Tweak3D.net - How to Install a Hard Drive

Written By: Keith "Farrel" McClellan
Posted: November 20, 1999

Basic Installation Continued

Now that the jumpers are in place, you need to manually attach the drive onto the chassis (screw the drive into the case). For this, you will need some extra case screws (your local computer shop will usually give them out for free - they're cheap) and an appropriate screwdriver. Your best bet is to fasten the drive using at least four screws, two on each side, or more if you are really hard on your computer (carrying your computer to a LAN party every week would classify as hard).

Now that the drive is attached, you need to attach the power cable. Hard Drives generally use the 12V power cables (they are the big ones with the four holes). You can't really attach it wrong because it only goes in one way, so find one that isn't already plugged into something and plug it in. Don't be afraid to use a little force - those plugs tend to be a little tight and forcing them won't hurt anything (of course, use a little common sense - if you need a hammer to plug it in, you are either a complete weakling or are putting it in wrong). If you don't have a free power plug, you may have to get a Y-splitter from your local computer store - but be warned, if you are running out of power plugs, it's possible that you may be drawing too much power through your power supply.

Lastly comes the IDE cable. Assuming you are connecting this drive as the master, plug the far end of the IDE cable into one of your IDE connectors on your motherboard and then connect the other end of it to the hard drive. If you are connecting the drive to the computer as the slave, take the existing cable and plug it into the interim port on the cable. Note: If you are configuring the drive as the 'slave,' make sure you install it close to the other device on the cable so you can have both plugged in at the same time. Also make sure that pin 1 (indicated by the color stripe along the cable) is plugged into the pin 1 connector on the hard drive. If it's not labled, pin 1 is almost always on the side closest to the power connector.

Now that you've fully installed the hard drive (and before returning the cover on the case), power up the computer and enter the BIOS (be extremely careful not to touch the inside of the computer while it is running, as you may damage some components). Depending on how your BIOS is configured, you may or may not have to detect the drive. If the new drive is already showing up properly, great, if not, run the HDD Auto Detect sequence and detect the drive. Once the computer is recognizing the hard drive, turn the computer off and reattach the cover, and voila, you've installed a new hard drive for yourself. Note: If the hard drive STILL isn't recognized, turn your computer off and go back over the steps again, making sure you did everything properly. If you still have problems, check the troubleshooting section near the end of this document or the manual that came with your new hard drive.

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