SATA Hard Drive - How to Install and Setup

How To install and Setup A SATA Hard Drive

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Today i'm going to show you how to install and setup a SATA Hard Drive on a desktop PC. (Parts needed is in picture above)

   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

2.jpg










   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
  • A Desktop PC (lol)

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.jpg
3. Connect your SATA Cable to the Motherboard
4.jpg
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)
5.jpg
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
6.jpg
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Step 3. Formatting and Using the Hard Drive
1. Click start menu :ar: Right click Computer in the right panel :ar: 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"
8.png
5. Follow the wizard, choose a name, amount of space the partion should have and the Drive letter.
9.png
6. Now you can see your new Hard drive in "Computer" :cool:
last.png
(New HDD would be M: in this case)
Have fun, i hope this has helped you :geek:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice job Sergio.
 

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Very nice job Sergio. Should be very helpful for those who have never installed a SATA drive. Fabe
 

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Thanks Fabe :) I hope some people will find this useful ;)
 
Good tutorial Sergio! :party:
 

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1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
Not bad, my friend. Not bad at all!
 

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Nice! Good straight forward tutorial.
 

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250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
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Nice tutorial SG9. I'll be getting a hard drive soon and this will come in handy. My computer has a Seagate HD and I was wondering if I should get the same make ?
 

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Hello deivasigamaniec, welcome to Seven Forums; glad we could be a help!
 

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* BFK Customs *
OS
W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU
Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory
8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card(s)
ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays
1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution
1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Hard Drives
1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
PSU
Corsair 620HX
Case
Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling
Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Keyboard
Microsoft 500
Mouse
Razer Diamondback 3G
Internet Speed
14 Mb/s
Other Info
1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
Hi Sergio

Just stumbled over this in my hunt for SATA advice; an instruction I will keep and use soon as I attempt to upgrade my HD
But probably can help me before I buy the HD; my unit has a Intel(R) N10/ICH7 family Serial ATA Storage Controller 27C0, but I have been told to buy a unit with the same SATA?
I'm assuming due to the age of the PC that would be a SATA2, but how do I check that is correct?

Sorry if this seems a silly question, just want to get it right

Many thanks
Richard:cry:
 

My Computer

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PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell 380
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Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
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Intel duo E7500
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Dell
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AVAST
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Monzilla
Hi Sergio

Just stumbled over this in my hunt for SATA advice; an instruction I will keep and use soon as I attempt to upgrade my HD
But probably can help me before I buy the HD; my unit has a Intel(R) N10/ICH7 family Serial ATA Storage Controller 27C0, but I have been told to buy a unit with the same SATA?
I'm assuming due to the age of the PC that would be a SATA2, but how do I check that is correct?

Sorry if this seems a silly question, just want to get it right

Many thanks
Richard:cry:
Richard these are the specs for your machine Dell OptiPlex 380 Specs - CNET if you scroll down you will see it is 3Gbs SATA and it has DDR3 RAM so not that old mate and if I am not mistaken - I do stand to be corrected any drive that is 6Gbs capable is back compatible on that machine to your 3Gbs SATA ports.
Another ref for you
Difference between SATA I, SATA II and SATA III
 

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Hey thanks for this, it's all part of the learning curve (who says you ger too old to learn)
I bought this machine second hand but it seems to be quite a well screwed together and worth playing with
as I bumble my way through

Once again many thanks
Richard:D
 

My Computer

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Dell 380
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