How It Works | Installation

	New HardDrive
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The right hard drive

The hard drive is the permanent storeroom for information residing in your PC. All programs and data are warehoused between the times you use the computer on your hard drive. Your hard drive (or drives) are the most important of the various types of storage used in PCs (the others being floppy disk, CD-ROM, tape, and removable drives, etc.) Hard disks differ from these other forms of storage in three ways:

1. size (usually larger).
2. speed (usually faster).
3. permanence (usually fixed in the PC and not removable).

All hard drives share the same basic structure: platters, spindle motor, heads, and head actuator are inside the drive; on the outside are the logic board, bezel, and mounting frame.

How a hard drive works

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A hard drive uses round, flat disks called platters, coated on both sides with a special media material designed to store information in the form of magnetic patterns. The platters are mounted by cutting a hole in the center and stacking them onto a spindle. The platters rotate at high speed, driven by a special spindle motor connected to the spindle. Special electromagnetic read/write devices called heads are mounted onto sliders and used to either record information onto the disk or read information from it. The sliders are mounted onto arms, all of which are mechanically connected into a single assembly and positioned over the surface of the disk by a device called an actuator. A logic board controls the activity of the other components and communicates with the rest of the PC.

Installation

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Most of the hard drives installed in computers today are the IDE type. Some are SCSI, but typically these are used in higher-end servers than in most workstation PCs. IDE hard drives, regardless of capacity, are all are installed the same way. First of all, read the manual to familiarize yourself with the installation process. There may be some procedures particular to your drive that will be in the manual. This page serves only as a general outline. 

Also, just a reminder to remember to rid yourself of all static electricity before messing around with your computer. Just touch the frame (inside the case with it plugged in to a grounded outlet), or some other metal piece of furniture. If possible, don't work on a carpeted floor.

1. Make sure the computer is turned off. Unplug it and disconnect it from the wall outlet.
2. Remove the computer shell cover. There should be an available drive bay near the existing drive.
3. Remove the drive from the wrapper. It is packaged in an anti-static bag to protect it from static shock coming from you!
4. Adjust the jumpers on the or back of the drive according to the manual (master, slave, or cable select). Most drives come jumpers configured to make the drive a slave, but you may want to double-check, or change the settings for your situation.
5. Slide the drive into the vacant drive bay. You may need to move other cables out of the way, but don't disconnect them. Don't screw the drive in place yet, as you may need to make some adjustment before anchoring the drive into place.
6. Connect one of the DC power plugs from the power supply to the drive.
7. Attach one of the connectors on the ribbon cable to the drive. Make sure your ribbon cable has the red edge aligned with Pin 1 on the drive. Usually, there is a map of pins printed on the drive which shows which pin is Pin 1.
8. Connect the other end of the ribbon cable to one of your IDE controllers on the motherboard, Usually, people connect the cable to IDE2 on the motherboard and have the drive configured as master. This might vary, though, depending on your situation.
9. Turn on your system with the case off in case you need to do anything else.
10. Open Windows Explorer and see if another drive appears. You will need to format it before using it. Once you can write a file to it and read from it, you now have a functional new hard drive.
    If unsuccessful, double-check your work. Are all cables on tight? Is the software installed correctly? Are all the settings correct on the drive and the board? Do you have the settings correct for that particular IDE channel in your BIOS?  Should you have problems, contact me.
11. Screw the drive into the drive bay to anchor it to the frame. Put the case shell back on. You're done!