How to install and Setup a SATA Hard Drive



This article will show you how to install and setup a SATA Hard Drive without any hassle

This article is applicable for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.

Warning
Always remember to discharge yourself before touching the HDD. This is done by touching the metal inside the case with you hands, as showed in the picture below






Note
These are the things you will need:
  • Screwdriver to screw the side of your case off/on
  • SATA Cable
  • Molex to SATA Converter [Only needed if no SATA Power Cable is available]
  • A SATA Hard Drive



Step 1. Installing the Hard Drive into the case.

1. Take out all wires and cables from the PC. Also hit the power button located on the back of the PC where the PSU is. Unplug the mains lead from the supply.

2. Screw the side panel of the pc





3. Connect your SATA Cable to the Motherboard



4. If needed connect your Molex to SATA converter

5. Put the harddrive into one of the free slots and connect the SATA power cable and the SATA Cable (Red)



6. Put the side panel on again, and screw in the screws

7. Connect all your cables to your PC again
 
Step 2. Checking if it's working

1. Turn on your PC

2. Go into your BIOS, and look if it shows the newly installed Hard Drive along with the rest of the system info





Step 3. Formatting and Using the Hard Drive

1. Click start menu  Right click Computer in the right panel  Click "Manage"

2. Enter the "Disk Management" (Look in the left pane)

3. You should now be able to see the Hard Drive in there as Unallocated space

4. Right Click the Bar in the bottom and click "New Simple Volume"




5. Follow the wizard, choose a name, amount of space the partition should have and the Drive letter.




6. Now you can see your new Hard drive in "Computer"





This article is applicable for Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP.