How to install new hard drive into PC?

Answer 1

Requirements:

1. Know how to operate a screw driver.
2. Know how to access your BIOS.
3. Not be afraid of the inside of a computer.
4. The right hard drive (see below)

The right hard drive:

There are two main interfaces a hard drive can have. The newest one is known as SATA. The older one is known as PATA, or IDE. Computers made before 2004 probably don't have SATA connectors, and some new computers don't have a PATA controller. To identify what type of drive your computer supports, look at the cables. If the computer uses flat, wide ribbon cables, it uses PATA. If it uses a narrow, thick cord, it uses SATA.

There are also some size considerations to worry about. A computer made before 2002 probably cannot use a hard drive larger than 137 GB. The BIOS simply doesn't support the addressing modes required.

Installing:

1. Remove your PC's cover.
2.
a.) If you are replacing a current PATA drive, unplug the old one, and set the jumpers on the new drive to the same setting as the old one - Master or Slave.
b.) If you are replacing a SATA drive, just unplug the old one and plug the new one in with the same cable.
c.) If you are adding a SATA drive, plug one cable into your drive, and the other into an available connector on the motherboard.
d.) If you are adding a PATA drive to a current cable with a device already attached, set the jumper to Slave.
e.) If you are adding a PATA drive to a new cable by itself, set the jumper to Master.
3. Enter your BIOS, and see that your drive is detected properly. If it is not, double-check step 2.
4. You can use either the Windows setup program, or a third-party program, to format the hard drive. For an excellent third-party tool, I strongly recommend GParted.