows OS and Microsoft Office will not install there but many other programs will. ~John
Quick question would I be able to use the card in different computers or plug into my tv to watch photos & videos? I current ly can watch photos & videos with a sd card on my ROKU TV.
You can always use the card in other computers (assuming they have a SD port.) and even a TV if it also has a port. However, when you do that, you defeat the purpose of setting up the SD card as a Hard Drive. You can't automatically save downloads, pictures or other data to the SD card if it's not there. The key word in that last sentence is "automatically." You can always drag data to an SD card even if you don't set it up as a hard drive. ~John
Thanks for your nice comment. Unfortunately, on the Chromebook, you can't use the SD card as a second hard drive like in Windows. You can, however, use it as data storage - you just have to move things there manually instead of automatically. ~John
So can I take this SD Card out with stuff on it & use in another laptop? My dropbox is full & want to put some on this card. If computer crashes I will still have this stuff?
Yes, you can take the card to another laptop that has an SD card reader and you can access whatever is on the card. Remember, all hard drives (an SD card is basically a solid state hard drive) crash so redundancy is always good when it comes to back ups. ~John
Thank you sir, I'm unable to download Office on my laptop since it keeps showing that the C drive is full. There are no additional apps on my C drive and I've fully updated Windows 10. Will this allow me to download Office on my SD card?
It should allow you to download the Office installation file. However, Office will still want to install the on the C drive since that's where Windows resides. If you don't have any apps on the C drive, do you have Data you could move to the SD card? If you absolutely can't free up any room on the C drive, an alternative would be to use Office online. The online Office apps don't have all the features of the full-blown Office 365 but the online apps will work for a great majority of people. ~John
Are there any SD card types that don'work with this method? Can any SD card act as an hard drive with this method? Would like to know before buying one, I see SDHC and SDXC cards in store, thanks.
Thanks for your question! For this method, the type of SD card that you use doens't matter; however, what does matter is what types of SD cards your computer will handle. Some older computers won't recognize some of the newer SD cards. Actually, this happened to one of my customers - they purchased a card that wouldn't work in their computer. If you didn't view it already, you might want to read my blog post from last February regarding SD cards. You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/
would yall recommend using a SD card to edit? i have a home office where i do most my editing, i bought a ipad and a mini dock so i can edit outside my office , i dont wanna carry a 1tb ssd around so i thought of buying a 1tb sd to plug into my ipad so its compact ( i still have the files in my backup not just the sd)
This is one of the best calming and useful old age person I've ever seen! Sorry for mentioning the "old age", but I like you, man!
Haha - I'm not offended by "old age" since it beats the alternative. I try to be calm as even for me - who has been working on computers since 1983 - I get aggravated when some one is explaining something either at warp speed or simply leaving out crucial steps. Thanks so much for commenting! ~John
are you 12 year old kid??? he is older person but not OLD AGE..jesus how small are you
@@4Keystone Good to know.
@@4Keystonedo you have any tutorial of merging SD card with C drive...
I want to increase my Chromebook storage ( with Window 10 Lite )16 GB to 32 GB
Thanks. I just purchased an SD card for the first time to use as an extra hard drive for a Chromebook and I never would have figured out how to set it up without this video.
Glad I could help! ~John
This is called quality content. I was looking for one thing, and learned so many other things.
Thank you so much for your very nice comment! I always try to sneak in a little extra learning possibilities! LOL ~John
4KCC - hey john, can i just take a second to say thanks. i read all the comments and i noticed that you actually had a couple people reach out to you and you offered to help them out for free. i almost can't believe there's still people like you out there. just wanted you to hear that from me, thanks for all you do:) -barbie
Barbie - Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, I try to help people when I can - and for free, if possible. Thanks for noticing. ~John
@@4Keystone you are welcome. you make me smile:) -barbie
I bloody love this bloke. He’s so calm
Haha. I appreciate your comment and I do try to remaim calm! Thanks for noticing. ~John
Sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar. You should have way more views.
I'm never too sure about the gentleman part (LOL) but thanks. As for views, hopefully, with nice people like you visiting my channel, they'll increase. ~John
Honestly glad I found this video… I have a gaming laptop that only has 250gb of storage, but planned on getting a 2tb storage SD to use for storing downloaded games.
I'm glad you found my video, too! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
I’ve been looking for a tutorial for so long none of them worked until yours and it worked without any problems
Very glad to hear this tutorial helped you!! Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it. ~John
will this tutorial delete all your data?
Everything seems to be so easy when you know what to do and this man is just great ! Thank you !
Adam...Thanks so much for your comment. You made my day! ~John
Very clear explanation how to use sd card as a second hard drive .
God bless you with good health and wisdom to continue helping the humanity . Thank you
I'm glad you found my video helpful and thanks so much for your kind wishes! ~John
Just a wholesome and helpful ol lad. Respect.
Thanks! ~John
Thank you so much for these easy to follow steps! The only thing I had to figure out on my own was the fact that I had to move each of my son's games to the SD Card file before they'd run again (since his laptop was out of storage).
This video saved me a trip and some $$$ to a computer pro. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!
Lisa...I'm glad it helped. Games are in a field of their own. Some will play off the SD card and some won't. Congrats on figuring out that you had to move them. And, I'm glad you saved some money! ~John
The professional when it mixed with lead of windows specialist user you got this man
Thanks for your comment! ~John
Just the tutorial I’ve been looking for! Thanks
Thanks, Reggie! I'm glad it is helpful for you and thanks for the comment! ~John
This video thoroughly explains a lot of information I was curious about. the fact that your explanation was simple and easy to understand made your directions easy to follow. I am going to purchase a SD card for my laptop soon and mount it to my laptop following the instructions from this video. I do have
one question. what is the difference between using a standard SD vs using a Micro SD?
Thanks for your comment. I'm sorry for the delay in answering. I was moving! Ugh! Anyway, a micro SD card is a physically smaller card. For many computers, you have to use an adaptor because they don't have mini ports. You might see what I mean by visiting amzn.to/465TfUd.
~John
this was one of the best tutorials I've ever seen, thank u so much, it's exactly what I've looking for. I tried many videos on my native language and even in English this tutorial is the best.
I have one question, is possible install and run softwares in that SD storage?
Thank you for your very nice comment. I really appreciate it! When it comes to running software on the SD card, the answer is "It depends." You can't run Windows or Windows updates but some programs WILL run on the SD card. It really comes down to just trying it. ~John
Hello! Great video! Does this make it a fully integrated local HD that can be used for the operating system and other system components?
Thanks for your comment! Unfortunately, the SD card can't be used to store the OS, etc. At least, I haven't been able to make that work! LOL ~John
@@4Keystone i need to know, not even with cloning tools,apps? like Aomei backupper, Macrium reflect, Acronis
(i just saw these names in the net, do not know much about...)
@@josepeixoto3384 To the best of my knowledge, Windows will not run off the SD card even if you make it a hard drive like I show in this video. I don't see that cloning tools would make any difference. I'm making assumptions here as I haven't actually tried the process. ~John
Thanks so much for this tutorial!! It was easy to follow, really well produced and presented. 😊
Thank you for your kind words. Glad it helped! ~John
I recently purchased a laptop and this video was so helpful, since I was running out of strage after only two weeks! Thank you so much, sir!
You are more than welcome! I'm so glad it helped you/ ~John
@@4Keystone btw, is there a way to do the opposite process to this? Unmount the sd card? Just in case I purchase another SD card later and want to remove this one as hard drive? Or use it for another device
@@ledysarciniega5536 Yes. Simply removing the SD card will end the process. ~John
After searching for 2 hours I finally found a helpful video. Thanks
I'm so glad my video was helpful! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
Thanks for the excellent tutorial, John! I'm an amatuer, so here's an amatuer question. What size sd card would you recommend, or what would be the largest sd card you'd recommend?
(I have 4gb of ram in my laptop right now. Hp Stream 14 w/Windows 11)
Thanks for your feedback. There are some considerations besides size. I would direct you to my blog post on SD Cards found here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/
I would recommend 64GB or 128 GB. However, if the card reader on your device can read HD SD cards, you can go even higher. ~John
very very informative video, so neat and easy to understand
. is it okay to remove the SD card and insert it back again? Sometimes, i will need sd card slot to read/transfer my other sd card files. thanks!
Eric...Thank you for your nice comment! I'm glad you found my video easy to understand. As for your question about removing the SD card: Yes, you can remove it to insert another card to transfer data. The Library that you created will remain. However, if you had changed the storage areas like I showed near the end of the video, anything new you store while the original SD card is out will default to the original area. For instance, if you set all new documents to save on your SD card, any document you create while that SD card is not plugged in will default to c:\Users\[User Name]\Documents. You would then have to move those new documents to the SD card when you re-insert it.
I hope I didn't make that sound too complicated! 😊 ~John
OMG. My PC has a sd card slot and I always wondered what was the point of it. This is absolutely the most useful information, and so clearly explained. Thank you!
Thanks for letting me know that my video was helpful! I appreciate it! ~John
For a guy that has just handed his problems off to his computer guy, this is informative and yes even an old guy like me can understand, thank you!
Harry...I'm so glad you found my video easy to understand! Don't forget, age is just a number. My Dad who made it to 99 1/2 (may he RIP) never had a computer until he was in his 80s and he wrote checks online, sent greetings cards and did lots more. So, keep plugging away! ~John
This is it. Thanks sir, may God renew your strength. I have been crying for space for my laptop since. Thanks once again sir❤❤❤
You are more than welcome. Glad it helped! ~John
I had the same problem..I used this tutorial and it worked!!!! thanks...you save me money and time
Great to hear! I love that my video helped you! Thanks for watching! ~John
very good information and explanation! appreciate your efforts.
I would like to post a query here. when you use the SD card as internal storage for longer duration, have you faced any issues, except speed? (I understand the fact that the drive may be slower than SSDs)
Thanks for an excellent question. I haven't faced any long duration issues but, I actually take some steps to avoide them. Here's what I mean: SD cards can sometimes become corrupted for no apparent reason. With that in mind, at least once a year, I copy the data from the current SD drive to a new one. Then, I remove the older SD card and use the newer one. Again, I've never really had an issue but I take this step to avoid one. ~John
@@4Keystone that helps. I understand your point. In fact I was looking for some real wisdom like this.
@@kpofcochin Glad I could help! ~John
I just did what I’ve been trying to do for a year, thank you. AMAZING!!
Monica...Sorry it took a year! But, glad my video helped you! ~John
Thank you so much! I’ve been trying to do this for the past hour lol and once I watched your video, it only took me like 3 seconds lmaoo
Great! I'm so glad this video helped you! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
THANK YOU SO MUCH NOW I CAN HAVE MORE SPACE
Awesome! ~ John
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Love it. Good, clean, straight to the point tutorial.
Thank you! I really appreciate your kind comments. ~John
Can I eject that sd card once I set it up? Btw, great explanation. Thanks a lot for the help
If you eject the SD card, you would defeat the ability to automatically save files (downloads, for example) directly to the card as if it was a second hard drive. But, the answer is "yes" you can eject it. ~John
I never knew about this, now I can play GTA V in peace, thank you!
You’re welcome! Play on!! 😄 ~John
@@4Keystone it's amazing how you replied to all 500 comments that's insane
@@phosphor6531 I really like helping people and I figure if they take the time to comment, I need to take the time to reply! Thanks for noticing! ~John
Awesome! I just learned how to switch hard drive with sd card. Now I'm going for it!!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
This was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! Definitely happy to be a new subscriber.⭐️
Glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! ~John
Hi - thanks for this. I may resort to this method of adding storage to my cheap HP Stream laptop, which for some reason is not recognizing internal SSD. It's weird, it has a PCIe slot and the m.2 fits perfectly. I think it's b/c there's a soldered emmc 64 gb unit, but I just wanted to add secondary storage.
There are a lot of things to consider when trying to use a m.2 in a PCIe slot. Which version is the PCIe? Is the m.2 a Sata or PCI hard drive? Will the motherboard and/or BIOS support what you are trying to do? If you were working with a tower, it's much easier as you can install adaptors to accomplish your goal. But, for your laptop, using a SD card as the hard drive is probably the easiest and least expensive route to go. ~John
Thank you so much for helping us all, liberating our laptops and giving new life. as previouse comments quaity and a gentle old school approach to teaching. Thanks
My pleasure. And thank YOU for your very nice comment! ~John
Thanks you so much. My laptop only had 256 gigs and i needed to expand it. You deserve more subs so i an subbing to u
Glad I could help and thanks for subscribing! ~John
will this tutorial delete all ur data?
Clear instructions, very informative! 🙏 thank you for this tutorial.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your nice comment! ~John
Great Ive been thinking if I can do this, This is a great tutorials btw.
Thank you for your positive feedback! I appreciate it very much. Yes, I us an SD card as a hard drive on one of my own laptops so I'm sure you won't have any trouble! ~John
i really appreciated this! saved me a bunch of time and had great examples.
I'm so glad to know we could help. Thanks for the feedback! ~John
This man put me on. Thank you so much for the help. As someone who grew up in the generation of technology and an avid gamer (with a computer tech for a dad) you still did a better job than us both explaining it to me. Thank you kindly 🙏
I have one question, if I take it out to add an external ssd will that corrupt the micro sd?
Thanks so much for your comment and question. Glad I could help. No, you won't corrupt the SD card if you take it out. You'll just lose the ability to automatcially save to it if you set up that option. (Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I'm in the middle of moving my company to a new location. Grrrr Not a fun job!) ~John
Excellent tutorial with clear straight forward directions. Great job!🎉 Thank you
Thank you so much for your comment! I'm glad you found it helpful. ~John
Thank you so much, Sir!! I've been trying to do this for the last hour, thank you for explaining in simple terms 😂😂
You’re welcome! Thanks for letting me know it helped! ~John
I understand the SD card cannot be used as a drive to run the OS. However, can it be used to store and run Program Files of other software (e.g. Office, PDF editor)? How to do that? BTW, I have a 11.6" Lenovo 120s that I like to use as a portable but most of the space on the installed 32GB SSD is taken up by Win10 OS and in the SD card slot I am using a SanDisk 128GB Extreme Plus card with a top read/write speed of 150/90. If you have any other suggestions to make a computer like this more useable, please add those.
Thanks for the great tutorial!
Hi and thanks for your question. You can run programs off the SD card IF the program installer allows you to choose where to install it. Unfortunately, Office 365 and Office 2019 or 2022 do not allow you to install the program anywhere except on the drive that contains Windows. Still, for many other programs, if you check the install wizard carefully, they will often allow you to move the installation to a different drive.
It's unfortunate that manufacturers, including Lenovo which I like alot, make computers with such small hard drives. Thje only other suggestions I would have is to store as much of your data online - like as in OneDrive or Dropbox or somewhere you dont' have to store all the data on the computer itself. ~John
Any recommendation on sd card brand or type for best performance?
Thanks for taking the time to ask me your questions! I prefer either PNY (like this one: amzn.to/42K1mlN) or SanDisk (like this one: amzn.to/3X9E7QS). As for performance, may I suggest you read my blog post on SD cards? You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/. ~John
This is the exact info I was looking for. Thanks!
I'm so glad my video had what you were looking for! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
This was really great, I was very happy because it was always a question for me, but you solved it so easily, thank you, good luck
Thanks for letting me know my video helped you! ~John
Is it possible to reverse this process ? If i need back my sdcard to use for other purposes in future ?
Great question! As long as you're only using the SD card to store data and not any program installations, you can always copy the data to another drive then delete the data on the card to get your SD card space back. As far as the computer part, you can just undo what you set up to make the SD card a hard drive. If you ever get where you need to that and you have an issue, just send me a comment and I'll be happy to assist you! ~John
Can we install any application or drivers using sd card as the hard drive in computer
Thanks for your question! While technically it's possible to do what you're asking, I wouldn't recommend it. If you did that, it means you could never remove the SD card from your machine or the program or driver wouldn't work. Additionally, an SD card is more likely to get corrupted or fail when compared to your device's actual hard drive, you stand a higher chance of something going wrong.
What will happen if I remove the sd card and insert it again? Do i need to repeat the whole process for it to become my hard drive?
Great question! You will not need to repeat the process if you re-insert the same SD card. The drive will re-appear in the Library you created. If you modified where new content is stored, that drive letter will still be there. ~John
Excellent tutorial, learnt what I needed to know. Thanks
Thanks so much for your feedback. Im glad the video helped you! ~John
Hey i dont know a lot about about computers but wanted to know if this can help improve my old laptops performenc.....BTW great containt love it from bangladesh
Hi and thanks for your comment! Yes, it can help improve old laptop performance if they old hard drives are 90% full or more. Beyond that, it probably won't make much difference. ~John
thanks to you i was able to save all my music fils on to my sd card in my pc so thank you
I'm so glad the video helped you! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
Thanks a lot, this method worked for me, for moving my onedrive folder to a usb flash drive, thanksss
Thanks so much for letting me know this worked for you. Always glad to hear it! 😀 ~John
Love the video, but does this work with a USB memory stick?
Someone else asked me that same question and I'm going to testing it later this week. I believe it will since storage is storage but I'll get back to you after I give it a shot! Thanks for asking. ~John
How are deleted files handled?
Will they go to the standard recycle bin? Or are they instantly deleted permanently?
They should go to the Recycle bin as normal since it's the same as having a second drive. ~John
Sir, this video is very very good. It helped me.
Glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know! ~John
Thank you sir awesome stuff. Helping me out for storage on an HP stream.
Abel...So, glad to hear it helped! Thanks for your comment. ~John
Can we install any programs on the new storage drive ? also what effect does ejecting the drive have ? do we havve to do this process everytime ?
You can install some programs on the SD Card although it really is better to steer your data there and not programs. Ejecting the SD card simply removes accessibility to whatever you stored on it. You should not have to redo the process if you bring the card back...however, if you've added something else (external drive, for example) and the SD cards Drive letter has changed, then you'd basically have to redo the process. ~John
@@4Keystone got it , thanks for taking care to respond to the comments appreciate it and all the help !
thank you so much i dont have to stress about space anymore
You're very welcome! I'm glad my video is useful for you! ~John
Thanks you so much! Now I can us my SD card for cloud sync
Glad I could help! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
Thx really help than mainstream channel
Thanks so much for your comment! ~John
It worked perfectly.
Thanks from D. R. CONGO
Great! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
already known this information for more than a year, But the way you explain it forced me to continue watching
Very clear, definite, and useful worth seeing, thank you very much, actually the reason I still use youtube is people like you.
I appreciate your apparent effort by the content, whether on the website or on the channel ** subscribed ( -_- )
Thank you so much for your comment! ~John
Sir im planing to use sdcard for booting win xp on my old laptop but how about the speed is the speed same with 5400rpm disk?
Thanks for your question. The answer is, it depends. A traditional hard drive operating at 5400rpm has a transfer rate of about 100 MB/s. SD card transfer rates depend on the SD card's rating. If you need a full explaination as to the writing on an SD card, I would direct you to my blog post from February, 2021 titled "SD Card Info." You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/
Hope this helps you! ~John
Thank you so much you are the best! I’m so grateful I found you
Thank you so much for your nice comment! I'm glad my videos are helping! ~John
Excellent, very clear and easy to execute
Thanks for your nice comment.. Glad it was easy to follow! ~John
This video was very helpful thank you very much
Glad it was helpful! And thanks for letting me know! ~John
there's lot of important thing I've just learn here...thanks
I’m glad you found it helpful. ~John
Thank you very much easy simple steps to follow 👊
You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful! ~John
Hello Sir, Your Tutorial Worked Very Well But I had A Question
If it's possible to download applications to the hard drive with the sd card what would happen if I removed it and put it back in would the applications still work?
You need to be careful downloading applications to the SD Card as the Windows registry will keep looking for the apps you installed on the card. They should work while the card is installed but when you remove it, you might possibly get lots of error messages - especially if the app uses background services. To be safe, I would limit what you put on the SD card to data only. ~John
This is very helpful and informative video tutorial. Thank you so much.
You're very welcome! Thanks so much for commenting! ~John
Can I download movies and TV shows into the SD Card i have just converted to a hard drive.
And will the videos play without saying that it has been corrupted?
If the videos did not say they were corrupted when they were played from a built-in hard drive, they should not be corrupted from the SD card. You are merely changing the storage location of the videos. ~John
This helps alot and no need to carry external hard drive with case no fear of any fall down of harddrive and any physical damage etc and i would like to thank you brother for this guidance.! ❤️😘. And can u tell the approx speeds sd card VS hdd ..? Only for files storage like photos videos or some softwares..?
Thank you for your comment, Raja! I'm glad this video helped. As for read and write speeds, I would direct you to an explanation page from my good friends at B&H Photo. You'll find it here: www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/computers/tips-and-solutions/numbers-your-memory-card?BI=572&gclid=CjwKCAiAxp-ABhALEiwAXm6IyQ0NtyZCkdcehL79TOM4bcNml9vDUfUz2yvQ3VuDLAxIdN19mbNy3hoCTd8QAvD_BwE ~John
Great video. My son has a hp all in one computer and his memory gets so full with only a couple things! All he uses it for is games but it only has two! We have nothing else on the computer so I find it really strange. Anyway if I were to do this would this allow us to download apps to the sim card? Like gaming apps or even something like zoom meetings? Thanks!
Hi, Amanda! Thanks for posting your questions. Unfortunately, I can't give you a blanket answer. Some apps will work off the SD card when it's set up as a hard drive and some won't. One thing is for sure - Windows updates will not operate off the SD. But, when it comes to games and other apps, it comes down to just trying it. ~John
Very nice video, but can you please tell me if how can i make transfer speed files makes faster?
Thanks for your comment! The transfer speed depends on the speed of the card reader itself which, if you're using one built-in to a computer, there's not much you can do to make that faster. However, SD cards themselves have different transfer speeds and you may be able to increase the speed by changing to a card with a faster transfer rate. You might want to have a look at a blog post I did recently regarding what all the "stuff" printed on a SD card means. You'll find the post here: www.4kcc.com/blog/?p=5201 ~John
How about installing as primary in a sd card? ...suppose if you don't /can't have a hard drive and try to install on a sd 128gb (more or lower).
Also... can it be working on old computers?
Hi, Luis! Most operating systems won't allow you to use an SD card as the primary drive but I'm one who always believes in trying it! As for older computers, this will work there, too - assuming they have a SD card reader. (If not, you can get a USB/SD Card adaptor. Of course, older computers will probably transfer at a slower rate but it still should work. ~John
thank you for your ancient knowledge and wisdom that I can only guess has been passed down through generations
You're welcome. It's why I have grey hair! ~John
Sir..Is it possible to install windows in it? I mean to make it as c drive?
Generally, Windows will not allow installing the OS on a SD card. ~John
I wanted to say thank you for this Video!
You are more than welcome! :-) ~John
Pretty fantastic John!
Many thanks! ~John
Thanks for the info! Can I install programs to the drive?
Thanks for your question. IF a program will allow you to change where it's installed (some do, some don't), then yes, you can install to the SD card if it's running as a hard drive. Windows OS and Microsoft Office will not install there but many other programs will. ~John
On the issue
Can I install virtual machines on the SD card?
Man I just love the calming voice!
Just subscribed!
Pls comment your age sir🙏🏻
Thanks and welcome! As for my age, I'll share if you promise to not tell anyone! LOL I'll be 73 next month! ~John
Quick question would I be able to use the card in different computers or plug into my tv to watch photos & videos? I current ly can watch photos & videos with a sd card on my ROKU TV.
You can always use the card in other computers (assuming they have a SD port.) and even a TV if it also has a port. However, when you do that, you defeat the purpose of setting up the SD card as a Hard Drive. You can't automatically save downloads, pictures or other data to the SD card if it's not there. The key word in that last sentence is "automatically." You can always drag data to an SD card even if you don't set it up as a hard drive. ~John
Excellent video and tutorial. Thank you Sir and God bless you!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your comment! ~John
does this work on older Microsoft versions?
To be perfectly honest, I haven't tried it on any Windows version prior to Windows 10. What version did you want to use this method on? ~John
wow..love the way you explain things..can I do this on my Chromebook also? thanks
Thanks for your nice comment. Unfortunately, on the Chromebook, you can't use the SD card as a second hard drive like in Windows. You can, however, use it as data storage - you just have to move things there manually instead of automatically. ~John
@@4Keystone thanks for the quiick reply
Thank you so much saved me such a hassle with games
You're welcome. Glad to hear it! ~John
This answered exactly what I was looking for - a big thanks!
Great, glad it works for you. Thanks for letting me know. ~John
So can I take this SD Card out with stuff on it & use in another laptop? My dropbox is full & want to put some on this card. If computer crashes I will still have this stuff?
Yes, you can take the card to another laptop that has an SD card reader and you can access whatever is on the card. Remember, all hard drives (an SD card is basically a solid state hard drive) crash so redundancy is always good when it comes to back ups. ~John
thankyou so much very helpfull keep up the good work,just what i was looking for
Glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know. ~John
Thank you sir, I'm unable to download Office on my laptop since it keeps showing that the C drive is full. There are no additional apps on my C drive and I've fully updated Windows 10. Will this allow me to download Office on my SD card?
It should allow you to download the Office installation file. However, Office will still want to install the on the C drive since that's where Windows resides. If you don't have any apps on the C drive, do you have Data you could move to the SD card? If you absolutely can't free up any room on the C drive, an alternative would be to use Office online. The online Office apps don't have all the features of the full-blown Office 365 but the online apps will work for a great majority of people. ~John
hello, i interested, can i use usb card as a hard drive on my laptop?
Yes, you can. ~John
Well explained video. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do! ~John
Are there any SD card types that don'work with this method? Can any SD card act as an hard drive with this method? Would like to know before buying one, I see SDHC and SDXC cards in store, thanks.
Thanks for your question! For this method, the type of SD card that you use doens't matter; however, what does matter is what types of SD cards your computer will handle. Some older computers won't recognize some of the newer SD cards. Actually, this happened to one of my customers - they purchased a card that wouldn't work in their computer. If you didn't view it already, you might want to read my blog post from last February regarding SD cards. You'll find it here: www.4kcc.com/blog/2021/02/02/sd-card-info/
Thanks I was looking to do this as I can get sd cards cheap.
Glad to hear it! ~John
Is there a way to do this VIA phone? Or should i just purchase an adapter for the sd card
You really should buy an adapter. ~John
would yall recommend using a SD card to edit? i have a home office where i do most my editing, i bought a ipad and a mini dock so i can edit outside my office , i dont wanna carry a 1tb ssd around so i thought of buying a 1tb sd to plug into my ipad so its compact ( i still have the files in my backup not just the sd)
I think that idea sounds great. I say go for it! ~John
Thanks man! Very useful & you are very knowledgeable! 🎉 🏆
Glad you think so. Thanks for letting me know you found it helpful. ~John