How to Set Two Hard Drives As Masters
A master drive is the drive that controls the computer. It is the drive that the computer boots to. If your computer is installed with two master drives, you can switch control back and forth between the drives. This is useful if the two drives are installed with different operating systems.
How you configure your hard drive as a master depends on what kind of drive you have. Hard drives come in two types: SATA and IDE. SATA technology is superior to IDE and is the technology standard for hard drives, but IDE drives are still in use. SATA drives are automatically master drives, but IDE drives can be master, slave (or secondary drive), or cable select (meaning the computer automatically configures it). To change an IDE drive to master, you must change the jumpers (connectors on the back of the drive that change how the PC detects it) and attach the correct end of an IDE cable to the drive.
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Instructions
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Power off your computer. Remove the power cords, the monitor, the mouse and keyboard, and any other connections.
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Carefully turn the computer over onto its right side and remove the case. Touch the computer chassis to ground yourself, so as to prevent static electricity from damaging the computer's interior.
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Locate the drives (you should find them at the front of the computer, below the CD or DVD drive) and unscrew them from the drive bays.
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Remove both hard drives from the computer and gently pull out the power and ribbon cables. The power cable is the four-pin connector, and the ribbon cable, the 40-pin connector. If the power cable is difficult to remove, wiggle the cable back and forth until its loose enough to remove it.
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Check the jumper settings on both drives to find out whether they are set as master, slave or cable select. The jumpers are located on the back of the drive, usually between the ribbon and power cable slots. Since jumper settings vary depending on the hard drive's make and model, check with the manufacturer or review the hard drive's documentation if you need more assistance.
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If the jumpers are not set as master, use a set of tweezers to carefully remove the jumper from the interface. Replace the jumper so that it is correctly aligned with the master setting.
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Plug the master end of the ribbon cables into each hard drive. The master end is the 40-pin connector on the farthest end of the cable.
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Insert the power cable into each drive, respectively. Slide the drives back into their drive bays and screw them into place.
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Confirm all connections are secure, then replace the case to your computer. Reattach any cords or peripherals to your computer. Press the "Power" button.
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Access your BIOS utility. The BIOS utility is a special software, accessible from your PC's startup screen, that will allow you to change your hard drive's settings. Your BIOS is responsible for detecting and configuring your PC's hardware.
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Check your drive settings. One drive should read as "Primary Master" and the other "Secondary Master."
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Go to the "Hard Disk Boot Priority" screen and configure the settings to change the boot order of the drives. The drive with the highest boot priority will be the one to load the operating system at startup.
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Save your settings and exit the BIOS.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are not sure what make or model your hard drives are, either check your driver settings in Windows' "Device Manager" or check the labels on the hard drives themselves.
Some manufacturers will list the jumper configurations on the drive itself.
Check with your motherboard's manufacturer if you don't know how to access your BIOS or change the hard disk boot order, as these processes vary from computer to computer.
