- 1). Open the computer case with a screwdriver and place it on its side with the slots of the motherboard facing you. This process varies between computer cases. Make sure the computer is off, but plugged in so it stays grounded. Always have your bare hand or arm touching the metal surface of the computer case when doing anything inside the case. This protects the internal components from static shock.
- 2). Identify whether or not your motherboard has an IDE controller. Look for it on the motherboard. The port is rectangular plastic, measures about 2 1/2 inches by 3/8 inch and has 40 pins aligned in two rows inside. Generally there is a label silk-screened on the motherboard next to the port that says "IDE 0," "IDE 1" and so on, for each port. There might be up to four ports, but there is typically one or two.
- 3). Set the hard drive for "Cable Select." There is a jumper selector on the hard drive located between the IDE port and the power port. Move the jumper to the pin pair for "Cable Select" denoted by the silk-screen on the top side of the hard drive.
- 4). Install the ATA IDE hard drive into the drive bay of the case. Slide the drive into the bay and secure it with supplied rails or screws. Make sure the IDE and power connections are located toward the inside of the case. Connect the power cable from the power supply.
- 5). Connect the hard drive to the motherboard. Plug the IDE ribbon cable into the motherboard and the hard drive. Be sure to align "pin 1" on the ribbon cable with "pin 1" on the connectors. If your motherboard did not have an ATA IDE controller, you will need to install an ATA IDE-to-SATA adapter. Plug the adapter into the hard drive and use a SATA cable to connect the adapter and the next available SATA port on the motherboard.
- 6). Close the case and turn on the computer to configure your hard drive. You may need to configure the BIOS of your computer before your operating system recognizes it.
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