Install third hard drive

The process usually requires no more than mounting it, connecting a couple of cables, and formatting the drive for use. Still, there are a few things you should know to make installation as smooth as possible.

SSDs tend to offer much faster speeds than hard drives, but hard drives offer significantly more capacity at lower prices. All three spin at 7, revolutions per minute RPM , the fastest speed available in consumer hard drives. Internal 3. Placement and orientation of the cages or bays will vary from case to case. The most common location is at the lower front, near the intake fans and away from other components. Magnet-tipped screw drivers can help keep you from dropping screws in difficult-to-reach places.

In mainstream cases, drive connectors will typically point to the rear. Some enthusiast-class also cases give users the ability to remove drive cages or to mount them in different positions to optimize air flow and simplify cable management.

If you needed to disconnect any ribbons or cables to remove the bottom panel, be sure to reconnect them before closing the laptop. Do hard drives come with the needed cables or will I need to purchase them separately?

They don't. You either get the cables with the motherboard or you buy them separately. Not Helpful 1 Helpful Can I take an old hard drive out of one computer and put it in as a backup storage drive in a new computer with a different operating system? You'll have to reformat your hard drive, but yes, you can use that hard drive as extra storage for almost any PC. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 5.

Talking to a tech professional like a specialist at a store selling computers and related items would be best. However, the word 'need' is misleading, as you can use a lot of different hard drives in some laptops.

Not Helpful 6 Helpful 9. I have replaced a hard drive that's fully loaded, but my PC cannot recognize it. I am told to reboot, but either the screen is blank or I am told to replace my battery, which doesn't help either.

What should I do. If by "fully loaded," you mean that you have taken out a hard drive from a different computer that had the operating system already installed on it and put it into a new computer, this unfortunately will not work. The drivers that were installed with the operating system on your older computer are almost certainly not compatible with the drivers needed for your new computer. You will have to back up all of your stored data desktop, documents, downloads, music, photos, videos, etc.

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 4. Try to find screws that will match the necessary size, either in a shop or online. A friend or colleague might also have some spare ones you could use. You can also connect the laptop's hard drive without any screws. The connection is quite firm, but it's still safer with screws since they ensure that the connection between the drive and laptop doesn't come loose.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 3. Try to fix it. However, if it doesn't load Windows then it's best you take it in to a specialist, most have programs that run from a disk that can check for errors, or they can fix mechanical faults or tell you to buy a new one.

If you still have a receipt, maybe ask for a new one. Not Helpful 9 Helpful 8. You need a Phillips screwdriver to open your computer although most desktops have thumbscrews , and if you are installing an SSD drive, then you might need a 2. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Hard drives emit heat when they are running. If your computer has multiple hard drive bays, consider positioning your hard drives so that there is empty space between them to help keep your computer running cooler.

Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Pay close attention to static electricity when working with the inner components of your computer. You can use an anti-static strip or touch the screw on an active light switch cover to ground yourself before touching the components and cables inside your computer.

Not all computers will support having their hard drives replaced, especially in the case of laptops. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 2.

You Might Also Like How to. How to. About This Article. Written by:. Co-authors: Updated: December 26, Categories: Featured Articles Hard Drives. Article Summary X 1. Italiano: Installare un Hard Drive. Nederlands: Een harde schijf installeren. Bahasa Indonesia: Memasang sebuah Hard Drive. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. Grounding yourself before starting. Is this article up to date? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy.

Gee Sobi Oct 6, You could try formatting the drive, but this would wipe all your data and remove Windows. You can open CMD from the boot menu and do a clean and format to fix the drive. Your other option would be to get a new drive completely. Not Helpful 2 Helpful As long as the drive is recognized by your system, which it should be through plug and play, you should just be able to plug it in and drag the files to the external drive through your file explorer.

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 4. How do I view data from an extra hard drive after I have connected it to my laptop? Simply open up file explorer and select the drive. Often when you plug in an external drive, you'll be presented the option to view the files. Not Helpful 12 Helpful If I want to use the second hard drive as simple extra storage, do I still need to install an OS? No; only the primary drive needs an operating system.

As long as the second one is formatted properly by your preferred OS, it should function as simple storage. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 3. I believe you are asking about partitioning a single drive into multiple partitions. Open disk management by searching "Partitions" in your Windows search bar. Select the drive you wish to partition with a right click and hit "Shrink drive.

If you are partitioning to install a second OS, you'll have to use bootstrap or a similar program. External hard drives are extremely versatile. Just connect them with a USB cord.

Not Helpful 4 Helpful 5. Everything I've read about adding a hard drive involves a new hard drive. I want to put the hard drive from my previous computer into my new one. Will formatting erase the contents? Do everything exactly the same except formatting, because assuming it was being used in a Windows PC it was already formatted, and doing it again would only delete everything on it. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 3. My new hard drive isn't being detected by my computer.

I've unplugged it and plugged it back into a different port and I know that it is getting power. The cable and hard drive are new. If it's not recognized in BIOS, there could be a limit on the number of drives, the drive is incompatible or the port could be defective on the motherboard. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 2. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. External hard drives can be used to house separate operating systems. If you install a second operating system on your external hard drive, be sure to keep it plugged in at all times.

Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Their cables also block significantly less airflow than do IDE cables. Most hard drives are sensitive to Electrostatic Discharge ESD , so always remember to ground yourself before touching any of your computer's internal components.

Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0. You Might Also Like How to. How to. About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: June 3, Categories: Hard Drives. Article Summary X 1.

Nederlands: Een extra harde schijf toevoegen. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,, times. One 3. Here is your answer: "Up to four 3.

If my answer Was helpful? Please let me know by clicking on the ' Did this answer your question' and clicking on the Yes button. I have the exact same question for a Precision T, which appears to have the same case as the T My T has 2 internal hard drives and 2 internal optical drives.

There are 5 SATA connectors on the motherboard, and the online manual states that a third and fourth hard drive can be installed in the 3.

It doesn't say. You can order these workstations with 2 optical drives and 3 hard drives installed. I can't find any adapter kit for installing a 3rd hard drive in the flex bay. I've emailed Dell Tech Support about this, but haven't heard anything back yet.

If I need to buy some kind of adapter, fine. I am tempted to buy a Precision T configured with 3 hard drives and 2 optical drives just so I can see how they do it, and then returning the computer I hope these pictures help, I ordered this t with 1 hard drive and 1 dvd drive and a multimedia drive. As you can see I was able to install 3 more hard drives.

Thank you for posting the pictures. A couple of questions: Where did you get the bracket shown in photo6. JPG 2nd photo that was used to mount the 3.