(Sidenote: I got a great deal on this Dell Inspiron 3650 on CyberMonday 2017. It comes with a 2 TB HDD, 12 GB RAM & an i7-7400 processor, but no SSD)

I’m writing this blog to say that is IS possible to install the Samsung 850 EVO SSD on an Inspiron 3650 desktop, it just takes some research, specific parts, and work, especially if you’re like me and haven’t installed a hard drive since Windows 98.

One problem was the proprietary power cord that Dell puts in these computers, shown above at the arrow. It comes hardwired with one end proprietary to this motherboard, and is split into one SATA and one other power cord that goes to the DVD-ROM. So even if you purchase another of these proprietary cables with two SATA power ports, you can keep your old HDD but you will lose your DVD-ROM (I *think* a SATA power splitter will solve this but I still have to test that theory).
Another problem is that the SSD bracket Amazon gives you with this SSD doesn’t work in the Inspiron 3650 due to proprietary brackets that Dell uses. Early on in the Inspiron Desktop line, and even shortly after they began selling the 3650, it was impossible to purchase the bracket without convincing a Dell salesperson that you needed it. Fortunately now you can purchase it on Amazon. (Supposedly — I haven’t tried it out yet). I suspect I may not be able to use it due to the long distance between the hard drives and motherboard in the 3650). You don’t HAVE to have this, you can secure the SSD with existing screw holes or cable prongs, or you could leave it hanging (not a great idea but not a huge problem with SSD’s since they have no moving parts).

Yet another problem is the BIOS, which Dell was kind enough to include two confusing options (F2 & F12 on bootup). Before I reversed the SATA cables, putting the Samsung SSD on SATA1 and the other hard drive on SATA2, I could not find an option in the BIOS to boot to the SSD at all, even with their F12 boot-from menu, which either tried to boot from the network card (why in the world is that even an option), or said it was booting from the SSD but in fact booted Windows on the old HDD.

Here’s a step-by-step process that will allow you to port your current Windows 10 installation over from the HDD to the SSD:

1.) Plug in your Samsung EVO SSD into a USB port on your computer. (To do this, you’ll need a special cable that is rumored to come with the EVO, but didn’t for me, and my Vantec HDD to USB didn’t let Windows or Samsung software recognize the drive — super surprising to me because the Vantec has saved my ass many times).

2.) Install and run the Samsung Data Migration software (the “Magician” software doesn’t appear to do anything useful). This will clone your drive, and despite what some say, you DON’T need other software like EaseUs to do this.

3.) Shut down your computer, unplug everything and open ‘er up (a little tricky but there are instructions online).

4.) Install your bracket & cables (you’ll need one SATA data cable and whatever solution works for the bizarre Dell power situation, I’ll explain more later with a picture, when I get a working solution that saves the DVD-ROM too).

5.) Plug your SATA data cable INTO THE SATA1 (BLUE) port. It won’t work without this, I found out in the end, because the BIOS (despite all the options) will never boot from anything but the first port.

6.) Boot up. You shouldn’t have to do ANYTHING to the BIOS, it should just boot up. If it’s still slow, and you can only see your old HDD when you get into Windows, you can pop out the CMOS battery to reset everything. (Because I did this before doing #5 correctly, I’m not sure if this step is required, but it didn’t work by itself).

7.) Now if you can’t see your old HDD in Windows, it’s because of something called a “Disk Signature Collision.” Follow the instructions on Google to re-enable it. Now, you’re good to go, you can delete Windows off your old HDD and use it for storage. Hooray!