Check that there is still installation space
Most PC chassis have space to install multiple storage drives. The manufacturer will always tell us how much berries arranges the tower, whether for 3.5 inch hard drives (hard drives) the stop 2.5 inch drives (SSD). Next, we need to visually inspect if there is room to install additional storage units. Usually only one slot is occupied by the primary drive, but you’d better check if you have the space and what kind of drives the space is for.
Important: work safely
Before starting to work, we need to turn off the computer and unplug it from the power supply. Once the equipment is turned off, we remove the power cable food. It is also interesting to press a few seconds on the power switch of the PC to discharge the capacitors of the system.
Although it is not something that is usually done, it is also positive to ground ourselves. It’s as easy as a wrist strap, connect it to the ground terminal of the Schucko sockets (the side tabs that we see in these sockets). We must remember that people are charged with static electricity and a discharge in any component of the computer could destroy it.
Once these steps are completed, we can proceed to remove the side cover and start the installation process.
Installing the new hard drive
Currently we can find a column where to install hard drives, a removable bay based on guides and the last, an installation space behind the motherboard. The guide-based column and bay generally support HDD and SSD hard drives without major issues. The space behind the motherboard generally reserved for SSDalthough some manufacturers state that hard drives can also be fitted.
If it is a removable bay system, it must be removed and the storage unit screwed in. The screws will always be provided by the chassis manufacturer, they are delivered in a bag with many other screws. Normally, manufacturers separate them into separate bags and indicate their use.
Once the storage drive is properly installed in the adapter, it is time to install it in the system. Some bays are screwless installation, are based on a simple anchoring system. But even then, we can hold this bay by screwyes It is recommended to do so for more security.
For units installed behind the motherboardare in many cases based on screwed back plate. You have to remove the metal part and screw the SSD. Some require the motherboard to be removed, but that’s the bare minimum as it’s very inconvenient for future updates.
NOTE: The mounting holes are designed so that we can only install the units one way. They are placed so that the part of the manufacturer’s mark is visible and the fixing holes are at the bottom.
Connect the wiring
Once we have installed the unit (SSD or HDD), it is time to perform the drive connection. It is also a fairly simple and quick process. Any current storage unit requires two sonsa die food and another of The data. The good thing about these two cables is that only have one connection position, so there are no errors. It is necessary to look before the connection at the level of the connector of the storage unit and the cable. If we try to connect and it does not enter, it is because we have it upside down, just turn it over.
Food, of course, comes directly from food. The data cablefrom one end we connect to the SSD youthe other end of the base plate. Which end of the data cable we connect to each point is completely irrelevant.
Final steps to take
Well, once we have all the cables connected, and still without putting the side cover, we will connect the power cable. Now we have to start the system to see that everything is working correctly. We do not put the side cover in case the equipment does not start, to save time. The normal thing is that the system boots without major problems. After that we install the side cover, which we can do without having to turn off the system.
It may be that the equipment does not start or beeps (if you have the speakerphone). It is necessary to see what the beeps emitted by the loudspeaker mean. If we don’t hear anything, the first thing to do is turn off the power again to work safely. The simplest step is to carefully press lightly on the graphics card, RAM and power connectors. They may have come loose or moved a bit during the installation process and by not making good contact it will not start.
If the problem persists, the quickest thing to do is to remove the data cable we just connected from the motherboard. After that, if the system starts, we can stop and try install the hard drive in another SATA port
Configuring the hard drive in Windows
We have finished installing the hard drive and starting the computer, but now the operating system should recognize it. Windows asks us to format the new hard drive. This process is quite simple and we can do it quite quickly.
The steps are as follows:
- We do right click on window buttons from the taskbar
- Now click on disk management
- A list of all storage units available
- The new drive will appear with a black bar indicating “Not attributed”. This means it has no route and format assigned
- We do right click on the new disk
- In the drop-down menu, we select the option of Format
- A small, fairly simple window opens with the following parameters:
- Volume label: This is the name we give to the drive, which can be anything, like “dog”, “photos”, “backup”, etc.
- File system: Unit format. It allows NFTS and exFAT, and they have very few substantial differences. NFTS the disadvantage is that it is not compatible with Apple computer hardware
- The size of the allocation unit: Simply put, it’s the number of “chunks” the hard drive is divided into. It can be changed, but the default system is enough
- Give a quick format: It is convenient to leave it, it makes the process faster
- Oh Oral we give to accept and we wait for it to end
- Once the process is complete, we can go to this team and we will see the new storage unit
We have now completed the process of installing a new hard drive and configuring it to work with Windows.
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