How to Install an EIDE Hard Drive

EIDE hard drives are one of the most common storage devices in personal computers today. If an old drive fails, or more storage is needed, computer owners often find the need to install new drives. EIDE hard drives have been the standard computer disk drive for many years. Newer computers use SATA drives but EIDE drives are very common and can still be bought in retail stores.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Desktop computer
• New hard drive

1. Open the computer case. Nearly every desktop computer has a panel on the left side that is easily removed. There is typically a few screws or a lever to open this panel. If you are having trouble opening your case refer to your owner's manual

2. Ground yourself. Computer parts can easily be ruined with a blast of static electricity. Grounding yourself with a grounding strip is an important precaution to take to avoid damaging your computer hardware.

3. Insert the new drive into the drive cage. The new drive will need to be slid into your case and secured with a set of screws. Most drive cages are located toward the front of the tower.

4. Connect the power cabling. Power cables from the power supply at the top of the case have four colored cables (red, yellow and black) and a white connector.

5. Connect the data cable. EIDE drives use a ribbon cable that is about 2 inches wide. The cables are often gray and connect the hard drive to the motherboard.

Tips & Warnings

• Some older drives require you to set jumpers, check the drive's manual about this before starting!

References

• older article on installing harddrives