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Step 1
Every CD or DVD install, starts with unplugging the power cord. Most drives are held on by two screws that mount the drive on rails. The screws prevent the drive from vibrating like crazy when your pc is on.
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Step 2
Unscrew your CD ROM or DVD drive and gently remove it from the bay. As you pull it out of its compartment you will notice two cables attached to the back of the CD or DVD drive.
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Step 3
CLICK TO ENLARGEThe first cable is basically the data cable also known as the Parallel IDE cable. Unplug that and make sure you keep not of how the cable is attached. Click on the image on the left to get an idea of what it looks like.
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Step 4
CLICK TO ENLARGEThe second cable is the power cable; it will always be smaller than IDE cable and a pain in the butt to remove. Gentle grab the base of the connection and wiggle it to the left and right till you can get it loose enough to pull it out. I’ve yanked the wires out by accident pulling too hard in the past so I wanted to for warn you of my folly. The good thing is that the power led goes in only one direction so you can’t really accidentally plug it in the wrong way. Click on the image on the left to get an idea of what it looks like.
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Step 5
Once that is done, plug in the power cord and IDE cable. Before you put it back in the computer bay open up your windows, “my computer” and see if the drive was recognized. Generally these devices are plug and play so you don’t have to install any additional software to get them going, however occasionally some of the CD or DVD drives will come with additional software to install. If your pc can recognize the drive don’t install the software drivers unless there is some additional software on the cd you want to install.
Comments
Gardengates said
on 12/1/2008 Perfect timing! I need to change out my drive this week. Thanks for the instructions.