How to Quickly and Easily Add a Hard Disk to Your Computer
How to Quickly and Easily Add a Hard Disk to Your Computer
Whether you require extra storage space or your old hard drive is on its last legs, installing a hard drive is a skill that everyone could do with.
Adding extra storage space can be done with either an external or internal drive. The internal drive sits on your desktop and plugs in via a Firewire or USB cord. USB hard drives are particularly easy to install; all you do is just plug it in and Windows will automatically install the drivers. I like external drives as a way of backing up files. If you keep your hard drive in a different room from your PC, you will be less at risk from thieves stealing your backup files.
Internal drives are a bit more tricky to install, but really are about as difficult as fitting a new plug. There are two types of connector two choose from, IDE and SATA. IDE is the older technology, so it is not as fast as SATA. However, if you are a moderate PC user you probably wouldn’t notice the difference in performance, so you might be better off with a cheaper IDE drive.
Once you have got your hands on a new drive you will need to switch off and open up the case of your PC. The drive should be positioned in one of the empty bays (normally at the lower front of the case), and fixed solidly in position with the supplied screws. Each hard drive needs two cables plugged into the back