How to Add a Disk Drive to a Computer

Opening the Case

1). Shut down your computer. Remove all of the cables connected to it, then set it on a stable work surface.
2). Remove the screws securing the side paneling of the case--they'll be located at the back of the computer, near the sides.
3). Remove the side paneling to expose the top of the motherboard. The paneling should slide right off the frame.
4). In case you don't have your motherboard's manual, look for the manufacturer's logo on the board to find the model number of your board. Visit the manufacturer's support page on the Internet and browse for the online version of the manual by the model number.

1). Add a hard drive by sliding the drive into one of the unused bays in the computer. Plug a four-pin power cable into the power port on back of the drive.
2). Piggyback the drive onto a port on an IDE cable nearby. If you can't piggyback the connection, use the supplied IDE cable to connect the hard drive.
3). Connect one end of the IDE cable to the port on the back of the drive and connect the other end to an IDE port on the motherboard; the port will look exactly like the port on the back of the hard drive and will be labeled as such.
4). To add a SATA cable instead of an IDE cable, plug the supplied SATA cable into the port on the back of the drive labeled "SATA," and plug the other end of the cable into the SATA port on the motherboard.
5). If the drive you are adding will be the only drive, use the tweezers to place the jumper cap on the set of pins labeled "primary" or "master"--the drive will display a diagram of the proper pin placement above the jumper pins. If the drive will be a secondary drive, remove the jumper cap to make it the "secondary" or "slave" drive.
6). Follow Steps Three and Four to install a DVD/CD-ROM drive. To add the optional SPDIF digital audio connection, plug the supplied SPDIF cable into the port on the back of the drive labeled "SPDIF."
7). Plug the other end of the cable into the SPDIF port on the motherboard. Consult your manual to save yourself some time searching for the small port.