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How to connect a second hard drive to a PC. How to install a second hard drive on an Acer AX3910 computer. Installation in a PC case

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 second hard disk to 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 already connected to 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 system unit not yet 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 make connecting hard disk. 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:

  1. Master (main).
  2. Slave (subordinate).

If you install an additional HDD, then you need to 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 disk with SATA interface equipped with 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. On this physical connection hard drive is complete.

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 from 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 a new disk has appeared.

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, click on the disk right click mouse, 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 a hard drive takes no more than 15 minutes. If you follow the instructions, there shouldn't be any difficulties. Modern computers do not need additional settings BIOS, of course, if the disks are not installed in absolute new computer. Also, do not forget that how large a connected hard drive can be depends on the operating system.

Video review: connecting a hard drive

Hard drive is solid state drive, which is so called in contrast to floppy - floppy disk, which has not been used by users for a long time. The operation of connecting a hard drive is not so complicated and in many cases the user can do everything independently, without contacting computer specialists.

In what cases do you have to connect hard drives?

  • When upgrading, you replace the old drive with a more powerful and larger one.
  • For expansion disk memory. For example, to place computer games and some applications on a separate hard drive.
  • During repair - replacing a failed drive with a functional one.
  • To read large amounts of previously recorded information.

Basic provisions

If a system unit with an IDE interface has more than one hard drive, then one of them on the bus is designated as the main one, and the second as the auxiliary one. The first is called Master, and the other is called Slave. Such a division is required so that when loading the operating system after turning on, the computer knows exactly which disk is the boot one.

In all cases, you can set the boot sequence from drives using the BIOS settings. And in IDE this is done by installing jumpers on the disk enclosures according to the diagram shown on the enclosure.

By interface type, hard drives differ between IDE – the old model and SATA – in all new computers. If you have an older model of system unit and you are going to connect a new hard drive with a SATA interface, you will need to purchase a special adapter.

Junk

It happens that you pick up this old thing and can’t figure out what to connect and where. The old IDE interface (1986) is attached to a parallel cable. Usually there are either 2 or 4 connectors on the motherboard. Always an even number, because the Master/Slave rule works. Settings can be specified using jumpers (example):

  1. Master – the presence of a jumper between the leftmost contacts (7 and 8) of the control connector.
  2. Slave – absence of any jumpers.

The specified configuration may vary depending on the manufacturer, as well as the set of permissible functions specified by the connector. The IDE interface made it possible to conveniently connect a hard drive and a CD drive to the computer at the same time. This was enough for most users. The disadvantage of the parallel interface was low speed transfers. IDE is otherwise referred to among professionals as parallel ATA or ATA-1. The transfer speed of such devices does not exceed 133 Mbit/s (for ATA-7). With the introduction of the serial SATA interface in 2003, the aging information transfer protocol began to be called parallel PATA.

The name ATA-1 was assigned to the IDE interface in 1994 when it was recognized by the ANSI organization. Formally, it was an extension of the 16-bit ISA bus (predecessor of PCI). It is curious that in the modern world there is a tendency to use video card interfaces to create ports for connecting hard drives. This was followed by accelerated ATA-2 and packet ATAPI. The IDE interface has not been officially supported since December 2013. Connecting such a hard drive to a new motherboard is only possible with an expansion card.

With help similar devices You can also perform the exact opposite function: install previous generation hard drives on new motherboards. So, for example, on the old A7N8X-X there are only two IDE ports, but there are 5 PCI 2.2 slots for expansion cards. Universal adapter just right for this occasion. And you can install a modern hard drive up to SATA3, but its operating speed will, of course, be several times lower than the maximum.

Hard drives for standard IDE interfaces are probably already mostly out of order. And there are not so many of them left in the world. It remains to add to this that the configuration of ATA devices can be changed using jumpers, and the explanatory drawing is located directly on the device body. Unscrupulous suppliers sometimes keep jumpers for themselves, and not every configuration in this case can be carried out by the user. There are usually not enough jumpers.

Today there is a new trend: for some time replaced by cards PCI Express Traditional PCI is making a comeback on motherboards. This means that the “old stuff” can now be connected to a modern system unit using an adapter.

SATA drives

Experts generally distinguish three generations of SATA. The gradation is based on the speed of information transmission:

  1. SATA – 1.5 Gbit/s.
  2. SATA2 – 3 Gbit/s.
  3. SATA3 – 6 Gbit/s.

A standard SATA drive has two connectors, one of which is used for power supply, and the second serves as a data transfer cable. It is not recommended to swap hard drives by connecting them to different SATA ports. The plugs have keys that prevent the connector from being connected incorrectly.

Sometimes the hard drive may display helpful information, understandable to any advanced user. But sometimes the designation tends to be so ornate that only a true professional can comprehend it. As, for example, in this case.

There is information about the brand, serial number, technical data and even disk capacity measures. But its interface remains unknown. This is important when choosing hardware for a computer with disabilities. If the disk had a SATA3 interface, then it is useless to install one in an old system unit. There are many other similar examples. Let's say in advance that this drive has a SATA 2.6 interface. Consequently, its information exchange rate limit is 3 Mbit/s.

If information about the HDD interface type is available

How to tell the difference? First, you can look at the body. Here is an image of an old disk that supports two speeds, therefore, it is a SATA2 device.

When removed from the system unit, it was equipped with a jumper that reduced the speed.

The jumper was immediately removed, therefore, the device will now function twice as fast. On the SATA 2.0 bus of the GA-H61M-D2-B3 motherboard.

This once again suggests that it is not enough to buy a system unit; you also need to study its entire device in general and hard drives in particular. The drives inside were paired using a special hanging frame.

This achieves better maintainability of the structure. Both hard drives were quickly removed from the case. As an alternative, a bay installation option is used, where the housing is secured with screws on both sides, and two side covers must be removed for dismantling. Which is not very convenient, considering that each of them usually jams. It is rare to find system unit cases where the sidewalls are removed using simple methods.

If HDD interface data is missing

Sometimes the hard drive may not have data transfer speed information. In this case, you can, of course, stock up on AIDA, but it’s even easier to look up the information on the Internet. The brand of the drive is determined by the price list or the appearance of the case.

Let's say we have WD5000AAJS in our hands. Only one thing is known - at lunchtime he will be a hundred years old. Therefore, you need to familiarize yourself with historical information on the Internet. Since models are constantly updated, you need to enter the code followed by a dash - 00YFA0. The search engine quickly gave the answer, and now there is every reason to say that throughput channel is 3 Gbit/s (SATA 2.5 generation).

We have already discussed above how to connect such equipment to an outdated motherboard that does not have a SATA interface. So let's move on to new products.

Connecting SATA to exSATA bus

When engineers approached the problem of increasing SATA speeds to 12 Gbit/s and higher, it turned out that this was not economically viable. Energy efficiency drops sharply while prices rise. Someone noticed that the PCI Express graphics card bus works without problems with high speeds, and then it was decided to make some kind of hybrid between it and the outgoing SATA. To do this, the connector was divided into two parts:

  1. Specific. Small port on the side.
  2. Standard. Two ports for SATA0 connection.

The figure shows a dual exSATA port. This can include 4 hard drives with a SATA interface, or 2 exSATA, or 1 exSATA and 2 SATA. Below is an example of connecting two SATA drives to one exSATA port.

Because of their large sizes A plug covering three exSATA slots at once is called a hub among professionals. You need to start by checking the BIOS. It turned out that some motherboards can turn off SATA support, completely switching to Express, which supports speeds up to 16 Gbit/s.

At the same time, you can look at the BIOS capabilities regarding RAID arrays. Let us remember that in the latter case, several hard drives can duplicate their information for reliability, or turn on alternately, which significantly increases the speed of operation. The size of the article does not allow us to speak in more detail on this topic.

The selected AHCI mode is the default mode for most systems. It provides maximum compatibility with older equipment in a completely transparent manner for the user. To safely hot-plug drives, it is recommended to set the appropriate option in BIOS settings.

When installing a new operating system, the connection sequence is set bootable media. The hard drive is not put in first place. Instead, leadership is given to a flash drive or DVD drive.

Before connecting


How to connect an IDE hard drive

On the motherboard, the IDE connector is visible from afar. You can recognize it by its characteristic slot with many contacts and a key located approximately in the center of the block.

A splitter cable is usually hung on each port, so that a master and a servant are on the channel at the same time.

Before connecting a drive, you need to correctly configure the jumpers on its case - Slave or Master. There will definitely be a diagram on the case on how to do this.

For discs from different manufacturers the order in which the jumpers are inserted will be unique (they seem to be competing in this). The disk must be a bus master, otherwise the operating system cannot be started from it (No IDE Master detected). Therefore, it is necessary to set the slave jumper on the CD drive.

After setting the jumpers, insert the hard drive into a suitable cage and secure it with four screws on both sides. Connect the single data cable connector to the corresponding header on the motherboard. Connect the power cables. The order doesn't matter here.

Now you can close the system unit covers and connect the computer. The system itself should detect new connections and configure everything. The user will only have to confirm operations in the Add New Equipment Wizard.

If the system is confused about where the Master is and where the Slave is, then you need to make assignments in the BIOS. Immediately after turning on the power, press the F2 or Del key repeatedly (in different ways) to open the BIOS settings. Find the interface for describing the order of boot devices, set the parameters. The first is the CD drive from which the system is installed. Save the settings using the F10 key. After this, the operating system will begin loading.

How to connect a SATA hard drive to an old motherboard

To connect a SATA hard drive, use an adapter for PCI buses. It may have one or another number of ports; accordingly, several hard drives are installed.

Insert the card into the slot, connect the hard drive, place it in the bay and secure it with screws on both sides - two or four screws in total. It is advisable to choose the location of the modules inside the system unit in such a way that, if possible, there is enough free space between them to ensure ventilation. Otherwise, if the computer overheats, it will automatically turn off.

Now connect the power cable to the hard drive. If the power supply is an old model for IDE, you will need an adapter to connect SATA. Now you can connect the data cable to the hard drive. After the system boots, you should install the driver from the included DVD, and the new drive will become visible through Explorer.

Sometimes there is no other drive other than SATA. And then you need to install Windows again via a PCI adapter. The bootloader will not see the drive, but will give you the opportunity to find it manually. This is where you will need to find it on DVD required driver for the current operating system. The installer will then notice the disk and you can create partitions for the new operating system. This is absolutely accurate, because the authors installed the “seven” in this way on an old system unit.

USB 3.0 external hard drive

The serial interface has become so fast (up to 5 Gbps) that external hard drives using USB 3.0 are now available. The motherboard usually has 20-pin sockets, in addition, some of the ports are located on the rear wall. But if you plan to install an operating system on the hard drive, it makes sense to place it inside the system unit. Adapters from 20-pin to microUSB 3.0 typeB are usually not found, but you can use intermediate adapters for docking.

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Question from a user

Hello.

Tell me, how can I connect another drive to the laptop (or is this impossible)? It’s just that my 500 GB disk is no longer enough, now I’m thinking about increasing the space...

Svetlana.

Good day!

Yes, such questions are not uncommon. In general, laptops have recently gained great popularity and are slowly replacing conventional PCs. Laptops have many advantages, but upgrading is a difficult matter. Adding another disk or changing memory is in some cases completely impossible...

It's a pity that the author of the question did not describe the essence of the problem more specifically. In this article, I will look at several ways to connect another drive to a laptop (in some cases, you may end up with 3 of them at once!). Many people connect another drive not only to increase space, but to increase the speed of the system (they set SSD drive and Windows is transferred to it from the HDD).

Option number 1: install the disk in the second slot in the laptop

Some laptops have two slots for hard disks(However, I want to say right away that the configuration of such laptops is quite rare). Basically, such laptops belong to the gaming category and are quite expensive.

To find out how many slots you have, just look at those. characteristics of the laptop (if you don’t have documents for the device, you can look it up on the Internet), or just remove the protective cover from the back of the laptop and take a look yourself (Important! Do not open the lid if the laptop is under warranty - this may be a reason for refusing warranty service).

Because The chance that you have two slots is small, I don’t focus on this option. An example of such a device, by the way, is in the photo below.

Toshiba Satellite X205-SLi3 - inside view (2 hard drives installed)

If you want to buy a disk for your laptop, but don’t know where to go, then I recommend reading this article:

Option No. 2: install SSD in special. connector (M.2)

If you have a new, modern laptop, you may have an M.2 connector (a connector for SSD connections, present in many new products (usually in those that are more expensive ☺)). Created as a replacement for mSATA. Allows you to get maximum performance from SSD installation drive.

To find out if you have such a connector, you can:

  1. knowing the laptop model (about), look at its technical details. characteristics (the Internet is full of sites with all models of mobile devices ☺);
  2. you can simply open the back cover of the laptop and look for the right connector with your own eyes.

Important!

By the way, this M.2 connector is quite “insidious” (even many experienced users get confused)... The fact is that it has quite a lot of varieties.

Therefore, even if you have a similar connector, before ordering a new drive, read this article:

Option No. 3: connect an external HDD/SSD to a USB port

An external hard drive can help significantly expand your space. It is a small box, the size of a regular phone. Connects to normal USB port. Such a disk, on average today, can hold about 1000-4000 GB (i.e. 1-4 TB).

If you are considering models with additional food(the adapter usually comes with some drives) - then the capacity can reach up to 8 TB! I think that over time it will be even higher.

👉 Note!

1) Buy external hard drives cheaper than in a regular store,

2) How to choose an external hard drive (HDD) -

There are, however, certain disadvantages to this option: extra wires on the table, lower speed of interaction with the disk (if HDD - then on average up to 60 MB/s via USB 3.0), and the inconvenience of carrying a laptop (it’s one thing to take a laptop in one hand and go, and another thing to additionally tinker with an external drive...).

True, there are undeniable advantages: such a disk can be connected to any laptop or PC, it can be used to transfer information from one PC to another (it won’t take up much space in your pocket), you can buy several of these disks and use them one by one.

Option No. 4: install another disk instead of the CD/DVD drive

Well, the most popular option is to remove the CD/DVD drive from the laptop (available in the vast majority of models) and instead insert a special adapter (some call it a “pocket”) with another disk (HDD or SSD). I’ll describe this option in a little more detail...

What kind of adapter is needed? Let's decide...

First you need to find and select this adapter correctly. It is rarely found in our regular computer stores (you need to order it from some Chinese online store, 👉.

Note: in English, such an adapter is called “caddy for laptop” (this is how you enter the query in the store search bar).

Universal adapter for installing a second disk in a laptop instead of a CD drive (2nd HDD Caddy 12.7 mm 2.5 SATA 3.0)

There are 2 important points:

  • Adapters are available in different thicknesses! Actually, the same as disks and CD/DVD drives. The most common are 12, 7 mm and 9.5 mm. Those. before buying an adapter - you need to measure the thickness of the CD/DVD drive(best with the help of a caliper rod, at worst - with a ruler)!
  • disks and CD/DVD drive can come with different ports (SATA, IDE). Those. Again, you need to look at the installed CD/DVD drive live. Most often, modern laptops have drives that support SATA (they are most popular in Chinese stores).

How to remove a CD/DVD drive from a laptop

In general, of course, a lot depends on the design of your laptop. The most common case: on the back of the laptop there is a special protective cover, removing which you will be able to see the mounting screw that secures the drive in the laptop slot. Accordingly, by unscrewing this screw, you can freely remove the drive.

Some laptop models do not have a protective cover - and in order to get to the insides, you must completely disassemble the device.

Note: before removing the protective cover (and indeed, carrying out any manipulations with the laptop), unplug it and remove the battery.

Most often, the drive is fixed with one screw (see photo below). To remove it, in most cases, you will need a Phillips screwdriver.

After the screw is removed, just slightly pull the drive tray - it should “come out” of the tray with a little effort (see photo below).

Installing an SSD/HDD drive into an adapter, and the adapter into a laptop

Installing an SSD/HDD drive into the adapter is not difficult. It is enough to put it in a special one. “pocket”, then insert into the internal port and secure with screws (screws are included with the adapter).

The photo below shows installed SSD drive into a similar adapter.

If the thickness of the adapter and the disk was chosen correctly (no more than the thickness of the CD/DVD drive), then it can also be safely pushed into the slot and secured with a screw (if the adapter has a similar fastening).

If the thickness of the disk/adapter is chosen correctly, but there are problems with insertion into the slot, pay attention to the compensating screws on the adapter: some models are equipped with them (located on the side walls of the adapter). Just remove them (or drown them).

After the adapter with the disk is installed in the drive slot, place a neat socket on the adapter so that it looks like a real drive and does not spoil appearance laptop. Such sockets usually always come with adapters included (in addition, you can remove the CD drive from the removed one).

Checking if the drive shows up in the BIOS

Results (what is important)

  1. Initially, check if your laptop has another slot for a hard drive, or a new connector for an M.2 SSD;
  2. Now there are many on sale 👉 that connect to a USB port - perhaps this is the best way to expand your free space;
  3. Before buying an adapter for installing a disk instead of a CD drive, find out how thick your CD/DVD drive is and what ports are used (the most popular thicknesses: 9.5 and 12.7 mm);
  4. do not open the protective cover if your laptop is under warranty (this may be a reason for refusing warranty service);
  5. Perhaps after installing a new disk, your Windows will refuse to boot. In this case, you need to check the BIOS settings (whether a new disk has been detected and put it in the correct boot queue), and in some cases you may have to restore the bootloader.

Computer equipment has long ceased to be a curiosity; almost everyone has it in stock. The only difference is the nature of use: some users actively use the equipment, downloading movies, games and music onto it, while others use an electronic computer when they want to view the latest news on the World Wide Web or do some homework.

IN certain time it is necessary to replace outdated components

In this regard, the load level of the hard drive also differs. If there is very little free space left, then you should not expect normal performance from your PC at all. Given these circumstances, many owners decide to purchase a second “screw”, thereby increasing disk space. However, it is very important to first find out how to connect the hard drive to the computer.

Finding information on the Internet on how to connect a hard drive to a computer is not difficult. It is only important to carefully read all the recommendations, and then no problems will arise if the user independently installs an additional hard drive, while leaving the old one in the same place.

An old hard drive must be removed only if it has become completely unusable and cannot be restored. By installing a second hard drive along with the old one, the user receives expanded space, thanks to which all actions will be performed faster.

Installation in a PC case

Connecting a hard drive to a computer begins with the step where the user must initially place it in the case and securely fasten it.

To ensure that the “screw” is inserted correctly, you should first remove the cover from the system unit case. In the front part you can easily find special compartments designed for drives and hard drives. The drives are located at the top, and the second hard drive should be located at the bottom of such bays.

The hard drive is inserted into any free compartment, but preferably on a short distance from what is already available. This is very important, since during operation they both heat up, which will adversely affect the performance of the PC.

Then the second hard drive is inserted strictly along the guides so that the connectors are directed towards the inside of the system unit to ensure its comfortable connection in the future. When the new hard drive has taken its correct position, it should be securely fastened by tightening the screws on both sides, ensuring a tight connection with the compartment.

After fastening, you should check the strength by trying to loosen it. If the hard drive does not wobble, it means that all actions were performed correctly.

Connection using cables

Once you have successfully connected the second hard drive to your computer, you can move on to the second part of these important actions. At this stage, you should connect the second hard drive directly to motherboard, as well as provide power supply to it.

To do this, you will need to purchase additional cables. By the way, it is advisable to note that the connectors through which the hard drive is directly connected may differ, depending on the year of manufacture of the PC.

The old computer is equipped with IDE connectors, while the new one already has SATA connectors, which are characterized by amazing performance. Previously, users were instructed when making a purchase to pay attention to the connectors and purchase only a hard drive with the right kind. Currently, finding a hard drive with an IDE connector on sale is problematic, but this does not mean that there is no hope of installing a second drive. It’s just that in this case the user is required to additionally purchase special adapters.

By connecting the second hard drive using SATA connectors and adapters, the owner smart car not only ensures system performance, but also facilitates the installation process.

When installing an old hard drive with an IDE connector a few years ago, it was necessary to manually configure the operating mode of the “screws,” which involved installing jumpers in certain positions.

Connecting using SATA connectors is much easier. All connectors on the new equipment are equipped with special partitions, so it is a priori impossible to connect the second hard drive incorrectly.

USB connection

There is another one alternative way, providing absolutely easy connection of new disk space, while completely eliminating the need to disassemble the system unit case.

In this regard, many people want to know how to connect an additional hard drive to a computer without experiencing any additional difficulties. The answer is obvious; the second hard “screw” can be connected to an electronic computer using a USB device.

Such hard drives receive power via the USB connector to which it is directly connected. However, this is typical only for disks measuring 1.8 or 2.5 inches. More powerful ones, for example, starting from 3.5 inches, already need additional source power supply

External devices are very easy to connect, which is why they are preferred by a large number of users.

Detecting devices in BIOS

Having provided correct connection hard drive, you should make sure that it is displayed correctly in the BIOS, otherwise it would be simply stupid to dream of quality work.

To produce correct settings in the BIOS, you should also understand how to connect the old hard drive to the computer, how to connect the new hard drive, and how to ensure the correct operation of these two drives.

The user understands that the operating system is installed on one of the disk spaces; in most cases, the old hard drive is the place where the operating system was once loaded.

In this regard, in the BIOS settings, the user must set the boot priority from the old hard drive. Setting the priority incorrectly will prevent the system from booting. In the BIOS, determining priority is absolutely simple, since SATA with an assigned number will be written next to the existing hard drives. It is the number that indicates priority. The hard drive with the operating system must be set to SATA 1.

If any hard drive does not appear in the BIOS, you should double-check that it is connected correctly, otherwise you will not be able to use the installed disk space.

So, installing an additional hard drive is a predictable act, accompanied by actions that can easily be performed by any user if he makes an effort and shows increased attention.

Connect the second hard drive to the 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 the hard drive - it can be connected as external device, if there is a free USB port.

Connecting a second HDD to a PC or laptop

Connection options second hard disk 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 a 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 everything 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 sets dimensions your HDD.




If you decide to connect the drive using the second method, then literally follow 2 rules: do not neglect the safe removal of 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.