Is it possible to insert 2 hard drives? Installing an additional hard drive. Connecting a hard drive via SATA interface
The quality of content is increasing inexorably, which means that file sizes are also increasing. Because of this, your computer may need to extra space, which can provide secure storage your extensive library of audio and video files, heavy programs and much more. In order not to change the current HDD, it is enough to connect an additional one to it, which will act as an auxiliary source of space.
So, you have a system unit and clear decision install second hard disk. This procedure is not so complicated that you need to contact service center, and, in principle, even a novice user can cope on his own.
Connecting a second hard drive to your computer
Connecting an additional hard drive will differ depending on which interface connector you have on your computer: SATA or IDE. SATA is a modern interface, so in almost 100% of cases it is found in more or less fresh computers. IDE, on the contrary, is outdated, it can be found in already old computers, but, fortunately, hard disks With IDE interface can still be found on sale.
If you don't know what interface your computer is equipped with, you will need to look under the case before purchasing system unit to get the necessary information.
Opening the system unit case
1. The structure of the system unit cases may be different. For example, in one case it is enough to unscrew (snap) and remove the side cover, in some cases you will need to unscrew 4 screws from reverse side housing and tighten the housing.
2. Hard drives are installed in specially designated cells, which can be located differently in different variations of computers: they can be located at the bottom, central or side. The picture below shows what they roughly look like.
3. It is not difficult to distinguish between SATA and IDE connectors: since IDE is old interface, it has wide ports and fairly large cables. It looks like this:
SATA, on the other hand, modern solution, which means it has a narrow port and a small cable.
Knowing what interface you have, you can practice acquisition of hard disk, and then connecting it.
Connecting a hard drive to SATA
Let's start by analyzing the connection more modern interface, since it occurs in most cases.
Before you begin, be sure to turn off your computer and disconnect it from the outlet.
1. Insert the hard drive into the free slot and secure it with screws.
2. Now you need to connect the SATA cable that comes with the hard drive. To do this, connect one end to the hard drive on either side, and connect the other to motherboard.
3. All that remains is to connect the hard drive to the power supply. To do this, as a rule, a coupler comes from the power supply, which must be connected to the hard drive. If the power supply does not have free cables, you will need to buy a splitter that turns one connector into two.
4. Build your computer and then connect it to the network. This is the connection second hard disk is complete.
Connecting a hard drive to IDE
Connecting hard disk to the outdated interface is not much different, but still the procedure is somewhat different.
1. First of all, you will need to install a jumper on the contacts of the connected hard drive to one of the positions: Master or Slave. As a rule, Master mode is the main one when work hard disk and, most often, it is used for hard drives from which the operating system is loaded. Slave is additional mode, used for auxiliary hard drives, on which, for example, media files will be stored. Most often, a second hard drive is connected for precisely this purpose, so set the jumper to Slave mode.
2. The IDE cable, unlike SATA, has not two, but three plugs for connection. The blue plug located at one end indicates that it needs to be connected to the motherboard. At the other end, as a rule, there is a black plug, which belongs to the Master mode, and a white one, located approximately in the middle of the cable, is responsible for the Slave mode.
3. Insert the hard drive into the bay and then secure it with screws.
4. You will need to connect the free plug from the power supply to the hard drive, thereby providing it with power.
5. Insert the required cable connector into the hard drive, depending on hard mode disk that you selected. The blue end of the hard drive is connected to the motherboard.
This completes the connection of the hard drive to the IDE interface.
Actually, in self-connection there is nothing complicated about the hard drive. And having completed this procedure, after turning on, your computer will detect the hard drive and you can fill it with the necessary information.
Installing a hard drive on a computer is not a difficult task and there is nothing to be afraid of if you have to do it yourself, even if you are using your computer. open form never seen. I’ll explain everything to you now, and everything will work out for you.
Installing a hard drive on your computer will be required if you are going to update your device, are building a computer from scratch, or want second HDD. This instruction will help you in the first two cases. But in case HDD replacement I won’t tell you how to remove the old one, I think there won’t be any problems with that, but I’ll just show you how to install the new one correctly. But I’ll tell you about connecting the second hard drive some other time.
Installing a new hard drive begins by screwing it to the case. This is done using bolts. There are threaded holes in the hard drive case, and grooves in the computer case. It is screwed through them.
Make sure that installed device ventilation inside the system unit will not interfere, and also that all wires and cables can easily reach it without tension.
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Connecting the hard drive to the motherboard
The bolts are fixed, and we move on to the wires and cables. Connect the HDD with which it will communicate with it.
Depending on the HDD type, they will be different - ATA (IDE) and SATA. The first is older, the second is new, but both types are still on sale.
The IDE hard drive is connected to the motherboard using a cable that differs big amount contacts, pins, and therefore it is wide. The cable has a lock that prevents it from being connected incorrectly. Therefore, it is impossible to make a mistake. Connect the HDD and motherboard using an IDE cable.
Connecting a hard drive SATA drive occurs using a narrow train. It will be impossible to mix up the connection sockets on the motherboard, since SATA is only suitable for correct connector. Use a SATA cable to connect the HDD to the motherboard.
Connecting the hard drive to power
In hard IDE drives and SATA, the power cables are also different. Most are for one or the other type or there are special adapters.
For connecting hard drives IDE drives A 4-pin Peripheral Power Connector is used. For tough ones SATA drives needed SATA connector Power Connector. In both cases, you can't mix up the connections, so don't worry about doing anything wrong.
Differences between connecting IDE and SATA hard drives
It would seem that the connection procedure is the same, but in fact IDE is slightly different from SATA in that it requires setting the position of the jumper, the so-called jumper.
The motherboard is usually equipped with a pair of connectors for IDE devices, and each can be connected to two devices. Each pair can have one master device and one slave, and it is impossible for two to be identical. The hard drive must be in master position if Windows is booted from it. The second device in the same connection branch must be a slave.
If all this is difficult to understand, then just put a jumper on master if your computer only has one hard drive.
You can find the jumper connection card at hard case disk.
There are no such problems with SATA. Master and slave positions are set via BIOS. When connecting a SATA hard drive, you will need to configure it as bootable if it has installed operating system.
Every year the amount of information stored on a computer increases. As a result, the computer takes a long time to boot and freezes periodically. And this is natural, because all data is stored on a hard drive, the memory of which is limited.
Users solve this problem in different ways. Someone is sending information to various media, someone turns to the specialist and asks to increase the computer’s memory, and someone decides to connect a second hard drive to the computer. Therefore, let’s figure out how to connect a second hard drive to a computer without the help of a specialist – on your own.
To begin with, you need to completely de-energize the system unit: Disconnect all cables and power cable. Now it is necessary unscrew the side covers system specialist Let's expand it back towards you and unscrew the four screws on the sides. Lightly pressing on the side parts, move them in the direction of the arrow and remove.
Hard drives in the system unit are installed in special compartments or cells. Such compartments may be located in the rear of the system unit, at the bottom or in the middle; some hard drives are installed turned on their side. If your system unit has several bays for hard drives, install the second one not adjacent to the first one - this will improve its cooling.
Depending on the method of connection to the motherboard, internal hard drives are divided into two types: with IDE and SATA interface. IDE is an older standard; now all system units are designed for connecting hard drives with SATA interface. It is not difficult to distinguish them: IDE has wide ports for connecting a hard drive and power supply and a wide cable, while SATA has both ports and cable much narrower.
Connecting a hard drive via SATA interface
If your system unit has a hard drive with a SATA interface, then connecting a second one will not be difficult.
Insert the second hard drive into a free slot and attach it to the body with screws.
Now we take a SATA cable through which data will be transferred, and connect it to the hard drive on either side. We connect the second plug of the cable to the SATA connector on the motherboard.
All system units have at least two SATA connectors; they look as shown in the picture below.
To connect to the power supply, a cable is used, the plug of which is slightly wider than that of a SATA cable. If there is only one plug coming from the power supply, you need to buy a splitter. If the power supply does not have a narrow plug, you will need to buy an adapter.
Connect the power cable to the hard drive.
A second hard drive is installed on the computer. Place the side covers of the system unit in place and secure them with screws.
Connecting a hard drive via the IDE interface
Although the IDE standard is outdated, hard drives with an IDE interface are still available. Therefore, next we will look at how to connect a second hard drive via the IDE interface.
First you need install jumper on the hard drive contacts to the desired position. This will allow you to determine in which mode the hard drive will operate: Master or Slave. Typically, a hard drive that is already installed on the computer operates in Master mode. It is the main one and the operating system is loaded from it. For the second hard drive that we are going to install, we need to select Slave mode. The contacts on the hard drive case are usually labeled, so simply place the jumper in the desired position.
The IDE cable through which data is transmitted has three plugs. One is located at the end of a long segment, of blue color, connects to the motherboard. Another one is in the middle, white, connects to the slave disk (Slave). The third, at the end of a short segment, black, is connected to the master disk.
Insert the hard drive into a free cell. Then secure it with screws.
Choose free plug from the power supply and insert it into the appropriate port on the hard drive.
Now insert the plug that is located in the middle of the train, to the hard drive port for data transfer. In this case, one end of the cable is already connected to the motherboard, the other to the previously installed hard drive.
Connecting the second hard drive via the IDE interface is now complete.
As you can see, we didn’t do anything complicated. Just be careful, and then you will definitely be able to connect a second hard drive to your computer.
We also watch the video
A typical laptop configuration involves installing two drives: one of which is a hard drive, the other is a drive. optical disks. There is only one compartment for installing a hard drive.
Therefore, in order to install a second hard drive, you need to sacrifice a CD-ROM device (usually a recording device). DVD drive disks). For this purpose, there are adapter devices that completely replicate the shape of the internal optical drive with a mount for a standard HDD format 2.5 inches.
In this article I will tell you in detail how to replace the cd rom in a laptop with a hdd.
How to determine the thickness of the device
I know of two types optical drives used on laptops that differ in thickness. "Thick" has a height of 12.7 mm, and "thin" - 9.5 mm. You can determine the thickness of the device you have installed without disassembling the laptop. To do this, first look at the device manager and look at the product model.
I have this Optiarc AD-7580S. Now let's visit any popular internet a resource selling similar products or Yandex.market and look at the characteristics of the device.
As you can see, the thickness of the device, according to the description, is 13 mm (taking into account rounding, in reality 12.7 mm).
If in doubt, you can measure it yourself using an ordinary ruler. You can tell the difference between 12.7 and 9.5 drives with the naked eye.
Where to buy an adapter for HDD to ODD bay
It is a plastic box with small fee with connectors and chip, also included USB cord for connection and a decorative strip on the front side. For some reason, the package included a mini-CD with drivers, but Windows 7 saw the device without installing additional software. Moreover, the device is detected from the BIOS, so it can be used as a bootable CD-ROM.
Instructions
Second Winchester not only allows you to get extra bed for files, but also significantly increase the reliability of data storage due to duplication important files on . Before you start working on installing hard disk, be sure to make sure that the computer is disconnected from the network! Then use a screwdriver to unscrew the screws holding the left (when looking at the front) side cover. Note that different models cases, the procedure for removing the cover may differ - for example, you may first need to remove the front panel. After unscrewing the screws, carefully remove sidebar. You may have to pull it back slightly to do this.
After removing the panel, you will see the computer motherboard, power supply, various wires and cables. And, of course, the hard drive, usually located at the front of the computer. Pay attention to how it is installed - second the hard drive will need to be installed in the same way, in a free niche. Such niches can be found above or below the main disk. If possible, do not place the disks immediately on top of each other - leave a gap between them, this will help them better cooling. Important point: on hard drives x there are special jumpers that set the operating mode. The main disk should be set to the “Master” position. On the second – to the “Slave” position. The jumpers are very small and may require tweezers to install them. Having placed the jumper, carefully install the disk in the location chosen for it, tighten the retaining screws. Together with Winchester There are usually none, so a couple of short screws should be found in advance - they should fit the threaded holes on the left and right sides Winchester A.
The disk is installed, all that remains is to connect the power and data cable to it. To connect power, you may need an adapter to a SATA drive. Best before purchasing Winchester But open the computer and see if the adapter is on the existing disk and if so, buy the same one. When connecting, pay attention to the shape of the connectors and the color of the main drive wires matching them - new disk you need to connect it exactly the same way. To connect the adapter, use any free connector with wires of the desired colors. The power is connected, the whole process is very simple. And most importantly, do not use force - all connectors are equipped with special protrusions that do not allow them to be installed incorrectly.
The power is connected, now you need to connect the data cable. When purchasing a disk, make sure that the cable is included in the package. If not, then buy it. Usually this is a flat red wire with connectors at the ends, its width is within a centimeter. One end of the cable is connected to Winchester y, you can easily find the connector you need. The second one is connected to the corresponding socket motherboard. To find it, look where the cable of the main disk is connected - the socket for the second (and often also the third and fourth) should be nearby.
That's it, the disk is connected. We put the cover back in place and turn on the computer. If everything is connected correctly, the computer will start to boot. After loading, open “My Computer” - a new disk should appear in the list of hard drives. If you don’t like the letter assigned to it by the system, go to: Start – Control Panel – Computer Management. In the “Storage Devices” section, select “Disk Management”. Clicking new drive right click mouse, select “Change drive letter or drive path.” A window opens, select “Change” and set the desired drive letter.
If you have to disconnect any cables when installing a drive, sketch out their connections on a piece of paper. This will allow you to connect them correctly in the future.
Sources:
- how to install a second hard drive on a computer
- How to connect a second hard drive
Modern hard disks very reliable and can work very well long term. But no one is immune from breakdown of any equipment. If the hard drive fails, the likelihood that it can be repaired is low. Then you will have to purchase and install new hard disk. This process is not complicated, but there are some nuances associated with the type of interfaces of hard drives and motherboards. You need to choose a hard drive that fits the interface of your motherboard.
You will need
- computer, hard drive with SATA connector or IDE connector, screwdriver.
Instructions
First, find out what interfaces your motherboard is equipped with. This can be done by looking at the technical documentation for your computer. See if the motherboard has a SATA interface. If you don't have technical documentation, you can look at the connection interfaces on the motherboard itself. After all, in any case, the system unit will have to be opened.
Disconnect the computer from power. Unscrew the screws that secure the system unit cover and remove the system unit cover. Now look for the SATA inscription on the motherboard. Interfaces are nearby SATA connections. Typically these interfaces are located in the lower right corner of the motherboard. Please note that SATA interfaces may not be available on fairly old motherboards.
