How to Connect an SATA Drive With an IDE
Most commercially available drives fall into two catagories: IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) and SATA (Serial ATA). Though these are two different connector standards, they can easily be connected to the same computer. Most motherboards have the functionality to support both types at the same time as long as they were manufactured in the last several years. If you have bought a new hard drive with the SATA standard, and still have IDE drives, you can easily connect both.
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Instructions
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SATA
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1
Connect the SATA data cable. The connector is thin and wafer-like, and there will be only one way to connect it, just flip it over if it is not fitting in.
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2
Locate a SATA power cable among the wires coming off of your power supply. The connector will look like the data connector, but smaller. Plug it into the power connector on the back of the drive (also like the data one, but smaller).
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3
Locate the SATA connectors on the motherboard. They will look like the data connectors on the back of the hard drive. Connect the SATA cable. If you have trouble finding the SATA connectors consult your motherboard's manual for help.
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4
Secure the SATA drive inside the computer's case. On one side there should be an internal housing, often below where the CD/DVD-ROM drive go, that it can slide into. There will be holes on the side that can match up with holes on the hard drive. Put some screws in and it will be secure.
IDE
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5
Connect the IDE cable to the back of the IDE drive. The connectors have two rows of 20 pins with one pin missing, use that as a matching point to connect it correctly.
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6
Locate an IDE power connector among the wires coming off the power supply. The connector will be made of white plastic and have space for four big pins. The power connector on the back of the drive has the four pins and the connector should only fit in one way.
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7
Locate the IDE connectors on the motherboard. They will have two rows of 20 pins with one missing from one row. Connect the cable to the primary one. Consult your motherboard's manual for help finding them.
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8
Set the jumpers on the back of the drive. Jumpers are little plastic things that go over two small pins and tell the hard drive what order it will be checked in when booting. Depending on your configuration, you may want to set it as master or slave. Since SATA is faster at data transfer, you may want to use that drive as the master and the IDE as slave. On top of the drive there will be a diagram telling you how to set the jumpers.
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9
Secure the IDE drive inside the computer's case. On one side there should be an internal housing, often below where the CD/DVD-ROM drive go, that it can slide into. There will be holes on the side that can match up with holes on the hard drive. Put some screws in and it will be secure.
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