How to Connect a SCSI Zip Drive to a PC

A SCSI Zip drive is faster than any other Zip drive. Windows 95 or 98 should automatically recognize a SCSI card and devices connected to it.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• SCSI Card
• SCSI Terminators
• Zip Disks
• Zip Drives

1. Get a PCI SCSI card (not included with SCSI Zip drives). Use Iomega's Zip Zoom SCSI accelerator or another SCSI card.

2. Shut down the computer.

3. Leave the computer plugged into the surge suppressor.

4. Disconnect all peripherals from the computer.

5. Remove the chassis cover.

6. Ground yourself to computer with any professional grounding equipment you have. Otherwise, ground yourself by touching a metal part of the computer chassis.

7. Remove the back panel if necessary.

8. Find an open PCI slot (PCI slots are smaller than ISA slots).

9. Knock out or unscrew the open slot's metal plate on the computer's back panel.

10. Insert the SCSI card gently, but firmly into the slot. Rock it into position if necessary.

11. Replace the computer's cover.

12. Reconnect the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

13. Connect the SCSI cable to the new SCSI port on your computer (each end of the cable is different). Connect the other end of cable to the input SCSI port on the Zip drive. Securely tighten hand screws on both ends.

14. If the Zip drive is not internally terminated (check the documentation that came with the drive), connect a SCSI terminator to the drive.

15. Connect the external power supply to the Zip drive and surge suppressor. Push the power cord into the groove on the right side of the Zip drive. Check for a green light indicating the Zip drive is powered.

16. Insert the supplied Zip Tools disk into Zip drive.

17. Restart the computer.

18. Install the Zip drivers and other software according to the manufacturer's instructions.

19. Restart the computer.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a SCSI scanner or other SCSI device, you won't need to install another SCSI card. Connect the Zip drive to the back of your other SCSI device instead of directly to the computer. Make sure that you give each device a unique SCSI ID number.
• A SCSI terminator must be attached to the last device in a SCSI chain if the device isn't internally terminated. No other device in the chain can include a terminator. If you're connecting more than one SCSI device, make sure that only the last one is terminated. If you're only connecting the Zip drive, make sure it's terminated.