Hard drive connection interfaces - IDE, SATA and others. How to connect a second hard drive to a computer or laptop

Connecting a hard drive to a laptop or computer is not a very difficult task, however, those who have never encountered it may not know how it is done. In this article, I will try to consider all possible options for connecting a hard drive - both mounting inside a laptop or computer, and options for external connection in order to overwrite the necessary files.

Connecting to a computer (inside the system unit)

The most frequently asked question is how to connect a hard drive to the computer system unit. As a rule, such a task may be faced by someone who decides to assemble a computer on their own, replace the hard drive, or, if some important data needs to be copied to the main hard drive of the computer. The steps for such a connection are quite simple.

Determining the type of hard drive

First of all, take a look at the hard drive you want to connect. And determine its type - SATA or IDE. What type of hard drive is can be easily seen by the power connection pins and the motherboard interface.

IDE (left) and SATA (right) hard drives

Most modern computers (as well as laptops) use the SATA interface. If you have an old HDD that uses an IDE bus, then some problems may arise - such a bus may not be on your motherboard. However, the problem can be solved - just purchase an adapter from IDE to SATA.

What and where to connect

To operate a hard drive on a computer, in almost all cases you need to do only two things (all this is done with the computer turned off, with the cover removed) - connect it to power and the SATA or IDE data bus. What and where to connect is shown in the picture below.

If two hard drives were connected to the computer, you may need to go into the BIOS to configure the boot order so that the operating system boots the same way as before.

How to connect a hard drive to a laptop

First of all, I would like to note that if you do not know how to connect a hard drive to a laptop, then I would recommend contacting an appropriate specialist for whom computer repair is a job. This is especially true for various types of ultrabooks and Apple MacBook laptops. Also, you can connect a hard drive to a laptop as an external HDD, which will be discussed below.

However, in some cases, connecting a hard drive to a laptop for the purpose of replacement does not present any difficulties. As a rule, on such laptops, on the bottom side, you will notice one or two or three “covers” fastened with screws. The hard drive is hidden under one of them. If you have just such a laptop, feel free to remove the old hard drive and install a new one; this is done easily for standard 2.5-inch hard drives with a SATA interface.

Connect your hard drive as an external drive

The easiest connection method is to connect the hard drive to a computer or laptop as an external drive. This is done using appropriate adapters, adapters, and external enclosures for HDDs. The price of such adapters is not at all high and rarely exceeds 1000 rubles.

The meaning of the operation of all these accessories is approximately the same - the necessary voltage is supplied to the hard drive through the adapter, and the connection to the computer occurs via a USB interface. There is nothing complicated about this procedure and it works similarly to regular flash drives. The only thing is that if you are using a hard drive as an external one, you should be sure to use safe removal of the device and under no circumstances turn off the power while it is working - with a high degree of probability this can lead to damage to the hard drive.

How should the correct installing and connecting the hard drive. Where will we install it? The case has compartments for devices. The upper compartments of the case are usually intended for installing a CD/DVD drive. And the lower compartments, which are shown in the picture, are intended for installing a hard drive.



We select any compartment and place the hard drive there. How will we place it? It is necessary to place it so that the hard drive connectors face inside the case.

Connecting a SATA and IDE hard drive

Hello.

Sometimes it happens that a laptop or computer does not turn on, but the information from its disk is needed for work. Well, or you have an old hard drive lying “idle” and which would be quite nice to turn into a portable external drive.

In this short article I want to focus on special “adapters” that allow you to connect SATA drives to a regular USB port on a computer or laptop.

1) This article will only consider modern drives. They all support the SATA interface.

2) “Adapter” for connecting a disk to a USB port - correctly called BOX (that’s what it will be called further in the article).

How to connect a laptop's SATA HDD/SSD drive to USB (2.5-inch drive)

Disks from laptops are smaller than those from PCs (2.5 inches, on PCs 3.5 inches). As a rule, the BOX (translated as “box”) for them comes without an external power source with 2 ports for connecting to USB (the so-called “pigtail”. It is advisable to connect the drive to two USB ports, despite the fact that it works it will if you connect it to only one).

What to pay attention to when purchasing:

1) The BOX itself can have a plastic or metal case (you can choose either one, because in the event of a fall, even if the case itself is not damaged, the disk will be damaged. This means that the case will not save you in all cases...);

2) In addition, when choosing, pay attention to the connection interface: USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 can provide completely different speeds. By the way, for example, a BOX with USB 2.0 support when copying (or reading) information will allow you to work at a speed of no more than ~30 MB/s;

3) And one more important point is the thickness for which the BOX is designed. The fact is that 2.5 disks for laptops can have different thicknesses: 9.5 mm, 7 mm, etc. If you buy a BOX for the slim version, then you probably won’t be able to install a 9.5 mm thick disk into it!

BOX is usually disassembled quite quickly and easily. As a rule, it is held in place by 1-2 latches or screws. A typical BOX for connecting SATA drives to USB 2.0 is shown in Fig. 1.

Rice. 1. Installing the disc in the BOX

When assembled, such a BOX is no different from a regular external hard drive. It is also convenient to carry and use for quick information exchange. By the way, it is also convenient to store backup copies on such disks, which are usually not needed, but if something happens they can save a lot of nerve cells :)

Rice. 2. When assembled, the HDD is no different from a regular external drive

Connecting 3.5 disks (from a computer) to a USB port

These wheels are slightly larger than 2.5 inches. USB power is not enough to connect them, so they come with an additional adapter. The principle of choosing a BOX and its operation is similar to the first type (see above).

By the way, it is worth noting that a 2.5-inch drive can usually be connected to such a BOX (i.e., many of these models are universal).

Also, one more point: often manufacturers do not make any box for such drives at all - that is, you simply connect the drive to the cables, and it works (which is logical in principle - such drives can hardly be called portable, which means the box itself is usually not required).

When you purchase a new HDD, the question arises of how to connect a second hard drive to your computer. This is not difficult to do, but before you get started, you need to make sure that your system unit is not under warranty. The fact is that in order to install a second hard drive, you need to remove the side cover of the computer. This will break the seal and therefore void the warranty. To avoid such a situation, you should contact a service center.

If the warranty has expired or is missing, feel free to remove the side wall. It is secured with two screws on the back of the PC. Be sure to turn off your computer and unplug it. An additional hard drive can only be installed when the system unit is turned off. This is not a flash drive, and the HDD may simply fail.

You need to inspect the motherboard and the place where the hard drive is already installed. Most modern computers have SATA connections. Trace where the cable of the existing HDD is connected to the motherboard. There should be at least one more similar one next to this connector. This will depend on the type of motherboard you have. Large ones have up to 5-6 connectors, small ones can only have 2.

If you have a standard type of motherboard, then you just need to select a socket for connection. If you have a combo (that is, a small one), then slight difficulties may arise. The fact is that the first hard drive and optical drive may already be connected to the slots. And it may turn out that there is simply no other place to connect an additional hard drive. These are budget motherboards, and sometimes they do not provide the ability to connect multiple hard drives. How to install two hard drives in this case? You'll just have to unplug the DVD-ROM to free up the port.

If you have an old computer with an IDE connection type and only one slot left, you have the opportunity to install two equipment on one cable. This can be either 2 HDDs or a hard drive with an optical drive. When connecting on one cable, it is advisable to follow the sequence in which the system disk will be connected to the master connector, and an additional one to the slave. Master is the outermost connector on the cable, slave is in the middle. The instructions for the HDD should indicate in what position the jumpers should be set for a particular mode.

After we have figured out where to connect the second hard drive to the computer so that it recognizes it, we move on to the next point. This powers the device with electricity. Take a close look at the wires that come from the power supply. In older system units the connection type is IDE, in new ones it is SATA. Some PCs have both types at the same time. If the hard drive has a SATA port, and only IDE is left free in the power supply, do not worry. You need to purchase an adapter from one connection type to another.

We found out which connectors the second hard drive is connected to. Now it needs to be installed and secured. Find where the first hard drive is located. Depending on the size of your case, there may be one to three drive slots nearby. If there is a lot of space, it is advisable to connect two HDDs so that they are located further away from each other. Hard drives can get very hot during operation and require ventilation. The more free space around them, the better ventilation will occur.

In a small case, installing a second hard drive will mean that both hard drives will get very hot. Especially in the hot season. Therefore, it is advisable to purchase a cooling system for them. When connecting a second drive, do not forget that it must be screwed to the case. Unlike solid-state drives, HDDs have mechanical parts that can be easily damaged. During transportation, the hard drive may fall out of the slot, and this will damage not only it, but also, possibly, the motherboard.

Second hard drive on a laptop

Hard drives on laptop computers do not have the same large capacity as those on stationary computers. And sometimes users want to increase space, but the laptop does not have a slot for an additional hard drive. in this case? This can be done by installing an HDD instead of an optical drive.

There are special adapters for this. Without them, you won’t be able to connect another hard drive, since the DVD-ROM and HDD connectors are different. The first thing you need to do is figure out the thickness of your drive. It may vary on different laptops. The most common are 12.7 mm and 9.5 mm. You can find out this way:

Use a program to diagnose equipment like Everest or AIDA. View the optical drive model and find the specifications on the Internet. The exact dimensions must be indicated on the manufacturer's website. Unscrew the drive and take measurements manually.

After purchasing the adapter, you can begin installing the hard drive. Unplug your computer and turn it off. It can only be untwisted when not in use. Pull out the optical drive. In most cases, it is secured with 2-4 screws.

Take the adapter and remove the stop, which is located on the opposite edge from the connectors. Some people try to turn on the second drive by connecting it to the adapter at an acute angle. This can break the contacts. The support is removable and is needed to fix the hard drive. Then press the hard drive firmly against the contacts. Sometimes this requires effort.

After installation and fixation with the stop, tighten the bolts for a more rigid connection of the adapter to the disk. In order not to spoil the appearance of the laptop, you need to remove the front panel from the optical drive and attach it to the hard drive adapter. Carefully insert the device into the laptop and put all the covers back. If everything was done correctly, the BIOS will display the new hard drive.

Disk system settings

You learned how to install a second hard drive in a PC. But this is not enough to fully work with it. Now you need to configure it so that the system recognizes it. After all, if the disk is new, it does not have marked areas and will not be displayed by the operating system. If you have Windows installed, you can do this by going to Disk Management. You can get to this menu by right-clicking on the “My Computer” icon and selecting “Manage”.

All connected drives and their capacity will be displayed in the lower central part. The new disk will be labeled "Unallocated". You need to right-click on this area and click “Create simple volume”. The “Setup Wizard” will appear, following the instructions of which you will determine the space of the future disk, the file system and assign a letter to it. Remember that two partitions cannot be assigned the same letters. To avoid having to deal with OS freezes and process failures, close all unnecessary programs. At the end of the procedure, the new hard drive will be displayed in the system.

We looked in detail at how to connect an additional hard drive to a computer. By watching the video below or above in the text, you will be able to understand and consider in more detail incomprehensible points.

I recently received a question by mail:

Hello Maxim. Your subscriber writes to you with a proposal - a request. Tell us how to properly connect a 2nd hard drive and 2 DVD writers. I think this is of interest to many ordinary PC users.

The fact is that it is impossible to describe all connection methods and options in one note, due to the variety of connection interfaces and their combinations on motherboards from different manufacturers.

On the one hand, now there are only two most common interfaces for connecting hard drives and optical drives: IDE (IDE) And SATA (SATA), and it seems that connecting everything is simple.

On the other hand, motherboard manufacturers have made a very large number of boards with very different configurations of these interfaces: starting from 2/4 IDE and 1 SATA at the moment the SATA interface enters the market before 1 IDE and 6/8 SATA at the moment (hereinafter the number in front of the interface means the maximum possible number of devices that can be connected via the interface to the motherboard).

At the same time, there are motherboards in which simultaneous operation of all interfaces is impossible, i.e. for example, when connecting one drive via SATA switched off 3rd and 4th IDE.

With a gradual transition to the interface SATA everything will become easier - one device - one connector.

This means that each device is connected to its own connector, and the user does not need to additionally configure the device and think about which side of the cable to connect to the motherboard and which to the device. And in case of problems, it is better to tell in detail about the option where the problems arose.

On my home PC (GigaByte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard) there are two SATA hard drives, one SATA DVD-RW and one IDE DVD. I will show how they are connected in the following picture:

The figure shows approximately 1/6 of the motherboard. Green– this is a connector for IDE devices, I have an IDE DVD connected to it. Yellow– these are connectors for SATA devices; I have two SATA hard drives and one SATA DVD-RV connected to them.

The south bridge heatsink and PCI-Express connector retainer are shown for quicker locating of connectors. In most motherboards, the IDE and SATA connectors are located next to the south bridge.

The following pictures show the connection cables IDE devices. These cables have 80 cores and can be designated as "IDE-100/133 cable" or "ATA-100/133 cable". There are also options for 40 cores, but they are practically no longer used.

The following figure shows the connection cables SATA devices. Manufacturer GIGABYTE does not make simple cables for connection SATA, but “with amenities.”

The first is a metal retainer at both ends of the cable. This lock prevents the cable from accidentally disconnecting, for example, when you insert or remove a video card from the system unit and accidentally touch the cable.

The second is an angled connector at one end of the cable. This cable is convenient to use for short cases, in cases where the cable needs to be led directly down from the DVD or hard drive. I recommend using these cables.

Currently, other manufacturers have begun to equip their motherboards with cables with such “options”. You can also try purchasing them separately.

If you purchased a new hard drive or DVD with a SATA connector, and your PC is not older than 2 years, then connecting via SATA is very simple.

First– install the device in the housing. DVD - as convenient for you, and hard drive - preferably so that there is a small empty space above and below it for better ventilation.

Second– connect the information connector of the device and a free connector on the motherboard.

Third - connect power to the device. The device may have a new type of power connector (for SATA), it may be an old type (Molex), or there may be both connectors.

The following picture shows, as an example, the back side of the hard drive and the connectors are labeled: SATA power, SATA data, Molex power.

If there is only one connector, then connect it.

With the advent of SATA devices, power supply manufacturers began to equip their units with special power connectors for connecting such devices.

Most new devices are already released without a Molex connector. If there are no connectors for SATA in the power supply of your PC or they are already occupied, then you can use a special power adapter, which is shown in the following picture.

The white connector with 4 pins is the connector Molex. Two black flat connectors are connectors for SATA devices.

If the power connector two, then you need to connect any one of them, but not both at once! I recommend using the power connector for SATA devices.

After this, you can turn on the PC, go into the BIOS and check that the device is visible. If it is not visible, you need to switch all SATA connectors to AUTO mode. Then you need to save the changes in the BIOS and exit. After this you can work with the device

If you are not sure how to connect the device correctly or are having problems connecting, then watch the video tutorial below or take our step-by-step video course "Assembling a computer from A to Z."

The article uses materials from the site www.nix.ru