Cable for connecting sata hard drive. Connecting a SATA hard drive to an old motherboard
Hello dear visitors. In this lesson I'm on real example I'll show you how to connect to your computer hard drive. I want to warn you right away that this is not difficult and it will not waste much of your time.
Let's get started right away!
First of all, prepare system unit: Turn off the power and disconnect all cables from it so that they do not interfere with us. After this, remove the side cover from the system unit by unscrewing the two screws on the back.
Now we can already see the insides of our computer. Please note to the lower right system unit. Here are the compartments for connecting hard disks.
Pick up the hard drive and carefully insert it into the free slot. The main thing is that the connectors for connection are turned inside the system unit.
Here the holes in the hard drive and on the slot itself where the drive is connected must also match. We will use these holes for fixation. We take 4 bolts and fasten them on one side and the other.
Completed at this stage installing a hard drive into the system unit. Now you need to connect it to motherboard. To do this, modern computers use a SATA power cable and a SATA interface cable. This is what they look like:
First of all, connect the SATA interface to the hard drive.
Be sure to connect the correct way. If you suddenly feel that the cable does not fit into the connector, then try connecting it on the other side. He'll definitely fit in.
The other side of the cable must be connected to the motherboard. We look for a suitable connector and connect it. Typically, these connectors are located at the bottom of the board and are labeled SATA.
The last step remains - supply power to the hard drive.
We take the SATA power cable and connect it to the hard drive, next to the first connector.
The other side of this cable must be connected to the power supply. Examine the wires coming from the power supply and find a connector for connection.
By the way, if you already have another hard drive is connected to the computer, then most likely the power is already leaving it and of course you can use it so as not to create new wires.
This is how it can hang unnoticeably among the wires:
After connection hard drive in the system unit we move on to setting it up in the system. Close the system cover and reconnect all the wires. Let's turn on the computer!
If you have new hard disk, then most likely it will not be immediately detected by the system and you need to format it.
Open the Computer section and see if a new hard drive has appeared?
Click on the Computer section right click and select Manage.
ATTENTION! The main thing here is not to mess anything up and not to delete data from the necessary disks!!!
Create a simple volume and format the new hard drive and, if necessary, assign a drive letter to it.
Well, as you can see, in modern computers connect hard drive very simple! It only remains to mention that, in addition to modern SATA interface, there is also an IDE that is used in old disks! It looks like this:
Now let's summarize briefly. So, to connect the hard drive to the computer you need to do the following steps:
1. Install the hard drive in a free slot
2. Connect the SATA interface
3. Connect SATA power
4. Set up a hard drive in Windows
That's all, good luck connecting the hard drive!
The system unit case has compartments for devices (usually they are located in the front part of the case). The upper compartments of the case are usually designed for installing optical drives CD/DVD, Blu-Ray. And the lower compartments shown in the photo are designed for installing hard drives.
We select any of the available compartments and place the hard drive there. It is necessary to position it so that the connectors (see image) of the drive face inside the case.
Then, we take the hard drive and insert it along the guides that prevent it from falling down.
All. The disk is inserted, now it needs to be secured with screws. As you can see, the case has corresponding holes for mounting.
It is necessary to ensure that the threaded holes on the disk match the holes on the body. Now we will tighten the screws in them.
It is desirable that there are four screws, two on one side and two on the other. Having screwed the hard drive on one side, unfold the case and screw the other side.
We have secured the hard drive. Check that it does not wobble; if the disk moves, then tighten the screws more tightly.
The hard drive installation is complete and you can now connect it to the motherboard. First of all, you should take into account that hard drives of different generations have different connectors and different cables (“cables”) for connection.
We will look at connecting a hard drive with the most common interfaces IDE (outdated, but still in use) and SATA.
Connecting a hard drive with a SATA interface
Hard SATA drive It is connected using a narrow data cable shown in the figure.
We connect one end of this cable to the connector on the disk, and the other to the motherboard.
After connecting the data cable, connect the power cable (from the power supply) to the corresponding connector of the SATA drive
If your power supply does not have connectors for SATA devices, use an IDE/SATA power adapter. If the hard drive has two types of power connectors, SATA and MOLEX, connecting one of them is enough.
All. We have a hard drive with a SATA interface connected.
How to connect a hard drive via SATA video:
Connecting an IDE hard drive
When connecting an IDE disk, first of all you need to set its operating mode: MASTER (master) or SLAVE (slave). Since we are installing one hard drive, we need to set the MASTER mode. The mode is determined by the position of the jumper on the back of the disk.
The figure on top of the hard drive shows which position to install the jumper to make it work as MASTER.
This is what the IDE connectors on the motherboard look like for connecting IDE drives and other IDE devices.
Devices are connected using an IDE cable (cable).
We take the end of a longer segment of the cable and connect it to the connector on the motherboard. Since we have one hard drive, the cable should be connected to the first IDE channel (on the motherboard there is usually a designation - IDE 0 Primary and IDE 1 Secondary).
Now we connect the cable to hard drive. The connector located at the end of a short section of the cable is always connected to MASTER.
That's it. We took a step-by-step look at how to correctly connect a new hard drive via SATA, as well as a hard drive with an old IDE connector. By following these instructions, you can also additionally connect second hard disk to computer. If the hard drive is new or transferred from another computer, then the following all necessary procedures for setting it up will be performed during.
When the first computers appeared, all programs, games and other files took up virtually no disk space. Now things are completely different, and it is often necessary to install additional storage media. Therefore, every user should know how to connect a second hard drive to a computer. In fact, this is not difficult to do, you just need to follow simple instructions.
First, the device must be purchased in a store. Please note that the hard drive has several connection interfaces. After purchasing the purchase, you can begin installing the device.
Preparing for installation
- How many hard drives are already connected to the motherboard? Most often, a computer has only one hard drive, so installing a second drive is not difficult. In most cases, the HDD is located directly under the DVD-ROM, so finding it will not be difficult;
- Is there additional space to install a second hard drive? If it is not possible to install a second or third disk, then you will have to purchase a USB drive;
- What type of cable is used to connect the hard drive to the computer? If the purchased device does not have the same interface as on a PC, it will be difficult to install it.
Please note that you will need a 3.5-inch hard drive. There is no need to buy small disks designed for laptops.
Physical disk connection
If the system unit has not yet been disassembled, disassemble it. Now it is recommended to get rid of static electricity. This is done by any means known to you. If you wish, you can purchase a special grounding bracelet in the store.
After some minor manipulations, the hard drive will be secured in the case; now all that remains is to connect the hard drive. Before plugging in the power cable and cable, it should be noted that the procedure is slightly different for the IDE and SATA interfaces.
IDE interface
When connecting a drive with an IDE interface, it is recommended to pay attention to such a nuance as setting the operating mode:
- Master (main).
- Slave (subordinate).
If you are installing an additional hard drive, then you must enable Slave mode. To do this, you need to use a jumper (jumper), which is installed in the second place. The first row includes Master mode. It is important to note that on modern computers, the jumper can be completely removed. The system will automatically determine which hard master is.
At the next step, you need to connect the second or third hard drive to the mother. To do this, the IDE interface is connected to a cable (wide, thin wire). The second end of the cable is connected to the IDE 1 Secondary socket (the main drive is connected to the zero socket).
The final connection step is power supply. To do this, a white chip with four wires is connected to the corresponding connector. The wires come directly from the power supply (a box with wires and a fan).
SATA interface
Unlike IDE, a SATA drive has two L-shaped connectors. One is for the power connection, and the second is for the data cable. It should be noted that such a hard drive does not have a jumper.
The data cable is connected to a narrow connector. The other end is connected to a special connector. Most often, the motherboard has 4 such ports, but there are exceptions and there are only 2 ports. One of the slots may be occupied by a DVD drive.
There are cases when a drive with a SATA interface was purchased, but no similar connectors were found on the motherboard. In this case, it is recommended to additionally purchase a SATA controller that is installed in a PCI slot.
The next step is to connect the power. An L-shaped wide cable is connected to the corresponding connector. If the drive has an additional power connector (IDE interface), it is enough to use one of the connectors. This completes the physical connection of the hard drive.
BIOS setup
When all the manipulations with hard drive are completed, you should turn on the computer and then enter the BIOS. It is important to note that launching the BIOS on each computer is carried out differently. To do this you need to use the key:
- Delete;
After entering the BIOS, you need to proceed to configuration settings. It is important to assign booting from the drive on which the operating system is installed. If the priority is set incorrectly, the system simply will not boot.
If one of the disks does not appear in the BIOS, it means that the hard drive was connected incorrectly or the cable was damaged. It is recommended to inspect all wires and reconnect (don't forget to turn off the computer).
Once the BIOS setup is completed, you can boot into the operating system. After this, all that remains is to assign a letter to the drive.
Final stage
Since connecting the hard drive to the computer is not enough, you need to make the final setup directly from Windows. On some computers, a similar procedure is carried out in automatic mode. To check this, you should open “My Computer”, and then see if the new disk.
If nothing happens, you need to launch the control panel. Then select “Administration”. Once a new window opens, you will need to select “Computer Management”. In the left column, you need to find the “Disk Management” tab (on some computers “Disk Manager”).
- At the bottom of the window, select disk 1 (if more than 2 hard drives are connected, select the disk with the highest number). This will be the new hard drive;
- You must assign a letter to the logical volume. To do this, right-click on the disk and then select “Assign letter”;
- As soon as the disk is assigned a new letter, it must be formatted. The procedure can take a long time, it all depends on the size of the hard drive. When formatting it is important to choose file system NTFS.
When the formatting process is complete, a new disk will appear in the My Computer root directory. If for some reason you cannot connect the HDD using the built-in manager, it is recommended to use third-party programs.
An excellent tool for working with hard drives is Partition Manager. In addition, such a utility allows you to split the disk into several logical volumes.
Conclusion
Connecting hard The disc takes no more than 15 minutes. If you follow the instructions, there shouldn't be any difficulties. Modern computers don't need additional settings BIOS, of course, if the disks are not installed in absolute new computer. Also, do not forget that how big the connected hard drive can be depends on the operating system.
Video review: connecting a hard drive
Have you bought a brand new hard drive for your computer and don’t know how to connect it?! In this article I will try to talk about this in detail and in an accessible way.
To begin with, it should be noted that the hard drive is connected to the motherboard either through the IDE interface or through the SATA interface. IDE interface on at the moment is considered outdated, since it was popular back in the 90s of the last century, and new hard drives they are no longer equipped with them. The SATA interface is found in all computers that have been produced since approximately 2009. We will consider connecting a hard drive with both interfaces.
Connecting a hard drive via SATA interface
Disconnect the system unit from the network and remove sidebar. At the front of the system unit there are compartments for devices. The upper compartments are usually installed optical drives CD/DVD, Blu-Ray, and the bottom ones are intended for installation hard drives. If your system unit does not have the compartments shown in the figure, you can install the hard drive in the upper compartment.
We install the hard drive in a free cell so that the connectors face inside the system unit, and fasten it to the case with screws: two screws on one side and two on the other.
On this installing hard disk is completed, check that it is not loose in the cell.
Now you can connect the hard drive to the motherboard.
If you purchased a hard drive with a SATA interface, then the drive itself has two connectors: the shorter one is responsible for transferring data from the motherboard, the longer one is for power. Additionally, the hard drive may have another connector; it is useful for supplying power via the IDE interface.
The data cable has identical plugs at both ends.
We connect one end of the cable to the SATA data connector on the hard drive.
The data cable plug can be either straight or L-shaped. You don’t have to worry about the correct connection; you simply won’t be able to plug the cable into the wrong connector or the wrong side.
We connect the other end of the cable to the connector on the motherboard, usually they are bright in color.
If the motherboard does not have a SATA connector, you need to buy a SATA controller. It looks like a board and is installed in the system unit in a PCI slot.
We are done connecting the data cable. Now we connect the power cable to the corresponding connector of the hard drive.
If your power supply does not have connectors for SATA devices, and the hard drive does not have an additional power connector for the IDE interface, use an IDE/SATA power adapter. Connect the IDE plug to the power supply, the SATA plug to the hard drive.
That's all, we connected a hard drive with a SATA interface.
Connecting a hard drive via the IDE interface
We install the hard drive into the system unit in the same way as described in the paragraph above.
Now you need to set the mode work hard disk: Master or Slave. If you are installing one hard drive, select Master mode. To do this, you need to place the jumper in the desired position.
The IDE connectors on the motherboard look like this. Next to each of them there is a designation: either IDE 0 – primary, or IDE 1 – secondary. Since we are connecting one hard drive, we will use the primary connector.
That's all, the hard drive is now connected.
I think now, using the information from this article, you can n connect the hard drive to the computer.
We also watch the video
The process of connecting a hard drive seems complicated for those who have never done it. In fact, connecting a hard drive to a computer is not at all difficult if it has a SATA and IDE interface. Let's consider both connection options.
To connect an IDE hard drive to the motherboard, you need a special wide cable. However, please note that gray IDE cables are less efficient than yellow cables. With the latter, your hard drive will work much faster. Now we connect one end of the IDE cable to the motherboard (usually it is colored) by selecting the appropriate connector on it.When connecting the hard drive to the motherboard, do not worry about the correct connection of the plugs and connectors. For both the SATA and IDE interfaces, device manufacturers have provided special locks on the plugs and notches on the connectors that will prevent you from inserting the end of the cable into the connector incorrectly.