How to start a second hard drive with the system. Hard drive problems

Today there was some kind of computer quiz on the radio. The prize is an 8 GB flash drive. Question: what is the name of the place where everything is stored? computer memory? Possible answers: driver, clipboard or hard drive (yes, the announcer read exactly hard drive). Let's talk about hard drives.

Many people ask: how to connect a second hard drive to a computer? If we are talking about a modern computer and a SATA screw, then there are no problems: turn off the computer, secure the hard drive with 4 bolts, insert the power cable and SATA cable. Plug the second end of the cable into any free port of the motherboard and turn on the computer. In general, it is better to print this article and store it on paper, because if you need to read it, the computer will be turned off.

If IDE hard drives, you will have to dance a little with a tambourine, or rather with a jumper.

IDE hard drives can coexist on one computer only under the condition of subordination: one must be the main one (master), the rest must be subordinates (slave). This is established using a jumper - a tiny plastic “key” that closes certain contacts.

The details of jumper installation are always indicated either on the top cover of the hard drive (the sticker should contain the inscription Jumper Settings or similar), however, there are cases when the jumper positions are indicated directly on the board next to the contacts.

Please don't change jumper position and do not disconnect (connect) the hard drive while the computer is on! And don’t say later that I didn’t warn you.

Just in case: the hard drive with the operating system and programs must be “Chatlanin”, and music, films and other documents can safely live on “patsak”.

The dancing with the jumper is over, let's move on to the train. On one side there is one connector - it is intended ONLY for the motherboard. Insert it carefully into the corresponding slot on the motherboard, as shown in the figure.

Attention! Insert IDE cable The connector on the motherboard can only be inserted on one side: the “key” must fit into the groove. On the other hand, there is no groove and the insertion will not only be incorrect (it will lead to undesirable consequences), but also problematic.

There are two connectors at the other end of the cable. Important! At the far end of the cable there must be a main hard drive, the jumper of which is set to master. The near connector, accordingly, is only for the slave.

Finally there was food left. The 4-core cable ends with a connector that is connected with characteristic notches at the top; plugging in the power with the reverse side is very problematic.

Many thanks to the members of the Subscribe group “Computer Literacy” Sergei and Elena (Kazak7 and Greta*) for their comments, thanks to which the article found a logical continuation. Sometimes the comments contain a lot of useful information. Good luck with all your connections!

Windows Registry

Sooner or later, any user is faced with the fact that his data no longer fits on his existing hard drive. A second hard drive can be a solution to this problem. In this article we will tell 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 turn off the power and disconnect all cables from it. Simply turning off 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 internals of the system unit. To do this, you need to remove both side covers. Typically, the side covers are fixed to the back of the system unit with four screws. Remove these screws and carefully remove both side covers.

Step No. 2. Installing the second hard drive and fixing it.

Once the computer is completely unplugged and the side covers are removed, you can begin installing the second hard drive. Hard drives are installed in a special compartment of the system unit. Identifying this compartment is quite simple. It is located on the lower right side of the system unit, and its width is exactly suitable for 3.5-inch hard drives.

In inexpensive computer cases, this compartment is usually turned with the hole towards the motherboard (as in the photo below). In more expensive models of computer cases, the hard drive compartment is turned towards the side cover.

When installing the hard drive, it is better to keep the system unit in a vertical position. Insert the hard drive into the hard drive bay (as shown in the photo below). In some cases, in order for the hard drive to fit into 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 the second hard drive away from the first. This way they will cool better.

Once the second hard drive is installed in the hard drive bay, it must be secured using 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 create a lot of noise.

Step No. 3. Connecting a second hard drive to the computer.

Once the second hard drive is installed in the computer and securely secured, you can begin to install 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).

A cable is used to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (see photo below). This cable usually comes with the motherboard. If you do not have such a cable, you can purchase it separately.

To connect the hard drive to power, use a cable with a similar connector. (photo below).

If there are difficulties connecting the second hard drive to the computer, then look at how the first hard drive was connected and proceed in the same way.

Step No. 4. Assembling 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 screws. After installing the side covers, the computer can be connected to power and started. If everything was done correctly, then after the computer starts, a second hard drive will appear in the system.

Many PC users are acutely aware of the lack of memory on their computer. Some people transfer information to various drives, while others decide to connect an additional hard drive. In order to avoid calling a technician or going to a service center with the system unit, many people decide to connect a second hard drive themselves. And this is where the problems begin. The Land of Soviets will tell you how to connect a second hard drive to your computer.

You can connect not only a new hard drive, but also a hard drive from any other computer. The operating algorithm will be the same in both cases. But not everyone simply knows how to properly connect a second hard drive so that the computer recognizes it immediately. Many people do not succeed right away, so these people go to a store or service center, proving that the second hard drive does not work. But in fact, as it turns out, the computer simply did not see the hard drive. And there are reasons for this.

Before you connect the hard drive, you need to figure out how you want to do it. Some computers are equipped with a so-called “pocket” (it can be installed at a service center, after asking for it, or when manually assembling the computer). In order to connect a second hard drive to all other computers, you will have to climb into the middle of the system unit. The essence of connecting either to a “pocket” or in the usual way is the same. The second hard drive is connected to the cable, and the computer recognizes it as a built-in drive E or F.

2 hard drives for a computer

So, now it’s worth talking about what many people forget to do before connecting the hard drive - rearranging the jumper. A jumper is a jumper that is located on the contacts of the hard drive. What is a jumper for?

Jumpers are used to indicate on the hard drives themselves which of them will operate in Master mode and which as Slave. The operating system is always loaded into the leading hard drive. This means that when you connect a second hard drive in Slave mode, the OS will not boot from it. All hard drives that computers are equipped with are in Master mode. Therefore, all additionally connected hard drives must operate in Slave mode. This is precisely what many PC users do not take into account and connect a second hard drive, which also operates in Master mode.

So, having set the jumper to Slave mode on the hard drive being connected, connect it to the cable inside the system unit. If you have a pocket, then the connection occurs from the outside. Now you can simply boot your computer. It should automatically detect the second hard drive. To be safe, when booting your computer, go to the BIOS (on different OSes this is the F2 or Delete key). From the Boot menu, select the correct options for each hard drive. To do this, set the connected hard drive to Second Boot Device mode.

In addition to the Master and Slave modes, the jumpers can be set to the Cable Select position. To connect a hard drive in this mode, you will need a Y-shaped cable. The central connector of this cable is connected to the motherboard. The extreme connectors of the cable are connected to the drives. These connectors are unequal, i.e. one disk automatically becomes the master, the second - the slave. This information is indicated on the cable connectors. Please be warned that when using such a cable, both hard drives must be set to Cable Select mode.

Where jumpers should be placed to set this or that mode is written in detail on the sticker on the hard drive itself. Also, the same information is indicated on one side of the connector, which simplifies the search for the necessary contacts to which the jumper must be placed.

The above-described connection of an additional hard drive is used for IDE disks. There are also SATA drives. In this case, you will need a special cable to connect the drive to the motherboard. Only one device can be connected to one socket. If you use both IDE and SATA drives on your computer, go to the BIOS to designate the main drive from which the computer will boot.

Connecting an additional hard drive may seem difficult only in words. In practice, everything happens very quickly. We hope that now you know how to connect a hard drive to your computer.

The time has come when one hard drive in a computer is no longer enough. More and more users decide to connect a second HDD to their PC, but not everyone knows how to do it correctly themselves to avoid mistakes. In fact, the procedure for adding a second disk is simple and does not require special skills. It is not even necessary to mount a hard drive - it can be connected as an external device if there is a free USB port.

Options for connecting a second hard drive are as simple as possible:

• Connecting the HDD to the computer system unit.
  Suitable for owners of regular desktop PCs who do not want to have external connected devices.
• Connecting a hard drive as an external drive.
  The easiest way to connect an HDD, and the only one possible for a laptop owner.

Option 1. Installation in the system unit

HDD type determination

Before connecting, you need to determine the type of interface the hard drive works with - SATA or IDE. Almost all modern computers are equipped with a SATA interface, so it is best if the hard drive is of the same type. The IDE bus is considered obsolete and may simply not be present on the motherboard. Therefore, connecting such a drive may cause some difficulties.

The easiest way to recognize the standard is by contacts. This is what they look like on SATA drives:

And this is how the IDE does it:

Connecting a second SATA drive in the system unit

The process of connecting a disk is very easy and takes place in several stages:

Boot priority for SATA drives

The motherboard usually has 4 connectors for connecting SATA drives. They are designated as SATA0 - the first, SATA1 - the second, etc. The priority of the hard drive is directly related to the numbering of the connector. If you need to manually set the priority, you will need to go into the BIOS. Depending on the BIOS type, the interface and controls will be different.

In older versions, go to the section Advanced BIOS Features and work with the parameters First Boot Device And Second Boot Device. In new BIOS versions, look for the section Boot or Boot Sequence and parameter 1st/2nd Boot Priority.

Connecting a second IDE drive

In rare cases, there is a need to install a disk with an outdated IDE interface. In this case, the connection process will be slightly different.

Connecting a second IDE drive to the first SATA drive

When you need to connect an IDE drive to an already working SATA HDD, use a special IDE-SATA adapter.

The connection diagram is as follows:

1. The jumper on the adapter is set to Master mode.
2. The IDE plug connects to the hard drive itself.
3. The red SATA cable is connected on one side to the adapter, and the other to the motherboard.
4. The power cable is connected on one side to the adapter, and on the other to the power supply.

You may need to purchase a 4-pin to SATA adapter.

Initializing the disk in the OS

In both cases, after connecting, the system may not see the connected disk. This does not mean that you did something wrong; on the contrary, it is normal when the new HDD is not visible in the system. The hard drive must be initialized before it can be used. Read about how this is done in our other article.

Option 2. Connecting an external hard drive

Often users choose to connect an external HDD. This is much simpler and more convenient if some files stored on the disk are sometimes needed outside the home. And in the situation with laptops, this method will be especially relevant, since there is no separate slot for a second HDD.

An external hard drive is connected via USB in exactly the same way as another device with the same interface (flash drive, mouse, keyboard).

A hard drive designed for installation in the system unit can also be connected via USB. To do this, you need to use either an adapter/adapter or a special external case for the hard drive. The essence of the operation of such devices is similar - the required voltage is supplied to the HDD through the adapter, and the connection to the PC is made via USB. Hard drives of different form factors have their own cables, so when purchasing you should always pay attention to the standard that specifies the overall dimensions of your HDD.

If you decide to connect the drive using the second method, then literally follow 2 rules: do not neglect to safely remove the device and do not disconnect the drive while working with the PC to avoid errors.

We talked about ways to connect a second hard drive to a computer or laptop. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this procedure and it is absolutely not necessary to use the services of computer specialists.

A typical laptop configuration involves installing two drives: one of which is a hard drive, the other is an optical drive. There is only one compartment for installing a hard drive.

Therefore, in order to install a second hard drive, you need to sacrifice a CD-ROM device (usually a DVD burner drive). For this, there are adapter devices that completely replicate the shape of the internal optical drive with a mount for a standard 2.5-inch HDD.

In this article I will tell you in detail how to replace the cd rom in a laptop with a hdd.

How to determine the thickness of the device

I know of two types of optical drives used on laptops, which differ in thickness. "Thick" has a height of 12.7 mm, and "thin" - 9.5 mm. You can determine the thickness of the device you have installed without disassembling the laptop. To do this, first look at the device manager and look at the product model.

I have this Optiarc AD-7580S. Now let’s visit any popular Internet resource that sells similar products or Yandex.market and look at the characteristics of the device.

As you can see, the thickness of the device, according to the description, is 13 mm (taking into account rounding, in reality 12.7 mm).

If in doubt, you can measure it yourself using an ordinary ruler. You can tell the difference between 12.7 and 9.5 drives with the naked eye.

Where to buy an adapter for HDD to ODD bay

It is a plastic box with a small board with connectors and a microcircuit, also included is a USB cord for connection and a decorative strip on the front side. For some reason, the package included a mini-CD with drivers, but Windows 7 saw the device without installing additional software. Moreover, the device is detected from the BIOS, so it can be used as a bootable CD-ROM.

Assembly of the product is simple and requires no comments. We connect the board to the drive and place it in the box.

Be sure to tighten the two screws included in the box to secure the optical drive and board to the case.

We install the decorative strip on the front panel and our drive is ready for operation.

We connect the disk to the laptop (computer) and make sure that everything works.

P.S.

All steps to replace the standard DVD optical drive with an HDD hard drive were carried out with a Lenovo Y550 laptop.