Installing an additional hard drive. How to Connect a Second SATA or IDE Hard Drive to a Computer or Laptop

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.

Connecting a second HDD to a PC or laptop

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 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 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In rare cases, there is a need to install a disk with an outdated IDE interface.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 with 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.

Hard drive with an IDE connector have not been sold in stores for a long time, so we will consider connecting a hard drive with a Sata connector. Before you install (buy) a hard drive, you need to make sure whether your motherboard supports the hard drive you are installing.
Example. If your motherboard has a Serial SATA 6Gb/s interface, then the hard drive must have the same interface. I think this is clear and there is no need to explain further; in worst cases, write comments in this article.
A hard drive with a SATA-II 300 (SATA 2) connector is also gradually going out of sale, and the throughput of this hard drive is 2.4 Gbit/s.
A hard drive with a SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3) connector is the latest hard drive model, the throughput of which reaches up to 6 Gb/s.

So, I will install a hard drive from the Seagate manufacturer of the Serial ATA II standard.
The name of my motherboard is Asus P5K Pro, which has four SATA connectors.

Connecting a SATA hard drive.
First, you need to insert our hard drive into a special basket of our system unit. Many people remove the video card before this, but in vain, there is no need to remove it, it does not bother us at all, since we place the hard drive just below it.

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 securing 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.

Good day!

There is never too much disk space!

This truth has been more relevant than ever for the last 30 years. Despite the development of the IT sector (the emergence of cloud drives, network storage, high-speed Internet), we are still faced with a lack of free space on the HDD.

The obvious solution to this problem is to buy and connect another drive. But, as with any issue, this has its own nuances... Actually, in this article I decided to consider this issue in more detail (so that the article would be understandable to most inexperienced readers).

So, let's start to figure it out...

Note! Please note that disk space may “waste” due to non-optimal Windows settings (for example, paging and hibernation files are “bloated”), or a large accumulation of garbage. I recommend clearing all garbage and optimizing the OS ( ), before buying a new disk (perhaps the freed up space will be enough for all your tasks).

Option 1: installing a classic HDD in a PC system unit

A few words about choosing a new disk

In general, choosing a new hard drive is a separate big topic. Here I want to focus on one important detail - interface. Nowadays the most common ones are IDE (obsolete) and SATA. Before buying a disk, I recommend checking your PC (especially if you have an old one) and find out what interface is supported (otherwise, in addition to the disk, you will have to purchase adapters/adapters - and additional problems often arise with them...) .

SATA III and IDE - comparison (as an example. The photo shows 2 hard drives)

About installation:

Addition (if the PC does not see the new disk)!

After you turn on the computer (with the second disk installed *), it is not at all a fact that you will immediately see this drive in “My Computer” or “Explorer”. The fact is that new disks often come unformatted (and such a drive cannot always be seen by Windows).

Therefore, after turning on and loading Windows, I recommend immediately (this is a system utility in Windows) or use special ones to format the drive and start working with it fully.

Option 2: connecting the drive to the USB port (external drives)

If you don't want to "climb" through the insides of the system unit (and many novice users ask to suggest exactly this option so as not to do this), or you simply have no warranty on your PC (and you don’t want to open the unit and risk it once again) - that is, a way out...

The fact is that now there are hundreds of different specials on sale. boxes: they are a collapsible box (see screenshot below), inside which you can install a classic hard drive (both 2.5 and 3.5 inches (i.e. drive from both a laptop and a PC)) and then connect it to the USB port. Moreover, you can connect not only to a computer, but also to a small netbook, for example.

Working with such a disk is no different from a regular disk (which is inside the system unit): you can also store music, movies, documents, games, etc. on it (plus, it’s easy to carry and connect it to other devices).

The only negative: there may be problems with installing Windows OS on it (therefore, using an external drive as a system drive is not worth it. For everything else, it’s a pretty good option).

By the way, there are now not only boxes on sale (for classic HDDs), but also full-fledged external hard drives. There is quite a wide variety of them now; they differ not only in volume, but also in connection interface, dimensions, speed, etc.

Help! How to choose an external hard drive (HDD) - 7 important points -

Stationary external hard drive - connects to a 220 V network via a power supply

Help!

Option 3: if you have a laptop...

When many people use the word “computer” they often mean a laptop. That is why in this article I will also consider this case...

In general, the laptop is difficult to upgrade. If you can “stuff” several hard drives into a regular system unit (for example, 5-6 pieces), then many classic laptops have only 1 HDD slot (provided by the manufacturer). And, as a rule, it is already occupied by the current disk - i.e. There is no slot for a second drive.

However, do not rush to despair, there are solutions:

That's all for now, additions on the topic are welcome.

Good luck!

Every day more and more laptops appear in the modern world, which, in turn, are improved and modernized. However, this does not mean that users are actively abandoning the desktop computers we are used to.

Undoubtedly, the main advantage of a laptop is its mobility and small dimensions. However, even more important is the advantage of a desktop computer over a laptop - the ability to modernize and upgrade.

Perhaps the most common type of improvement of the “iron horse” is increasing physical memory. That is why in this article we will try to figure out how to connect a second hard drive to a computer.

Types of hard drives

There are two main types of internal hard drives, which differ in connection connectors, namely SATA and IDE.

The first connection interface is considered more modern and is used on all motherboards today. As for the IDE connector, this technology is somewhat outdated and, accordingly, you can only find hard drives and motherboards with these connectors on outdated desktop computers.

Laptop and additional hard drive

There are several ways to connect a second hard drive to your laptop. Of course, the simplest is to purchase an external drive connected via a USB port. Today there is a huge selection of these devices in stores. The memory size on external hard drives is in no way inferior to internal hard drives. Having purchased such a device, you can easily connect it to your laptop at any time.

The advantage of such a hard drive is that before connecting the second hard drive to the computer, Windows 7, like any other operating system, does not have to be turned off, since this device has a hot plug function.

In cases where it is not possible to purchase an external drive, you can purchase a special adapter that allows you to connect an ordinary hard drive via a USB port. Also, for more convenient use of such an adapter, there are special containers that are used as a disc box.

You just need to connect this container to a USB port and put a hard drive in it, after which an additional device in the form of a hard drive will appear on your laptop.

Connecting an additional hard drive to a computer

Sometimes it happens that connecting a second hard drive to a computer is necessary not to increase the size of the device’s memory, but only to transfer some information from one computer to another. It would seem that doing this using a flash drive is much easier, but when the size of this information exceeds 80-100 GB, the transfer becomes much more convenient by connecting two hard drives to one computer.

Before you connect a second hard drive to your computer, you need to make sure that the motherboard has free ports for connection. Be sure to turn off the computer's power and unplug it before performing any of this work.

Hard drive and IDE connector

In order to understand how to connect a second hard drive with an IDE connector to a computer, let's see what this type of connection is.

As a rule, this type of connection is installed less and less on modern motherboards. The cable that is used to connect the hard drive and the motherboard is quite thin. Its main feature is the ability to connect several devices to one motherboard connector. That is, on such a cable there are only 3 IDE connectors, one of which is connected to the motherboard, and the other two are connected to the device - a hard drive and a CD-ROM.

Connect a second hard drive. SATA connector

If you need to connect a second hard drive to your computer, first of all pay attention to the type of hard drive connector. If this is a SATA connector, then immediately make sure that your motherboard supports such interfaces.

Then prepare a wire with SATA connectors on both ends. Connect one side to the hard drive, and the other to a free SATA port on the motherboard. Even the simplest boards of these interfaces have at least two installed.

When installing the cable into the connector, you don’t have to worry, since a special key has been developed on the plug, which eliminates the possibility of incorrect connection. That is why you can replace a hard drive or add one yourself.

Connecting the power connector

In addition to data transfer cables, be it SATA or IDE, the hard drive needs power, which it receives through a separate connector and a separate wire.

When connecting an IDE hard drive, the power cable looks like this.

It has 4 contacts. There is also a key on the connector, thanks to which you will never go wrong with the connection position. This connector has a rectangular shape, and the key is 2 rounded corners on one longitudinal side.

The power bus for hard drives with a SATA connector looks a little different.

It has a flatter shape, but is also equipped with a special key, so incorrect connection is completely excluded.

Selecting a hard drive

Today there are a huge number of manufacturers of computer equipment and components for it. The same goes for hard drives. In order to make the right choice in favor of a specific hard drive, you need to decide what you need it for.

There are several basic hard drive parameters that you should pay attention to. The first is definitely the media volume. Today, the largest disk is with a memory size of 4 TB. However, this figure is constantly growing, and in a year it can become 2 or even 3 times greater.

The second value is the speed of its operation. Namely, the speed of accessing and writing to the disk. Today, hard drives using SSD technology have appeared, otherwise known as “solid-state drives”. The speed of their operation significantly exceeds the speed of conventional hard ones, but their volume is several times smaller. The price of such discs today is very high.

Based on these parameters and your personal preferences, you can competently and most importantly - practically select the hard drive you need.

Many people do not know how to connect a second hard drive to a computer, and therefore hand over their system units to a service center. However, after reading this article, it becomes clear that it is not at all difficult.