How to Add an Extra Hard Drive

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Need more storage on your computer? This article will show you some simple steps to help you add a new hard drive and more storage space to your computer.

Steps

1. Check if you need the IDE (parallel ATA) or Serial ATA. While older computers support IDE, new may only support Serial ATA. If you are not sure, open the computer case and try to determine the type of the used drives from the view. It is safer to use the same type that is already installed, even if the sockets for another type also appear to be present.
2. Make sure you have room for an extra hard drive, here’s one way to do this:
   1. Restart your computer and go into the BIOS menu.
   2. Go to the “Standard CMOS Settings.”
   3. In this menu, you will find four settings labeled as follows: PRIMARY MASTER:, AUTO/PRIMARY SLAVE:, SECONDARY MASTER:, SECONDARY SLAVE:. Change all fields to auto detection.
   4. Reboot your computer
   5. On the first or second screen, you will see something like the screen above and it will say detecting (drive(prim/sec)) : (name of the drive if present). If any of them say none, remember which drive it is. If all of them have a drive name, all your bays are filled and you can’t add a new hard drive without removing a disk drive or hard drive. Consider making an external USB drive.
3. Get the actual hard drive. Go to your local computer store or buy online from Newegg or another retailer. Make sure that the type (SATA or PATA) matches. If you plan on replacing your existing hard drive, be sure to get one with enough space to compensate for what you’re losing.
4. Shut down your computer.
5. Unplug all of the cords from the back of your computer and pull the computer out from the desk.
6. Remove the case screws. If you have a Dell, you only need to push down on the release latch on the back. If you’re having difficulty, it’s a good idea to consult your manual on how your particular case is removed. Put the screws in a safe place so you don’t lose them. Remove the side panel and place it out of the way.
7. Find the area where all the flat ribbon cables connect to the main board.(fig. 3) Find the cable that corresponds to the free drive that was detected in step 1-6, either primary or secondary.
8. Set the jumpers so the drive knows whether to act as a master or slave. The jumpers are the set of pins on the back of the hard drive. They’ll have a couple of rubber blocks covering some pins. Find the diagram or instructions for your new drive on to set the jumper for the master/slave. (fig. 4)
9. Find the empty bay in your computer case. Using the screws that came with the drive, mount the drive. (fig. 5)
10. Connect the cable that you found in step 6 to the hard drive. If it won’t go in, make sure that the safety bump is aligned with the hole.(fig. 6)
11. Connect a power cable, (a smaller connector with red, yellow, and black wires.)(fig. 7)
12. Put the side panel back on the computer and put the screws back in.
13. Plug all of the cables back into the rear of the computer, and connect them to their power sources if you unplugged them.
14. Boot up the computer. Go into your BIOS at startup (most likely by pressing F10 or DEL as the computer starts). Check the BIOS auto detect to ensure the second drive is detected. On the screen that shows that primary master/slave, secondary master/slave you should see the name of your new hard drive.

Tips

• SATA hard drives work pretty much the same. Read the instructions in the package to install these. Be careful, though. Only SATA-enabled motherboards will accept these drives.
• Consider buying (or making, see Build an External Hard Drive) an external hard drive if you have USB support on your computer. They plug directly into the USB port and work like any other hard drive, except you have to take extra steps if you would like to boot from it.
• If there is a BIOS problem indicated, make sure the original hard drive (HD) is set to “Master”; or if the original HD is set to CS (cable select), make sure it is at the end of the IDE cable (make sure you have a cable select ribbon cable. They will be labeled on each connector).

Warnings

• This guide is not intended for Macintoshes. Also, clamshell cases may work differently.
• Do not make any other changes in the CMOS settings. Each setting changes how you computer operates and you can inadvertently make your computer inoperable.
• Most hard drives are sensitive to Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). Properly ground yourself while performing this procedure, (or, ideally, any kind of electronic work.) If that is not possible just don’t attempt it after walking barefoot on a carpet or other similar conditions. Also, to reduce the risk, handle your hard drive as little as possible; pick it up and put it in, don’t fool around with it.

Related wikiHows

• How to Avoid Destroying a Computer With Electrostatic Discharge
• How to Format a Hard Drive
• How to Build an External Hard Drive

Sources and Citations

• Home Computer Maintenance.com

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Add an Extra Hard Drive. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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