Adding a New Hard Drive to Your Computer in 8 Easy Steps

Is your computer over a year old? You might be running low on storage. Just like closets and attics tend to fill up and spill over, so do hard drives. Your 8-megapixel camera may demand a gigabyte of space every time you upload its memory card. Or your MP3 library could be growing by 10 songs daily. Maybe you're working on editing family videos, where every 5-minute clip takes up a gigabyte. Or perhaps you want to add a TV tuner card and transform your computer into a DVR.

Digital cameras, video cameras, MP3 players, and TV tuner cards all take up significant disk space. If you use any of these devices, chances are you're running out of space. This article will guide you through the simple process of adding a new hard drive to your existing computer.

1: Examine Your Computer

Before we dive into adding a hard drive, a bit of research is required. The aim is to determine whether it will be easy or complicated to add a new drive. We also need to figure out what type of hard drive you'll need. You could check your computer's manual, but it's much simpler to open up the case and inspect the inside.

The first thing you need to figure out is: How many hard drives are already installed in the case? In most computers, the answer will be "one." If there's just one drive, adding another one is straightforward. Once you open up the case, you'll likely find one optical drive (like a CD or DVD drive), one hard disk drive, and possibly a floppy disk drive. The optical and floppy drives are easy to spot, as they’re visible on the exterior. Finding the hard drive might take a bit more effort. If you're unsure what a hard drive looks like, refer to the image above.

If there are already two drives inside the case, adding a new one becomes more challenging.

2: Check Available Space

Is there room to add another hard drive? Your existing hard drive is likely housed in a small metal cage or rack inside the machine. Check if there is space in the rack to fit another drive. If not, consider using an external drive instead.

An external drive can be connected to your computer via either a USB 2.0 or a FireWire connection, so ensure your computer has the necessary ports. Once you purchase the drive, simply plug it in and boot up your computer. Configuration instructions are included with the drive, but on Windows XP, it will typically work as a plug-and-play device. You can begin transferring files to the new drive right away.

The major benefit of an external drive is its portability. You can easily plug it into different computers and transfer files. It's convenient to carry around wherever you go. The only downside is that external drives tend to be slower than internal ones. For example, transferring a gigabyte of data on an internal drive might take a minute, but it could take two minutes on an external drive. However, for most tasks, this slower speed won't be noticeable.

3: Check the Cable Type Used

Determine what type of cable system is used to connect drives to the motherboard. There are two common types: IDE (also known as PATA, or Parallel ATA), and SATA (Serial ATA). PATA cables are wide and flat or thick, roughly the width of a finger, while SATA cables are thin, about the size of a pencil. You'll need to know whether to purchase an IDE or SATA drive, which you can figure out by inspecting the cables.

Once you've confirmed that there’s space for a new drive in your computer and identified whether you need a PATA or SATA drive, you’re ready to purchase a new one.

4: Purchase a New Hard Drive

You can purchase a new hard drive from various locations: a retail store, a large computer retailer, a local computer parts shop, or through mail order. Regardless of where you buy it, remember these three important points:

With your new drive in hand, you’re all set to begin the installation process.

5: Prevent Static Electricity

Before handling the drive, it's important to discuss static electricity. Your computer is extremely sensitive to static shocks. If you accumulate static on your body and discharge it onto something like a hard drive, you could damage it beyond repair and will need to replace it.

To eliminate the risk of static electricity, grounding yourself is key. There are several ways to do this, but the simplest method is to wear a grounding bracelet on your wrist. Connect the bracelet to something grounded, such as a copper pipe or the screw on the wall outlet's faceplate. By grounding yourself, you can prevent static shocks. A grounding bracelet is inexpensive and can be found for just a few dollars.

6: Configure the Jumpers

The next step is to configure the jumpers (if you're using an IDE drive). Let's dive deeper into this step since most users have IDE drives.

In the IDE setup, most motherboards allow two IDE cables, with each cable supporting two drives. Typically, one cable connects one or two optical drives to your system, while the second cable connects one or two hard drives.

Both of your hard drives should be connected to the same cable. These two drives are referred to as 'master' and 'slave.' Your existing hard drive (which holds your operating system and data) should be set as the 'master,' while the new hard drive will be the 'slave.' The drives usually include instructions for setting the jumpers for master and slave configurations. Follow these instructions carefully. If you're using SATA drives, jumper settings aren't necessary since each drive will have its own cable. For more details on the master and slave setup, check out How IDE Controllers Work.

7: Secure the Drive and Make Connections

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With the jumpers correctly set, it's time to mount the new drive in the drive cage and secure it in place with screws.

Next, connect the drive's power connector to the power supply. If it fits properly, you have the right match.

Attach the IDE or SATA cable to the drive.

8: Format the new drive

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Close up the machine, turn it on, and configure your new drive using the Windows XP drive management tool. To do this, click the Start button, go to the Control Panel, switch to Classic View, select Administrative Tools, then click Computer Management, and finally, select Disk Management. (For Windows Vista instructions, click here.)

Look at the graphical display at the bottom right. Disk 0 represents your original hard drive, while Disk 1 is the new one. It's likely that the new drive is not initialized or formatted yet. To fix this, click the small button to initialize the drive, then right-click on the new drive and choose 'Format...' to format it as an NTFS volume. The formatting process might take over an hour, so be patient.

Once the formatting is complete, your new drive is ready for use.