How to add a new IDE hard drive to your computer

From ArticleWorld

One of the unwritten laws of IT is that, once you start being hungry for storage space, you never have enough. Chances are that you will fill up your hard drive at a certain point, and require some extra storage space. You can obviously obtain this by buying a new hard drive and connecting it along with the old one. This guide shows you how to do it.

Steps

The first thing you have to do is make sure you have an available slot for you hard disk. You can do this by opening you computer's case. However, if it is still in warranty and you wouldn't want to void it just to find out that there really is not more space for a new drive, you can do the following:

1. Go to your computer's BIOS menu and change all the IDE-related settings (Primary Master, Primary Slave and so on) to Auto detection. Refer to your mainboard's documentation for how to do this. Then reboot your computer.
2. On the first screen, you should see a list of all these slots, and what is connected to them. Write this down. If you have at least one of the Masters or Slaves free, you can safely buy a new hard drive. If the first screen is a splash screen, it can usually be revoked. The exact way to do it also depends on the motherboard so you should check the manuals that came with your PC.
3. Now it is time to buy the new hard drive. You should have your motherboard's exact brand an type at hand, so that you can ask for assistance in buying one. Ask the seller for assistance, but be careful: you do not have to choose the most expensive drive, but the one you need.

Once you have the hard drive, you can proceed to the following steps

1. Shut down your computer and unplug it from the main line. In fact, it's safe to unplug everything connected to the case, but it is most important for your physical integrity not to work on anything that may be receiving electric current.
2. Now open the case. You should be aware that some vendors consider the warranty void if you do so.
3. Inside, you will find a lot of wires. One of them are flat ribbon cables, that go towards the same location on the motherboard. Find the cable that corresponds to a free slot, or find a free slot and get a cable if there are no free cables on the motherboard. Now look on the back of the hard drive. There should be a few pins, of which some are covered by rubber blocks: these are the jumpers. Refer to the drive's manual for instructions on how to set them to Master or Slave, according to the slot you want to connect it, information which you have previously written down.
4. Mount the drive to an empty bay in the case and secure it with screws. Make sure it doesn't move. Now connect the big, flat ribbon cable to it. You will also find a smaller connector with red, yellow and black wires. This is the power cable, which you will used to connect the hard drive to your computer's power supply.
5. Re-assembly everything and power up your computer.

Notes

If you are concerned with warranty, you can also choose to buy an external hard drive which you can plug in through an USB port. This will save you from the hassle of opening the case, but you will have to take some extra steps if you want your computer to boot from you.

Like any other hardware device, hard drives are very sensitive to electrostatic discharges. The easiest way to protect it is to make sure it stays away from devices with heavy electrostatic loads (like old TV sets) and handle it with care. Touching a metallic object (like a door knob) before you handle it is also recommended, and you should make sure you are properly grounded yourself.