Installing a second hard drive is an easy upgrade that any computer novice can do. It's especially easy if you are running Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows 2003.
Installing a Second Hard Drive
** Note ** This guide assumes that you are comfortable with opening your computer's case. If doing this freaks you out, annoy one of your geek friends until they finally do it for you. Also, this is really basic stuff. If you're wanting to configure some weird RAID setup on a five disk daisy chain then you shouldn't be reading this at all.
- Preparation -
As with most computer related purchases, you need to do a little homework before laying down $100 for a new hard drive. You'll need to know what kind of interfaces your motherboard supports (typically IDE or SATA) and if you have enough room inside your computer for a new drive. This can be done fairly quickly by simply taking a peek inside your computer. Having the motherboard's manual on hand wouldn't hurt either. As far as tools go, all you'll need is a phillips head screw driver and a few screws to hold the drive in place.
- OEM, Retail, and Refurbished Drives -
When you're shopping around, be sure to take notice whether the new drive is marked OEM, retail, or refurbished.
OEM drives tend to be cheaper and, in my opinion, are the way to go if you already have extra cables and screws. When you buy an OEM drive, that's exactly what you get...a hard drive. That's what makes is cheaper. You're not paying for fancy packaging, manuals, cables, or screws which is fair. If you don't have the extra parts (or can't bum them from a friend), don't go with OEM.
Retail hard drives typically come with all the parts you need to install it right out of the box. Retail drives usually cost a bit more than OEM, but at least you know you have everything you need.
Refurbished drives are cheap but usually mean that the drive is either used or has been repaired. Sometimes (but rarely) a company is forced to sell a perfectly good drive discounted as refurbished because the drive has been handled . This is fine, but generally I don't recommend getting a refurbished drive...especially if you plan to keep anything important on it.
- Installing the Drive -
Shut down your computer and unplug it from the wall or power strip. Open the computer case and locate where your existing hard drive is installed. You'll need an empty bay for the second hard drive. If you don't have an empty bay, get a bigger case or opt for an external hard drive. If you're using IDE hard drives you will want to be sure that the second drive is installed next to the existing drive. If you're installing a SATA drive this really doesn't matter as much since each SATA drive gets its own cable.
If you're installing a drive with an IDE interface, check the jumper setting on your existing drive. If the jumpers are set to "Master", set the jumpers on your new drive to "Slave". If the jumpers on the existing drive are set to "Drive Select", set the jumpers on your new drive to "Drive Select" as well.
Place the new drive into an empty bay positioned exactly like the existing drive. Line up the drive's screw holes and secure the drive with at least four screws. Connect the IDE or SATA cable to the hard drive before finally connecting the power cable. Both cables should only fit one way and should not be forced into the drive.
Close the computer's case and boot up your now upgraded computer. Once in Windows, open up My Computer. Notice that the new drive isn't showing up! Don't worry, this is normal. Before a new drive can be used Windows must first initialize it. If you're still in a panic, right-click on My Computer and then select Properties. Go to the Hardware tab and click on Device Manager. You should find your new hard drive listed under Disk Drives.
- Initialize the Drive -
Now the easy part. Many times installing a new hard drives means re-installing Windows. During installation, Windows takes care of partitioning and formatting the drive(s). Since we already have Windows installed and simply wish to add a second drive, we need a different way to get everything set up.
Right-click on My Computer and select Manage. This opens up the Computer Management window. On the left payne of the Computer Management window, expand the Storage section and click on Disk Management. An Initialize Disk wizard should pop up. If the wizard does not pop up, locate your new drive near the bottom of the right payne and click on it.
Complete the Initialize Disk wizard. Right-click the new drive and partition it to your liking. If you don't know anything about partitioning, just make one partition and make it as large as physically possible. One last thing to consider is to avoid converting the new drive to a dynamic disk. A Basic disk is all most people people ever need. Enjoy your new hard drive!
