Learn How to Install a Hard Drive

Learning how to replace or install a hard drive isn't that difficult.  I will explain the steps necessary to remove your old drive and install a new one.  But first, lets go over what a hard drive is.

The hard drive in your computer is an electro-mechanical box that has one to several coated metal disks.  These disks hold all of the information on your computer including the operating system which loads every time you turn on your PC. 

Because these disks spin at a high rate of speed (at least 5400 rpm [revolutions per minute]) they will eventually wear down and start to fail.  If you are lucky, the disk will give some indication that it is about to fail in time for you to replace it while it is still working. 

Replacing the hard drive before it fails is the least expensive repair option.  If the disk has failed and you need to recover valuable lost data, then you will need to send the old drive out to a "Clean Lab" to be rebuilt so the data can be extracted.  This can be a costly procedure.   If you replace your hard drive before it has completely failed you have a better chance of recovering your personal files. You can check out Iomegafor a great selection of hard drives.

Reasons to Replace or Install a Hard Drive

Failing Hard Drive

Your drive is telling you that it is on the way out when one or more of the following occur:

1. The drive is running noisier than it used to.

2. It develops a clicking sound each time it starts spinning up

3. It takes a very long time for your operating system to run up (this can also be caused by excessive spyware, temp files, unnecessary programs running, viruses and a fragmented disk

4. The operating system (i.e. Windows) starts to load, then either freezes or displays a blue screen with error messages (this can also be caused by corrupt windows files, spyware and viruses.)

5. You are in the middle of working on something with your computer and it freezes, requiring you to either unplug it or hold the start button in to restart it (can also be caused by various other problems as in steps 3 and 4.)

6. Your operating system won't load at all.

If your computer gives you a printed screen at startup that says that it can't find a valid operating system or can't find the hard drive, then it's probably fried and you most likely will not be able to recover your files without sending it out to the "Clean Lab."

Extra Storage Space

Perhaps your hard drive is fine but you need extra space on your computer.  One option for extra storage space is to add a USB external drive.  These are easy to connect and access.  They are also easy and compact to carry, so they make a good choice to use for back ups and to use on several different computers.

Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty part and do the work.

Replacing The Drive:

Step 1:  Open the Case

Over the years, mechanical designers have had a field day with designing computer cases so there are many ways of accessing the innards of your computer.  You may have to visit your computer or case manufacturer's website in order to figure out the correct way of getting into your computer. 

Here are a few samples of how to open the case:

This first case was a bit tricky because you had to figure out that the front panel comes off first.

Next, you remove screws from the case flange.

Then you lift the cover forward, up and off

The next photos show one of the many ways that Dell has concocted to package the goods.

This model has a push button on the front that you push while pulling open the "wing" case.

Note:  you must first disconnect the power cord in order for the case to open...

A lot of Dells have clam shell cases that you depress a button on the top/rear and bottom/rear, then pull the case open.  The two halves do not detach from each other.

And here is the model that we will be working with today to change the hard drive:

First you remove a couple of screws on the rear flange part of the access panel

Then you press down the locking button and pull the panel back and off

Step 2:  Finding and Removing the Hard Drive

Now we are ready to find the hard drive.  The drive we are changing today is called an IDE drive and looks like this when not in a mounting frame:

Here is the drive in the computer.  I'm pointing at the cables connecting the drive and the drive is in a metal mounting bracket.

Gently pull out the IDE data ribbon cable.  Try to grab it as close to the plastic connector as possible to avoid pulling the ribbon from the connector.

Next is the power connector.  grab it by the plastic connector.  You may have to wiggle it lengthwise while pulling to get it loose.

Note that I pulled the cables before taking the mounting screw out.

 Now let's remove the mounting bracket with the hard drive.  I found that this is a one-screw bracket which is easy to remove.

Note that I took this picture before removing the cables.  Your cables should be unconnected at this time.

The bottom of the mounting bracket will now slide out first, releasing the two slide-in tabs on the top.

This mounting bracket uses one screw to hold the hard drive in. Some computers will come with an extra mounting case.

Tilt the drive up to release it from the tabs holding the other side in.  Now you've removed the drive.

This is as far as the physical removal of the drive goes.  When you get ready to re-install the drive you will start here and reverse the order.

Step 3:  Prepping The Drive

If you are adding a drive as a secondary or back up drive you will generally not need to do any extra steps.  If you purchased a new drive it will come with a new IDE ribbon cable with two connectors on it. 

It doesn't matter which connector on the ribbon cable is used to connect the old and new drives.

If you are going to replace your old drive or make the new drive your main drive you will have to transfer your operating system to the new drive.  You can format your old drive to be used as a secondary drive.  If you dispose of the hard drive, you should format the drive to destroy any personal information. 

How to Transfer Information From the Old Drive to the New Drive

You will need a program that will transfer everything from one disk to another.  The two programs that I use (you only need one) are "Acronis Partition Expert" or "Paragon Drive Backup."  The latter works best for this application.  You can purchase and download either of these programs from their respective web sites for around $40.00 each. 

Note:  Whenever you purchase software from the internet, to include virus protection, DO NOT RUN the program from the internet. 

Download the program to your hard drive first.  You can set up a separate folder for it in "My Documents".  Then burn the program onto a CD ROM to keep a permanent copy! 

Step 4: Jumper Settings

To set up your drives to be copied over, start by setting your new drive as a slave.  Reading the directions that came with the drive may show you how to do this.  The most common method is moving a jumper on pins found near where you pulled your IDE off.  The new drive will generally have a diagram on the top label that will show you where to place the jumper. 

Note: CS = Cable select which is the default setting that the drive will come in.  This setting allows the computer to select which drive is the master and slave.  You need to change this out of CS for this application.  You might have to set your old drive to Master, you will have to set your new drive to Slave.

This photo shows the pin diagram on the hard drive with the "Slave" position indicated in darker color.

This is where you should find the jumper to set.

Once you get the drives set up for Master and Slave you can temporarily connect the drives to the IDE and power cables.  Be careful and make sure that nothing metal is touching the bottom circuits of the drive.  As this could cause an electrostatic charge and fry the hard drive. 

Now you need to mount the drives into the case and handle the drives carefully to avoid damage. Click here for your re-install start point.  Once your PC is running on your old drive you can run either "Acronis Partition Expert" or "Paragon Drive Backup" to copy the old drive to the new drive.  You will see a pop-up notice that your computer must be restarted in order for the program to complete it's task.

If everything goes to plan, the program will transfer your entire old disk to the new drive.  Read all warnings when they pop up and follow their instructions, i.e. turning your computer off right after the new disk is updated, etc.

Warning:  Before you start up your computer with the newly transferred programming, remove your old hard drive and change the jumper settings to CS (cable select) on the new drive and to Slave on the old drive.

Once you have started your computer and know that it is working from the new drive, you can format your old drive to use as a backup drive or to dispose of.  If you haven't put everything back together at this time you can go here to finish the job.