We all live in an interesting time when technology in the field of computer technology replaces one another in just a few years. For example, yesterday, the specialized AGP bus seemed to be the ultimate dream, and its updated revisions appeared like mushrooms after the rain. Now they remember her either to satisfy their own curiosity, or to assemble a computer from old components for a highly specialized range of tasks.
A similar situation has developed with compact discs: first a CD, then a DVD and DL-DVD, and more recently, Blu-Ray was spotted at an affordable cost. Without a doubt, many during this time managed to form an impressive home collection of selected videos, or maybe even an audio library. But at present, CDs have a competitor - hard drives. Their cost is constantly decreasing, already dropping below 5 cents per 1 Mb. It is not surprising that on the network now you can often meet the question "how to connect a second hard drive." We will try to answer it.
Connecting a hard drive is a fairly simple task, but only if you understand what is being done and why. After reviewing the answers and at least once checking everything in practice, everyone will be able to connect the drives to the computer.
Before you begin to figure out how to connect a second hard drive, you need to decide what, in general, are hard drives and how they differ. The main difference is the type of hard drive interface. Today there are three of them: discontinued, but still found, IDE; then SATA, which has become the standard; and USB. To understand how to connect a second hard drive, you should also know three things: the hard drive interface, the standards supported by the motherboard, and the size of the hard drive in gigabytes.
Everything is simple with the interface: if the motherboard supports only SATA, then only SATA and USB can be connected to it, and the IDE can only be connected via an expansion board or converter. Suppose the hard drive and the board are SATA. Then the installation of the second hard drive is performed as follows (the computer must be disconnected from the outlet):
- We check the hard drive jumpers so that the SATA limit of 1.5 Gb / s is not set. In this mode, operation is possible, but speed will be limited;
- remove the side cover of the system unit and connect the SATA interface cable to the corresponding free connector. Please note that there is a lock in the connector that prevents the connector from being inserted incorrectly;
- we place the hard drive in a free compartment of the case and fix it with a screw (if stationary installation is required);
- We connect the power cable and the second end of the SATA cable to the hard drive. It is impossible to make a mistake - everywhere blocking from erroneous inclusion. If two different power connectors are provided - MOLEX and SATA, then we use ONE of them to choose from;
- assemble the case and turn on the computer.
If the disk capacity is more than 2 TB, then for its operation the motherboard should not be equipped with the classic BIOS, but with the new UEFI. In addition, you will need to format such a hard drive in GPT format, not MBR.
Often you have to figure out how to connect a second hard drive so that it can be used as a portable one. Of course, the best solution is to purchase a factory external USB hard drive. If there is already an “extra" second SATA or IDE drive, then the costs of a relatively expensive purchase are not needed. You need to purchase a USB-to-SATA (IDE) adapter-converter with an external power supply for $ 10-20. The disk is connected to this adapter and powered by an external unit, and the other end of the converter cord is plugged into the USB port of the computer. As an option - purchase a ready-made USB “pocket” for the hard drive. It is the same power supply and converter, but hidden in a neat fan-blown case, which houses the hard drive. The disadvantage of this solution is its high cost, the lower limit of which starts at $ 45.