Adding an SSD drive to my M7-J020DX

HI, I have been trying to add/upgrade an SSD drive to my Laptop to speed up my PC . I have had nothing but issues. I was able to get the caddy and proper ribbon adapter.
I wanted to do a fresh install of Windows 8 and not clone my 1TB Drive to my 120GB SSD. (maybe this will work if I ony clone the OS fies) For some reason, I can't get my HP to even see te SSD at all. I have turned on and off Legacy in BIOS. I have tried the SSD in both slots with Original HDD unplugged. There is nothing wrong with the SSD as I can see it in other PC's, infact, I formatted it in a Windows 8 PC for troubleshooting purposes. I don't know what I am missing here... I don't see anywhere in the BIOS that even tells me it's installed. If I go to install Windows 8, (VIA Bootable USB) it wan'ts Drivers. But it don't even see the HDD at all even...I have the same results when tryingo nstall Windows 7 as well.
I jucalled HP tech support and Parts, Apparently, the Laptop is not upgradable to use with an SSD Drive. I find this unacceptable. Why have a 2nd HDD Bay and why Have I seen other posts with use of an SSD.
Is there a BIOS Hack or something I can do to get ths to work?

I was able to finally get it to work. It looks like it was the SSD HDD itself. I went out and bought another one (newer 240GB for $80). I now have it up and running Windows 8.1 on it while using the original 1TB spinner for the data. I wasn't taking HP's word on it not being upgradeable. However, the system did crash after an update. I got the. BSOD "Critical process died" and I couldn't repair or Format it again. I was using a Windows 8 version someone gave me, on a Bootable USB drive. So that might have been that issue as well. I wound up creating my own Bootable USB drive from my original media and that worked. I thank you all for your help!

Similar Messages

I added an SSD and I have 2 drives

I just added a SSD drive to my MBP and I moved the original drive to the optical bay. I am interested in having the SSD only handle the startup and the OS. I want place app icons on the SSD desktop, I want the apps to be kept on the original drive. How do I do this?

Partitioning an SSD!!! Normally users make raid 0 out of several SSD to have a one large partition striped across the SSDs. Can not think of a good reason to partition an SSD. Perhaps there may be???
https://www.google.com/search?num=50&lr=&newwindow=1&as_qdr=all&site=webhp&source=hp&q=Is+ there+any+good+reason+o+partit…

My hard drive is fried. I need to reinstall moutain lion to a new SSD drive. How do I install without media?

My hard drive fried. I can't reinstall from the OSX utilities because it only shows the recovery partition. I was thinking about adding an SSD drive. But I dont know how to install OSX mountain lion without any media. What are my choices? What should I do?

First, the recovery option is built in to OS X - not the disk. If you install the new drive without formatting it first or without having an OS on it, it will not work (at least as far as I know). Most drives need to be formatted and it needs to be Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and use the GUID Partition Scheme.
You said that your hard drive is fried but that you can access the recovery? The Command + Option + R is the internet recovery which means it accesses Apple's servers and a limited number of things including disk utility. I've not dealt with this type of problems, so I'm not sure, but If you can access that and you have your new drive in an external enclosure and attached, then you may be able to use Disk Utility on the recovery to format your new drive and then choose to install the OS directly on it.
The second possibility - and, according to the following article, this should work directly (I've not tried it, so I can't guarantee it will):
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
The easiest way would be to attach the new drive in an enclosure and use your internal's disk utility to format and then clone the entire thing to it, but that does not appear to be an option. Unless...... do you have a bootable clone backup or a Time Machine backup?

Adding an SSD (SATA III) to HP Elite desktop. Is it possible?

Dear Experts...
I would like to upgrade my computer adding an SSD drive as a master drive and shifting the original 2TB drive to be a slave.
I found several coices of SSD drives but almost all of them are SATA III interface.
Does my desktop supports this interface? as it is just written that it has a SATA interface without specifying which version of SATA!
How many hard drives could this desktop holds? I already have two (the original 2TB, and my old 256GB drive), and I wand to add one SSD for Windows and progs.
Can I buy this SSD for example? Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State ...
This is the official HP specifications page of my Desktop .
Thank you in advance for your help.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
It has 2 spare HDD bays as on its specs:
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c02781215
You can swap SSD on your machine and make the old HDD as a secondary ("slave") drive. SATA III is backward compatible therefore you can use it. Since SSD's are smaller (normally 2.5") you need something which is similar to one of the following brackets:
http://pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=210_901
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Installing previously purchased Adobe Acrobat on SSD drive on computer

I purchase Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro a couple years ago. It is installed on my HDD drive but I recently added an SSD drive and want to get it installed on there. I don't mind taking it off my HDD drive, I just want it to be on my SSD drive, but when I try install it using my old serial number it says that it is now invalid. Is this because I can't install it twice? What do I need to do to get it installed on my new drive? This is on the same computer.
Thanks,
Jason

Does it actually say "invalid" about the serial number? If so that suggests a typing or transcription error; if using copy/paste be sure you aren't pasting any spaces before or after.
If it uses a different language, what does it say?

Adding third-party SSD drives to Xserve

Has anyone tried this? I would like to buy a new Xserve and migrate to 10.6, but since my application would benefit greatly from SSDs, I would like to buy build an Xserve with a SSD boot drive, and two SSD drives in RAID1. Since Apple doesn't offer SSDs as a drive bay option, has anyone here successfully done it on their own?
...Rene

Yes, I can't see a reason either why a third-party drive (e.g., http://www.plianttechnology.com/lightning_ls.php ) be used. I would just like to hear from someone who has actually done it on a the newer Nehalem Xserves. My application is very database bound (many small, random reads and writes), and I think it would benefit greatly from an SSD.
...Rene

Adding SSD Drive

I have a Pavilion a6010n. It has two hard drives but I would like to add an SSD drive. Can I do this? The system also has two CD/DVD drives.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Please check the spare SATA ports first (lower right: blue, yellow, ...). If
(a) it has spare port,
(b) it has spare room,
You can add SSD to your machine. Since SSD's are much smaller and thinner, you need a set of brackets and SATA cable to connect. Please check the following guide:
http://download.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/intel_ssd_installation_guide_g17251.pdf
and the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOxKSkkdMM
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

How do I set up my Imac after adding a SSD along with my existing HD

How do I set up my Imac after adding a SSD so that my system and apps are on the SSD and everything else is on the HD? I am using mountain Lion. I want to make sure I can still do Time Machine backups.
I was planning on first formatting the SSD and then using Migration Assistant to copy the System and the Library and the Apps over. Where it gets confusing is the User account where some of the items will be on the SSD but I want all my folders to be on the HD. Do I just not copy over that other stuff and once I restart from the SSD it will know where all the folders are? Is there anything I need to know about setting up a time machine backup after that? Will the backup I had from the one drive have to be erased and start a whole new backup?
I just want to do this right so I don't have some major problems.
Thanks for any help.
Michael

time machine backed up your whole system data/everything in time machine hdd.
you want to use ssd over hdd so you need to put new mac os x in ssd.
then copy all the stuff that you want to put in ssd.
from my point of view put the mac os x and other application in ssd and leave other data in hdd.(music,movies,etc....)
more info about time machine : http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

Unable to Activate iMessage on MacPro after adding new SSD

Just added a SSD to my Mac Pro - wonderful speed-up having only System, Apps Library and User Folders on the drive!
Using Mountain Lion v 10.8.4
But Messages v 7.0.1 will no longer work.
On opening, it asks me to Enter Apple ID to activate iMessage.
It has pre-populated the Apple ID with my email address but when I enter the Password, it goes into cog-wheel mode and, after a delay, responds that it is unable to sign in asking me to check my network connection (it is working great for Mail, Safari etc)
I have double-checked the password (the same one allows me to enter the Apple Store and is effective on my Mac Book Pros. my iPhone & my iPad).
I used Clean My Mac to remove Messages (and its many folders), reinstalled Mountain Lion from a start-up flash drive I created, updated the system software and found a pristine version 7.0.1 of Messges in the Applications Folder.
But I still have the same problem.
Appreciate any suggestions.
...John
PS iMessages works great on my iPhone & iPad.
Messages(v 7.0.1) works great on my Mac Book Pro (running 10.8.4)

This could be a complicated problem to solve, as there are many possible causes for it. Test after taking each of the following steps that you haven't already tried. Back up all data before making any changes.
Before proceeding, test on another network, if possible. That could be a public Wi-Fi hotspot, if your computer is portable, or a cellular network if you have a mobile device that can share its Internet connection. If you find that iMessage works on the other network, the problem is in your network or at your ISP, not in your computer.
Step 1
Check the status of the service. If the service is down, wait tor it to come back up. There may be a localized outage, even if the status indicator is green.
Step 2
Restart your broadband device and your router, if different. You may have to skip this step if you don't control those devices.
Step 3
From the menu bar, select
 ▹ About This Mac
Below the "OS X" legend in the window that opens, the OS version appears. Click the version line twice to display the serial number. If the number is missing or obviously invalid, take the machine to an Apple Store or other authorized service center to have the problem corrected.
Step 4
Back up all data, then take the steps suggested in this support article.
There are five steps in that article. Please take all of them. If you don't understand some of the steps or can't carry them out, ask for guidance.
Step 5
From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Network
If the preference pane is locked, click the lock icon in the lower left corner and enter your password to unlock it. Then click the Advanced button and select the Proxies tab. If any proxy options are selected, make a note of them and then deselect them. You don’t need to change the bypass or FTP settings. Click OK and then Apply. Test. The result may be that you can't connect to any web server. Restore the previous settings if that happens.
Step 6
Reset the NVRAM.
Step 7
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
If iMessage worked in the guest account, stop here and post your results.
Step 8
Boot in safe mode and log in. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and test again.
If iMessage worked in safe mode, but didn't work when you booted out of safe mode, stop here and post your results.
Step 9
According to one anecdotal report, Flash Player may interfere with iMessage, though I don't know how and can't confirm. To test this theory, select from the menu bar
 ▹ System Preferences… ▹ Flash Player ▹ Storage
and click
Block all sites from storing information on this computer
Close the preference pane. If this action solves the problem, please post your results.
Step 10
Reinstall OS X.
Step 11
If none of the above steps resolves the issue, make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or contact Apple Support.

Installing three SSD drives on Mac Pro

Hello,
I followed the advice given here and bought 3 Samsung 840 SSD drives for my Mac Pro. Two of them are 120GB and one is 250GB.
I also purchased a Tempo SSD Pro 6GB/s SATA PCIe Drive. Only one of them (that holds two SSDs.)
I plan on using:
     • one SSD for the OS and APPS
     • one SSD for a PS scratch disc
     • one SSD for the photoshop, premiere pro, and after effects files I'm currently working on.
I figured I'd keep the 1TB HDD currently used in the computer to store all my other files.
I also have a 1TB seagate extrenal HDD that I would like to set up as a back up or time machine.
Does this sound good?
If so, which SSD do I install in my regular sliding drawer bay? I have 2.5" - 3.5" adapter.
Which two do I install on the PCIe card?
Which on do I use for what?
As you can see I'm clueless. Lol
Here are my specs before adding the SSDs.
Mac Pro
Mid 2012
Processor 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 48 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)
Storage 1TB Sata disc (423.26GB free),
               1TB External USB Disk freeAgent GoFlex Drive (988.58 free)
P.S. I'm unsure about being able to install my current O.S. on the new SSD. When I bought the Mac Pro it had an older version of OS on it with a free download of the new OS. So the disc will only have the older version. Will I have to pay for the newer one or can I somehow copy it from the current HDD drive it's installed on?
Thank you so much. You have already been a HUGE help in the past posts and look forward to your wisdom. 8 )
Matt

Clone the system to the SSD you plan to use for system.
How much disk space is your system using now? w/o incl. anything in /Users, so just system.
If your system uses 60GB you want to use the 240GB SSD.
I think 120GB is on small side for scratch alone.
move projects to scratch array when you want to work on them: "Work disk + scratch" is fast. Then move them off the array, erase the array, and start a new project.
I would try the 2 x 120 SSDs on PCIe 6G as scratch and see how it feels and works.Try and test. No harm. I think that is what most people do, they experiement and try out different setups to find the one that works best for them.
Important: Have a clone of the system and be ready to restore or move it around as needed.
Install TRIM Enabler of course.
SSD Maintenance
Samsung recommends setting aside 10% for over-provisioning.
Their Windows utility, shame there isn't a Mac version.
#2: Try system on 120GB in drive bay with an adapter
With that then use the other two on the Tempo.
Those could be one large 360GB volume JBOD.
You will have to see how much your scratch space gets used.
I would have argued for 3 x 240GB SSDs. More flexible. Better SSD design - slightly. Adds $140 to the price, even if you had to wait to get 3rd one;
#3 get 2 x 240GB for scratch and projects and 1 x 120GB for system (if your system is less than 50GB)
I doubt you will find the difference of the system on the Sonnet Tempo a deciding factor.
The Sonnet Tempo Pro is for higher I/O RAID, both Tempo cards support 2 x SSDs (I have the cheaper one)
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-120GB-internal-MZ-7TD120BW/dp/B009NHAF06/
PS: You have Mountain Lion. Buy Carbon Copy Cloner and it will clone the system and create the recovery volume also so you should not need to redownload 10.8.x - and you do not need the DVD with 10.6.4 again.

Upgraded my 2009 iMac with ssd drive

Hello
I wanted to share my experience with upgrading my late 2009 iMac replacing the DVD drive with a 240GB SSD drive and upgrading the hard drive to a 3TB hard drive. Back a year ago I upgraded the factory 1TB with a seagate 2TB which was the main internal drive holding the osx. With needing more room I discovered the seagate 3TB also had the necessary heat sensor connector, so I knew that 3TB drive would work. Adding the 240GB SSD was a last minute decision. Plus, I seldom use the factory standard DVD drive and discovered that my LG brand USB dvd drive actually works when attached to the iMac. Operates just like the factory DVD drive.
So having done an upgrade before on this machine, I was not too concerned, but have to add that all did not go well this time.
Alter removing the screen and all the screws, then while carefully unplugging all the wires attached to the monitor, that one plug labeled LCD TEMP, that tiny little plug, broke at the circuit board. I was not using too much pressure and suspect the stress on these delicate connections had reached the limit. Both from the previous upgrade, and now another. The plug was simply stressed and ready to give way.
Maybe this plug was defective, I don't know, but the snap-in plug pulled the top of the black plastic circuit board connector off, exposing the two copper connector prongs. Not only that, but the two copper prongs that were now exposed were curled upward. Making re-attachment of the plug near impossible. So I figured maybe i could re-attach the tiny LCD TEMP plug back onto the exposed prongs and then electrical tape over to hold in-place. But first I had to somehow get the curl out of the two copper connector prongs for the plug to connect.
Well, while using a small screw driver to try to flatten out the curled copper prongs, one copper prong exceeded its stress level and broke off. Could not take the stress of being bent and messed with. Everything inside these machines are extremely delicate, as everyone knows only too well that has ever opened up their imac.
And now, a broken LCD TEMP circuit board connector. What to do, what to do?
Kill two birds with one stone.....
But first I wondered if this LCD TEMP sensor would keep the system from operating, so I put the machine back together, half way together, and powered it up.
The machine came to life, however, the CPU fan was running crazy fast 3800 and noisy as ****.
Googling this, I came across another person that had the same LCD TEMP cable break, and saying their CPU fan went crazy in the same way.
So I realized somehow the system needed this LCD TEMP connector, connected.
What to do, what to do?
I ran over to radio shack and bought the lowest wattage soldering iron they sold.
Now, this killing two birds with one stone part...
I had to somehow solder two new wires onto the spot where this LCD TEMP board connector attached to the circut board.
No easy task since there was only a hair-lines space between the two circuit board connectors. I had to somehow achieve the impossible.
And while at it, killing off the second bird, I could replace this LCD TEMP wire itself with new much longer wire set, making this disassemble - reassemble thing much easier.
Well I pulled it off.
I was able to solder two new wires to the spots on the circuit board where this LCD TEMP connector sits.
Without bleeding solder onto the partner connector just a hairs-line spaced between.
Then I patched in this new and longer pair of wires from the circuit board LCD TEMP to the monitor LCD TEMP sensor.
And finally, replaced the DVD drive with the new 240GB SSD drive, slapped the machine back together half way just enough to power it up, cloned the osx hard drive to the SSD drive, "option-restart" the machine and booted from the new SSD drive, everything working as it should.
I even dismounted the orginal internal hard drive holding the osx, and ran the system to ensure everything worked, which it did.
Next, tore the iMac back down, replaced the 2TB hard drive with a new 3TB hard drive, and for a final time slapped the system back together.
Everything is operating perfect,
Naturally, had to format the new 3TB hard drive, and will move all my iTunes media back to that new drive I had temporally stored on an external USB drive.
Fans are all running at normal speeds.
System is once again silent when running.
And this is the last and final time I will ever upgrade this particular machine sober.
Just some advice, this is some of the unforeseen mishaps that can occur when upgrading any iMac.
And this could have ended in disaster.
Luckily however, I had just enough luck and experience to get thru the hurdles, now I have a better, bigger, faster iMac.
Like they say, this self upgrading is not for the faint of heart.
For awhile I seen myself listing this on eBay as a dead 27" late 2009 iMac for sale for parts.
Not the case, well at least not the case this time....

Congratulations on not panicing and stating it like it is. Clearly upgrading the internals of an iMac is not for the faint of heart, I plan on keeping your post if for no other reason to show others why a do-it-yourself on an iMac is a pretty foolish thing to undertake.

Converting to SSD Drive for Boot Drive on m7 with Win8

I just bought a new m7-j020dx (product code E4S19UA#ABA) with Windows 8 from Best Buy. Unfortunately, it came with a standard hard disk drive (HDD) and I would like to install a Solid State Drive (SSD). I have an Intel 320 and 530 series drive. But I have not been able to get a bootable drive from this.
The first thing I tried was cloning the factory drive to a new 530 series drive using AOMEI Backupper. I got a write error on the third partition. I thought perhaps the drive was bad so I tried it again with an Intel 320 series SSD drive. Same error.
The next attempt was to clone the drive to another 1 TB drive (connected via USB), shrink the main partition with MiniTool and clone to the 320 series SSD. The cloning went fine. However, with the new SSD installed, the computer will not boot and I get "Error0x0000225", something about a file not found. Turning off "secure boot" in the BIOS setup did not help (I did this after the clone).
So I thought I would make a clean install of Win 8. I generated a recovery disk on a 32GB SanDisk USB drive using Win8's recovery disk generator (as instructed on the HP site). I then ran the recovery program off the USB drive and after a couple of hours of installing driver software and several reboots, I get an HP message stating the installation was not complete. Repeating the install did not help.
I am not sure what the problem is.
Is the USB recovery disk a made from the original HDD bad (one only gets one shot at it)? Do I need to order media from HP on disks? Are there issues with using SSD drives on these computers? Do I not have a BIOS settig correctly (UEFI)? Is there some Intel storage drivers getting in the way?
I think my next step will be to create a disk Image and then put it back to the SSD drive. But I doubt this fixes the issue with booting to it.
Another option might be to do a fresh build using Win8 media and then download and install each driver from the HP website.
Any ideas out there in the land of experts?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Vachsen
Please install the HDD Back
Update your BIOS
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-128144-1&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en...
Install the new Intel Rapid Start Technology Driver
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23496&ProdId=2101&lang=eng&OSVersion...
Reboot
Attach the SSD over USB Cable
Update the SSD Firmware
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=18363
Reboot
Use the Intel tool for drive Copy
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19324
Say thanks by clicking the "Kudos! Star" which is on the left.
Make it easier for other people to find solutions, by marking my answer with "Accept as Solution" if it solves your issue.

CS4: Best use of SSD drives?

I'm considering adding an SSD or two to the mix and am wondering where I'll get the best performance bang for the buck in a NLE situation. The current box is Vista, but I may be moving to faster ponies on a 64 bit 7 box soon. Doubt there's a difference in recommendations between the two but thought I'd mention it just in case.
First, a tangent. On my Premiere Pro CS4 discs I don't see any indication of 32 / 64 bit versions, but my understanding is that both are available from the DVDs. Can anyone confirm this?
As to the SSDs, the general wisdom for overal performance is to use them as the boot / system drive to boost app load and boot time. For NLE, there are other drive considerations that come into play - the drive(s) where the source footage to be edited resides and the drive(s) that are used for temporary I/O in rendering, playback, etc. There may be other considerations as well, these are just the ones that immediately come to mind.
I'm less concerned about how long the computer takes to boot (it stays up 24/7) or how long an application takes to load, and more focused on the performance of Premiere and After Effects during eding, playback and rendering.
With that in mind, if I bought only one SSD, where would be the best place for it to serve? And if I threw caution and credit cards to the winds and bought two, where would the second one do me the most good?
As always, thanks for any insights you might offer.
Chris

Hi, Harm.
Reading the disk article as we speak, thanks.
Regarding CS4 being 32 bit, I recall you saying the other day that a minimum realistic system would be 12 gigs fo memory. Given the 4 gig limit in the 32 bit architecture, were you referring to CS5? Not sure how CS4 would benefit from > 4 gigs.

I am looking to add a hybrid drive or SSD drive to my Imac 27" 2010. What can you recommend?

I have a 2.8 Ghz i5 with 8 GB Ram and 1 TB HDD and was a bit disappointed about the speed. My 2007 24" 2.8 c2d iMac starts up faster than this new used 2010 i5. In order to make start up time faster and also start apps faster I thought of adding a hybrid drive. The Apple shop in town can install it for me, but I would need to know what would be a good option.
Any advice is appreciated.

Some option here, adding an SSD should make it a Hybrid drive in 10.8.2...
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=398&type=Internal+Dr ive

Best ssd drive for MBP

Hi
Was wanting to fit a fit a SSD drive to my 2012 MBP,Havent really any knowledge about SSD,was looking a fair sized drive and wanted the OS on it,do I have to buy a new OS to do this,I would not be carrying out this myself,could anybody please give me a rough estimate of what this would cost to do in £'s...
Thank You

I would go for a Samsung 840 Pro Series as they are highly rated. I suggest checking amazon.co.uk for pricing and gettng the biggest one you can budget (i.e. the 512GB drive). The non-pro 840 series is also rated well but uses newer NAND technology and is slower writing data. Not sure who would do this work in the UK for you.
If you do decide to do it yourself, installation is pretty easy on the mid-2012 MacBook Pro. Just need a #00 philips and a T6 torx driver and the ability to be careful and follow directions closely. Insturctions can be found here on ifixit's site.
Regarding the OS installation, I suggest getting a USB external enclosure for your old drive and using a utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your existing OS onto the new drive which will retain everything as is and you'll be back up and running in no time. Otherwise you'll need some sort of bootable installation media to boot from in order to format the new SSD and install Mac OS X.
Good luck!
Edit: added detail, corrected typo.

Adding an SSD drive to my M7-J020DX

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for