Installing a second hard drive in your computer can improve system performance and generally increase the amount of storage space you need. Most serial computers have built-in IDE (PATA) or SATA (Serial ATA) support for connecting hard drives to motherboard.
Modern operating systems support any type of hard drive, regardless of the type of hard drive already installed on the computer. Contrary to popular belief, installing a second hard drive does not require professional technical training, but requires minimal skills to disassemble the computer and replace its components.
In fact, to install a second hard drive, you only need an additional cable (if one is not available) and a screwdriver. In the event of a malfunction, professional assistance may be required. Remember, it is always possible to contact reference guide.
In order to install second hard disk to your computer, follow these steps:
1. First of all, back up the data stored on the primary device.
2. Turn off the computer and disconnect all power cords from it. Before opening the case, you must touch something metallic to remove the static charge.
3. Before buying a second hard drive, find out what type of drives your computer supports. IDE drives use 2-inch flat cables with three or more connectors. SATA drives use thin and round cables.
4. Refer to the instructions printed on the hard drive label for instructions on how to properly set the jumpers. Jumpers are tiny connectors that can be found on IDE drives. They help identify the primary drive. Set the jumper to "Slave (ide2)" on the second drive. Also, don't forget to jumper the main hard drive to set it to "Master (IDE1)." If you purchased a SATA drive, skip to step 5. SATA drives do not require a jumper.
5. Locate an empty bay to accommodate the second hard drive. Insert carefully new hard disk in the bay. Use the two mounting screws on both sides to secure the new hard drive to the metal case. Connect the IDE drive to the second connector located on the main cable. For SATA, connect one connector to the main drive and the other end of the cable to the SATA connector on the motherboard.
6. Replace the computer cover. Connect the power cords to it. Turn on your computer. Press F1, F2, F10, or the Delete button to enter the BIOS menu. Check if they are detected by the system. If not, then check again that all cables and loops are connected correctly.
After that, configure the hard drive to work with the operating system. If it is new, then first of all it is necessary to assign a letter to it. You can also perform partitioning. Using a second hard drive as the primary for installing applications and storage virtual memory is one way to improve system performance. This will also free up space for the operating system to run.
Every year the amount of information stored on the computer increases. As a result, the computer starts to boot for a long time and periodically freezes. And this is natural, because all data is stored on a hard disk, the memory of which is limited.
Users solve this problem in different ways. Someone transfers information to various media, someone turns to the master 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, without the help of a specialist - on our own - to connect a second hard drive to a computer.
To get started, you need to completely shut down the system unit: disconnect all cables and power cable. Now you need unscrew the side covers sistemnik. We unfold it with the back towards us and unscrew the four screws on the sides. Slightly 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 bays or cells. Such bays can be located in the back 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 cells for hard drives, install the second not right next to the first - this will improve its cooling.
Depending on the method of connection to the motherboard, the internal hard drives are divided into two types: with IDE and SATA interface. IDE is an older standard, now all system units are designed to connect hard drives with a SATA interface. It is not difficult to distinguish between them: IDE has wide ports for connecting a hard drive and power supply and a wide cable, while SATA has both ports and the cable is much narrower.
SATA power cable
This is what the SATA connector on the motherboard looks like for connecting a data cable.
For information:
If your motherboard has a SATA output, then it would be wiser to install this particular type of hard drive. SATA has more bandwidth than IDE. IDE is already harder to find in stores due to the fact that this interface is already out of active use, and it has been replaced by SATA, SATA-II, SATA-III (the larger the number, the higher the data exchange speed).
5. If your choice still fell on an IDE-type hard drive, then on the rear panel you need to rearrange the jumper to the Slave position. It is also necessary to check how the jumper is set on the first hard drive (it must be set to the Master position).
6. Now put your secondary hard drive back in place and connect to the motherboard and power it up.
7. Fasten the hard drives on both sides with the screws included in the kit.
8. Install the cover system block in place.
9. Connect the wires that were previously disconnected and apply power to it.
10. Turn on the computer, wait until it is fully loaded, then check if a new hard drive has appeared (to check, go to "My Computer")
11. If everything went well and the disk appeared in the computer, then you should format it before starting work.
Well, this is where the installation of the second hard drive is completed.
Hello! Please, tell a simple computer user to deal with hard drives and the possibility of their autonomous operation...
The point is the following. It became possible to install a second hard drive on your PC, so that the first one was exclusively for the OS + necessary programs + frequently used files and (documents, technical diagrams, etc.), and the second for home archive (video, photos, films, rarely used files.
I successfully installed the second hard drive myself (the OS sees and maintains it well) ... But there is one problem here. This hard drive should be used from time to time, but it turns out that every time the computer is turned on and off, the OS starts it anyway - and this, after all, affects the resource!
How to make sure that this, let's call it an "archival" hard drive, does not start up unnecessarily? Is it possible?
Nicholas | April 29, 2015, 08:40
" YUM wrote: as a matter of discussion: why not go mechanically? Well, for example, extend the power cord. Take dad / mom out and out of use, just open the pads. The cable, however, will stick out all the same in the "mom", but , I think, beyond the show: " unknown device"Oska won't go..."
In fact, it was this option that I considered first, and here's why. Now my system unit is (with the wide side) right behind the monitor and the back (free) side (for certain reasons) without a cover (i.e. there is free access to the hardware). Cables of both HDDs are easily accessible . In general, everything is predisposed to removing / inserting connectors. But realizing that everything would quickly become unusable, so I asked myself not a mechanical, but a software switch on and off of the hard drive. Well, it turned out that this, unfortunately, is impossible.
So, YUM, I'll have to follow the path already discussed...
YUM | April 19, 2015, 03:32 pm
in the order of discussion: why not go the mechanical way? Well, for example, lengthen the power cord. Take out dad / mom outside and as unnecessary, just open the pads. The train, however, will stick out all the same in the "mother", but, I think, further than the show: "unknown device", Oska will not go. I remember sticking fans into free blocks on the PSU. For outdoor use. One to blow - on me, the second - in the body. For, it happened, both of us and the computer overheated ... :-)
Nicholas | April 8, 2015, 13:58
Nick Nick, thanks for the reply. From the answers, I realized that the second hard drive integrated into the PC will still be polled by the OS for any of its actions. And therefore, in order to eliminate "unproductive" inclusions and disconnections, it is necessary to exclude it from the direction of one OS. That is, it is either a PC with two motherboards (and different OS), or a second PC, or an external hard drive, or a NAS ...
Nick Nick | April 7, 2015, 14:47
I did it this way, in the system unit there is a 500 gb disk divided into two partitions on one partition, the system on the other, downloaded movies, etc. In a beautiful plastic case called an external HDD box, there is a second (it stands right on the table) hard drive also for 500. And it has autonomous power supply switch on the body. There are photos and archives on it, and it is connected with a switch when needed, and when not needed, it is turned off by a switch on the body. It is connected to a USB computer (comes with a box in the kit). The system sees the disk as a large flash. I took this box and watch photos and videos DVD or wherever there is USB.
Nicholas | April 7, 2015, 08:19
Nick, maybe you are right about something. But then again, I do not need a backup disk (did I name it correctly?), which will be stored in a cabinet.
There were 2 hard drives available (500 GB and 2 TB). On the first one, I placed the OS with accompanying programs (which are not yet installed all the necessary ones). By the way, as Dima Svinkin mentioned, the system disk was divided into two logical ones - for the OS itself and for different files needed in everyday work. And the second HDD (2 TB) is gradually filled with "house stuff" (photos, videos, films, music, rarely used documents, drawings, etc.).
As a result, after turning on the PC, after a while (as you mentioned, Nick) the "dvuhterrabyte" "falls asleep", I don't even know when this happens. On the one hand, this is good - the hard drive is not used, and on the other hand, the problem I describe arises.
Nick, I can’t buy an external drive yet (especially now they are very expensive, and there are already 2 TB available). It's just that I have the opportunity to get a small system unit - I'll probably have to "dance" from this option.
By the way, Nick, I'm certainly not an IT specialist, but all the same, everywhere it is said that the hard drive should be treated with care, including for him it's better to "spin" all day than to start and stop.
So, in summary, we can say the following:
1) separate management on one computer, with one OS, two physical hard drives (without good system knowledge and access to BIOS) is almost impossible.
2) to solve the problem I am describing, it is proposed to either physically turn off the second HDD (which is unrealistic), or use an external HDD, or you can use the second system unit of a small form factor.
Is everything right?
Nick | April 6, 2015, 22:47
For Nikolai: "professor" on one of the IT sites - advised you correctly. It is best to have 2 disks in the system. But they are used for something completely different. For example, only the system is on one disk. And if the system crashes or you need to restore it from a backup image six months ago, then your current documents will not be affected in any way, because. they are on a different drive. You won't lose anything. Or you need to check for errors or defragment the system disk - the operation will be performed much faster in time on a small system disk (where there is only a system) than on a huge shared disk, where in addition to the system there is a bunch of your documents, pictures, videos, etc. In short , 2 disks are used for data spacing - and this is necessary for the convenience of system maintenance.
I don't know what you are afraid of switching disks on and off. There is nothing to worry about, modern disks are designed for this, they can even turn off and fall asleep if they are not accessed for a long time.
Well, if you want to turn off the drive yourself, then buy an external drive. For example, I use an external USB-3 drive. It works quickly to turn it off - you just need to remove the connector with a cord from the computer's socket (it is inserted into the USB flash drive connector).
Nicholas | April 6, 2015, 20:54
Thanks to everyone who answered my question. A separate "curtsey" for Alek55sandr5 - it seems that you immediately "caught" the essence of the issue.
Now it becomes clear that if two (3.4) hard drives are connected to one OS (which the system "sees" as separate physical drives), then every time you turn it on, turn it off or reboot, the system will always start them all (which, of course, reduces their resource, because for a hard drive one of the most difficult modes is start-up, when the spindle spins "pancakes" Right?)
It is strange that at one time, some "professor" on one of the IT sites, "advised" to have two separate hard drives in his PC (and not in some kind of ride array, namely two separate physical ones - one for OS and related programs, and another for home videos, photos, books, document archives and other relatively rarely used files). So I "bought" this "call".
That is, for me it would be the right decision: a separate small-sized system unit, from which to make something like a NAS and connect it as needed? This is the only way I can save the second hard drive from unnecessary inclusions. Correctly?
Dmitry | April 6, 2015, 10:59 am
Put there a swap file and a folder for temporary files. The disc will give back.
Svinkin Dima | April 5, 2015, 04:43 PM
Strongly disagree with you! A home archive must be created and stored on an external hard drive. What size is your system (physical disk)? For OS + various programs, 100-150 GB is usually enough, and for many users the system (logical) one is even several times smaller than these sizes. If you had one physical disk in your computer with a nominal size of 320 GB or more, then it is unreasonable to define this entire volume under OS + programs. It needs to be divided into two partitions (two logical drives) C:\ and D:\. Disk C is the system drive, and on drive D: \ you should place folders for temporary files of all programs, folders for downloading from the Internet, folders for saving files created in different programs and a temporary archive of the most popular files. Any extra physical device in a computer can turn into a headache at any time - this is a practice.
Alek55sandr5 | April 5, 2015, 15:50
As far as I know, unfortunately it is impossible to completely turn off the hard drive if it is connected to a PC. Each time you start the operating system, the hard drive will boot with it and its resource will slowly wear out. You can copy some files to this hard drive and remove the connected cables from its connector. Thus, it will be completely disabled and its resource will be larger. But of course, if this option suits you.
This is not entirely true. First you need to know what interfaces your devices have. If they are both SATA, then it is enough for you to connect them, you may have to set the order in the BIOS of the system accessing devices to boot from the disk on which you have the system installed, which is bootable for you. Otherwise, if the newly installed disk was previously installed operating system and it was active, then the download will go from it and most likely it will not work normally. If the disk is clean and the system accesses this disk first, then there will be no boot at all, the system will display the message No system disk. To manage this setting, you need to enter the BIOS. Further actions depends on whose BIOS you have installed (AWARD, American Megatrends Inc (AMI), General Software Inc, Microid Research, Phoenix Technologies) You can find out exactly what you have installed when you turn on the computer, the BIOS manufacturer will be indicated on the screen. In general, you will find out who the manufacturer is, write, we will tell you in which section to look.
If your drives are with IDE interfaces, then you need to deal with device connections. If both drives are connected to the same cable, then you need to figure out the correct setting of the jumpers on the drive, if they are not set correctly, the system may not see your drives at all, despite the fact that everything was in order before connecting. (it’s worth mentioning right away that you shouldn’t hang the HDD and CD / DVD Rom on the same cable. With this connection, the data transfer rate will be noticeably lower. The IDE channel itself will set the exchange rate for both channels not exceeding the exchange rate at least speed device, i.e. CD/DVD Rom and your HDD will be slow.
Let's get back to the loop. There are 3 identical connectors on the cable. the farthest from the other two is inserted into the motherboard is System. The middle one is the Slave connector, the third one is the Master. Some cables have inscriptions near the connectors. On the disks themselves there is a picture that shows which connection corresponds to the position of the jumper. So, we insert the System connector into the motherboard, insert the Master connector into one of the disks and set the jumper to the Master position, connect the second disk to the Slave connector, for the Slave we usually don’t put the jumper at all, so in order not to lose it, we put it in the Cable select position. By the way, one hundred all connections should be made with the power off. There is a switch on the back of the system unit. We turn it off and press the POWER button (the one you turn on the computer), this will remove the residual voltage from the charged capacitors of the power supply. At the same time, the lights may even blink and the fans start to rotate. We connect the power connectors to your drives and turn on the power of the computer. Now you need to enter the BIOS and see if your drives are visible. If everything is connected correctly and the disks are working and the disk detection parameter is set to AUTO, then you will see information about them on the main page. Displayed as SATA interface channels as well as IDE channels. If it is not visible, then use the arrows to go to the channel in which None is written instead of the disk and press Enter. Then press Enter again and the system will try to find and recognize your disk. If not found, press Esc and go to the next channel and so on until all your disks are found. When you find it, you will see it for yourself. If not found, then check the connection, the reliability of the contact. If everything is determined, fine. We save the settings (usually the F10 key and pressing the Y key to confirm). Now let's try to boot the computer. If everything went as it should, great. If the disks were determined but the download did not go, then the matter is again in the order in which the devices are accessed. To tell you exactly what to do next, you again need to know the manufacturer of your BIOS.
Here, the information is through the roof for those who do not know anything at all about this yet. It may be difficult to perceive everything at once, but do it once, then do it with your eyes closed, there is nothing complicated about it. The main criteria is accuracy and attentiveness.
If you have Skype, please contact me, maybe I can explain better in words.
PS
Fuck Gee Gee.
Sooner or later, any user is faced with the fact that his data no longer fit on the existing hard drive. The solution to this problem can be a second hard drive. In this article, we'll show you how to install a second hard drive on your computer.
Step #1: Prepare your computer for installing a second hard drive.
First you need to prepare your computer. First, you need to de-energize it and disconnect all cables from it. A simple shutdown using the button on the power supply is not enough; the computer must be completely disconnected from the power supply.
Secondly, you need to open access to the insides of the system unit. To do this, remove both side covers. Usually, the side covers are fixed to the back of the system unit with four screws. Loosen these screws and carefully remove both side covers.
Step #2. Installing a second hard drive and fixing it.
After the computer is completely disconnected from the power supply and the side covers are removed, you can proceed to install a second hard drive. Hard drives are installed in a special compartment of the system unit. Defining this compartment is quite simple. It is located on the bottom right side of the system unit, and its width is just right for 3.5 inch hard drives.
In inexpensive computer cases, this compartment is usually turned with a hole towards the motherboard (as in the photo below). In more expensive models of computer cases, the hard drive bay is turned towards the side cover.
During installation of a hard disk system unit is best kept in an upright position. Insert the hard drive into the hard drive bay (as in the photo below). In some cases, in order for the hard drive to enter the bay without problems, you will need to remove the video card or RAM. You can read about how this is done in our articles: and. If your system unit has a lot of space for hard drives, then try to install a second hard drive away from the first. This will keep them cool better.
Once the second hard drive is installed in the hard drive bay, it must be secured with four screws, two on each side of the hard drive (see photo below). You should not save screws and fix the hard drive with only two or three. In this case, it will vibrate and make a lot of noise.
Step #3. Connecting a second hard drive to the computer.
After the second hard drive is installed in the computer and securely fixed, you can proceed to it. Hard drives are connected using two cables: one cable goes to the motherboard (data is transferred through this cable), and the other to the power supply (it is used for power supply).
For connecting hard drive to the motherboard using a cable (see photo below). This cable is usually supplied with motherboard. If you do not have such a cable, then you can buy it separately.
A cable with a similar connector is used to connect the hard drive to power. (photo below).
If you have difficulty connecting a second hard drive to your computer, then look at how the first hard drive was connected and proceed by analogy.
Step number 4. We assemble the system unit.
After the hard drive has been installed, securely fixed and connected, the system unit can be closed. Replace the side covers and secure them with the screws. After installing the side covers, the computer can be connected to the power supply and started. If everything was done correctly, then after starting the computer, a second hard drive will appear in the system.
When you run out of hard drive space, you can either remove or add more space. While the outer USB hard the disk is easy to connect and as an option for additional volume, this is not entirely suitable - they take up space on the disk, perhaps an additional power connector, you need to use a valuable USB port, and they tend to be slower than internal drives. Today let's look at a more complex option for adding a second internal drive.
It's time to get familiar with the basics of your computer. Today we will focus only on HDD but the manual will give you great review on all random connectors and ports that you will see on the motherboard after you open the computer case.
Step 1: Determine if you can add another internal drive or not
Unfortunately, not all computers are built equal. If you have a laptop, or an all-in-one car, where internal systems hidden in the monitor - then your only option is to go to a USB drive and you don't have to open it. If you have a system unit, then read on, as there is a chance that you will have enough space to install a second drive. If you have a full tower size, then you can easily add a second drive, or 2, or 3! But, if you are not sure, refer to the table below.
Step 2: Backup
While we do not anticipate any problems, it is good practice to create backup important data before making any changes to the equipment. Here we have looked at some options for Reserve copy.
The best software backup for Windows.
Top Programs backup for Windows.
Your data is fragile - and it only takes one small accident to lose all data. The more copies you make, the better. Here we present the best free programs backup for Windows.
Step 3: Open the Case
Before continuing, turn off power to the system unit and all peripheral devices.
In most cases, the system unit may have covers on each side that need to be removed with just two screws. You need to remove the side cover that does not have the motherboard, so look at the back of the system, find USB ports/ mouse and remove the cover, so look at the back of the system, find the USB/mouse ports and remove the opposite side.
Step 4: Get Rid of Static Electricity
When touching the inside of a computer, technicians use a grounded wrist strap to reduce the risk of damage to any sensitive component from static electricity that remains in the human body. For our purposes, touching the heatsink will suffice.
Step 5: Find your hard drive and its slots
The internals of all computers are very similar. A hard drive is a fairly large piece of metal like this:
You have to find it, it is usually in some kind of metal box. Check now to see if you have a box to fit another hard drive in. A chassis tower usually has room for 3 or 4 drives, but a small desktop system might only have room for one drive, in which case you're out of luck and will have to consider either upgrading the chassis or using external USB disk.
Step 6: Determine if you have a SATA or IDE drive
Take a look at the following image and compare it with your drive. If you have a disk type like the one at the top, a wide ribbon cable, then this is a very old type of connection called IDE. Ideally, your new drive will be SATA. If it turns out that you have an IDE disk, then you are completely out of luck, but this is already beyond the scope of this article. IDE drives are getting harder and harder to buy, which is a sign that your PC has really gotten old.
Check ALL connected devices. There are two possible types of power cables, and you will of course need to find a spare in your system that you can use. It might be hidden somewhere, so keep an eye on other power cables carefully and try to find a spare.
Some hard drives can accept any kind of cable, but the SATA type is easier to connect, so I use those if available. If you have a spare power cable, but it's not SATA, then you can still install a second drive, but you need to make sure it can accept the Molex type of power cable, or you can buy a Molex to SATA adapter.
Next, plug in the SATA data cable on the motherboard, and see where it's plugged in. Various motherboards have different numbers SATA ports, and older machines may even have only one. Obviously, if you can only find one SATA port, then you can only connect one SATA disk drive. If you can see some spare connectors, then congratulations - you can now go out and buy a second drive!
Step 7: Buying a Disc
There is very little difference between manufacturers hard drives. On the technical side, you should look for "3.5" SATA hard drive", and make sure you pick up another "SATA cable" while you're in the store, the salesperson should be able to help you with that if you can't find the right one. you hard drive" and make sure you pick up another "SATA cable" while you're at the store and the salesperson should be able to help you with that if you can't find one.
Step 8: Installation
Installation hard drive into the box is the hardest part, as it can sometimes get blocked by the graphics card or other cables. You'll need to identify the cables before you actually go any further, noting the side of the cable facing up (SATA data cable and power cables all have a notch on one end, which means it's nearly impossible to insert it incorrectly).
With the drive in place, use the screws that came with the drive to secure it - you'll need to align the holes on the drive with the holes in the box or tray. Next, find the spare power cables and SATA cable and connect them.
In my next article, I'll be covering software and configuration when adding a second drive - so stay tuned. As always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I will try to answer them quickly.
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 have never seen your computer in the open. Now I will explain everything to you, and everything will work out for you.
Installing a hard drive on a computer will be required if you are going to upgrade your device, build a computer from scratch, or want to second HDD. This guide will help you in the first two cases. But in the case of replacing the HDD, I will not tell you how to remove the old one, I think there will be no problems with this, but I will only show you how to install the new one correctly. But I'll tell you about connecting the second hard some other time.
Installing a new hard drive begins with screwing it to the case. This is done with bolts. There are threaded holes in the hard case, there are 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 stretching.
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Connecting a hard drive to the motherboard
The bolts are fixed, and we move on to the wires and cables. Connect with which the HDD will communicate with it.
Depending on the type of HDD, they will differ - ATA (IDE) and SATA. The first is older, the second is new, but both types are still on sale.
Connecting an IDE hard drive to the motherboard is carried out using a cable, which has a large number of 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 with IDE cable HDD and motherboard.
The SATA hard drive is connected using a narrow cable. It will be impossible to mix up the connection sockets on the motherboard, since SATA will only fit into the correct connector. Using a SATA cable, connect the HDD to the motherboard.
Connecting the hard drive to power
In hard IDE drives and SATA are different and power cables. Most for one and the other type or there are special adapters.
To connect IDE hard drives, a 4-pin Peripheral Power Connector is used. SATA hard drives require a SATA Power Connector. In both cases, you can't mix up the connections, so don't worry about doing something 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 is required to set the jumper position there, the so-called jumper.
The motherboard is usually supplied with a pair of connectors for Device IDEs, and each can be connected to two devices. Each pair can have one master and one slave device, and two cannot be the same. The hard drive must be in the 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 has only one hard drive.
You can find the jumper connection card on the hard drive case itself.
There are no such problems with SATA. The master and slave positions are set via the BIOS. When connecting a SATA hard drive, you will need to configure it as bootable if it has an operating system installed.