In any case putting a drive into your computer is fairly simple. Most newer computers have easy access to the inside of the cabinet and in most cases your can pull a lever or squeeze a clamp to slide a drive in or out.

Getting your drive info in a row first.

There is a lot of background that has to be covered before we go any further.

Let’s assume that you are wanting to add an internal drive from an older system to your newer system.  What do you need to know?

1. Does your computer have an open or extra bay that the drive can be put into? Some computers only have one bay for the existing hard drive. You can open the computer and look (shut it down and remove the power cord first.) or do a search on the web for specifications.

2. Does the computer you are going to use have SATA cables and controllers or IDE PATA cables and controllers and does the disk drive you are wanting to install use the same thing? I explain this a little further on.

3. Does the cable in the computer have a connector for a second drive?

4. Do you know the jumper settings to make the drive a slave?  I explain this a little further on also.

If the answers to the four questions are all “yes” then you are ready to add the drive to the computer.  If you don’t know the answer or need more info I have included a brief discussion on the subjects.

SATA and IDE, EIDE or PATA controllers

First off, I know someone is going to write to me and complain that IDE,EIDE and PATA are technically not the same thing. They would be correct and wrong.  The Wikipedia explanation of the various ATA standards is several pages long, so, for the purpose of limiting this discussion they are the same.  Besides, if you go to “pata” on the site one of the items listed reads as follows:

Some computers use an IDE controller system or a variation referred to as EIDE or PATA and some use SATA. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  yle="mso-spacerun: yes">  If you really want to know details then look it up. In brief, the debate concerning the benefits of SATA over PATA are mostly centered around PATA having a bandwidth bottle neck at a certain level, but it really doesn’t matter because most PATA drives don’t exceed the data transfer capacity.  Many “gamers” believe that SATA drives make game play faster and others claim there is no speed increase. Regardless, there are realistic benefits to SATA beyond this.  SATA uses 8 pin connectors and smaller cables as opposed to the 40 wire or 80 wire 39 pin connectors. Basically SATA controllers allow you to have more drive connections and the cables are smaller thus allowing for more air flow inside the computer. The serial ATA Organization also list hot swap ability, the elimination of jumpers and several other benefits. http://www.serialata.org/faqs.Asp

What you need to know is whether or not your computer supports both. Some computers have controllers for both.  If not, that old IDE/PATA drive you were going to add to your new computer may not work. Note:  There are converters available to go from IDE to SATA.

One way to determine this is to look at the cable connections for both the old drive and in the machine you are going to install the drive in, but doing a quick search on the net for your computer model specs should tell you. Note:  Sometimes even the manufactures list things incorrectly, so always double check.  While writing this I check on an “e” series Gateway that listed the standard drive as SATA when in fact it is an IDE.

Assuming that you have a drive and a drive controller that uses the same type of communications we can move on.

Note:  Newer SATA drives will probably not have a need for Jumper settings

Determining the jumper settings

Before you do anything else, look up the jumper settings for the hard drive you are going to install. IDE/PATA Hard drives generally have a set of pins near the power connector that determine if the drive is going to be a master, a slave or if the drive is “cable select.”  A small plastic coated square or rectangle connector is used to connect two of these pins to make the setting.  In some circumstances with older machines there may be two connectors.  The second one is usually used to make a setting that limits the usable size of the drive so it will work with an older operating system.  This is not always the case however as the jumpers on this Dell Optiplex drive show.

Most drives will have a chart or similar markings on the outside of the drive showing how to set the jumper.

Master -  This is the primary drive and almost always the drive your system will boot from.

Slave -  This is the secondary drive

Cable select – This option is suppose to make hard drive additions easier. It is designed so that the computer figures out which drive is primary and which is secondary. However, it is so confusing to the average person that it can actually cause issues with installation and is usually not worth the effort.  For one thing your computer must have a cable that is designed for Cable select.  Both drives must be “jumpered” to a cable select option.  The master drive on a Cable Select cable is connected to the connector that is closest to the controller (usually the middle connector if there are two). However, there are two different cables a 40 wire and an 80 wire.  Although they both use 39 pins they function differently with the cable select option.  On a 40 wire you need to connect the master on the middle connector and the slave on the end.  On the 80 wire you need to connect the master on the end of the cable and the slave in the middle.

If you are adding the drive as a secondary you are going to want to make it a Slave.  If you are replacing the drive already in the machine you are going to want to set it as Master.

One more note:  If you add the hard drive to a cable controlling a slower speed device such as a CDROM your controller will most likely slow access to the drive to match that of the slower device it is connected to.

One more note:  If you add the hard drive to a cable controlling a slower speed device such as a CDROM your controller will most likely slow access to the drive to match that of the slower device it is connected to.

Installing the hardware

WARNING: Before Attempting any of the procedures or tips presented here backup your system and data to an external source in case you make a mistake or something fails.

Now that we have that squared away and you know what jumpers settings to use.ed to the new drive.

Warning:  A word about static.  Many people will tell you that you need to prevent static electricity from damaging the components of your machine.  This is correct.  Professionals use grounding straps to ground out any static charges while working on a computer.

First, turn off the computer and unplug the power cord.  This is a serious warning.   You risk electrical shock, system damage and loss of data.  I make it a practice to place the end of the disconnected power cord within eyesight while working on a system, just to insure myself that the power cord has been unplugged.

Open the cabinet (Most towers will have buttons or latches that let you either remove the side panel or open the computer up like a suitcase.  Older systems may require that you remove some casing screws before removing a side panel.)

Examples of Drive installation locking mechanisms.  Depending on the system you are adding the drive to you may run into a different way of holding the drive into place, but typically you will see one of the methods shown below.  Shown are two different brands of computer and the locking mechanism used for holding a hard drive in place.

For the Gateway Locking mechanism you simply slide the plastic lever forward or backwards as shown below: