While performing depot service on a corporate laptop, you remove a failed 2.5-inch SATA hard drive that was held in place by a small metal bracket fastened with four side screws and then slid into the system-board SATA connector. Before sliding the replacement 2.5-inch SSD into the same bay, which action should you take to ensure the drive lines up with the connector and is not damaged during installation?
Transfer and fasten the original drive caddy/bracket to the new SSD.
Pre-format the SSD with the GPT partition scheme.
Enable AHCI mode for the SATA controller in BIOS setup.
Apply a thermal pad to the SSD's controller to improve heat dissipation.
The metal bracket (often called a caddy or carrier) keeps a 2.5-inch drive properly aligned so the data-and-power connector mates cleanly with the fixed SATA port on the laptop's system board. Re-attaching that bracket to the new SSD maintains the original mounting geometry and prevents lateral movement that could stress or break the connector. Formatting the SSD, changing BIOS settings, or adding a thermal pad do not address the mechanical alignment required for a safe installation.
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