Can a novice instal a new hard drive or is it too hard.?

Question

My computer has a low diskspace it is a pc 100 gateway, I want to get a new one but untill I can I want to try fixing the low disk problem and i want to know how involved that is please help thank you.

Answer 1

Installing a hard drive is not difficult at all.
Unplug the computer
Open the case
Ground yourself by touching something metal like the case. Electrostatic discharge from even a small spark can cause damage to a computer.
Hard drive is connected to 2 cables, a IDE data cable and molex power connector. Disconnect both.
Hard drive is held in place by 2-4 screws in most systems. Remove the screws.
Insert the new drive then secure with same screws
Reconnect data and power cables
Close case
Plug in power and boot computer.
Drive will probably need to be partitioned and formatted but most new drives come with a floppy that will perform these steps.
Install Operating System
These are the steps if you are going to completely replace drive.

If you are just going to add a drive, omit the steps for removal of old drive and you do not have to install an OS, but drive will still need to be partitioned and formatted.

Most new drives come with instructions for installing.

Answer 2

If you are a novice I doubt you will be successful your first try. I just bought a new HD for my Dell computer, and it took me most of one afternoon to get it working:

It is a SATA drive and thus I didn't need to set it for master/slave. Opening up my computer, I see where a second drive can go, right below the first one. There is even a power cable right there, ready to go.

However, the data cable that came with the drive has a plug on the drive end that covers up the SATA power connection. I decided to clip the large plastic plug on both sides so it would fit.

Then I had to file the plug for almost an hour, to get it small enough on one side to fit. Finally it did. The other end of the cable goes to the motherboard's second SATA plug, so you have to find that.

My other option would have been to use the cable as supplied, but connect the power via the 'legacy' connector. Unfortunately, the only connector like that on the Dell was way up by the CD drive bay, and even then I don't think it would have reached.

NEXT, when I first tried the drive, the installatioin CD that came with the drive couldn't find it. I had to go to BIOS (F2 on most computers, while booting) and enable the second SATA drive. Do you think you could have done that?

I'm just saying all this to point out there are usually 'little' unexpected problems that can become big ones if you are only guessing. Like someone else said, make sure you buy the same type of drive your computer uses now or it won't work.

Answer 3

It's really simple... First, you need to find out what interface your Motherboard uses, whether it's IDE, SCSI, RAID, ATA, SATA. Then you purchase the Hard Drive that is compatible with one of those interfaces. Now set this new HD as a slave and plug it in your PC using the same cable your old HD is using. Or if you have an extra slot, plug the cable in there.

Make sure your PC is completely off when you do this.
When you are all finish, turn on your PC and your OS should detect the new device.

Here's some sites you can visit and read more about "How To's".
http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/43/
http://www.cyberwalker.net/columns/apr98/041698.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6030_install-second-hard.html
http://www.basichardware.com/HowTo_Install_Hard_Drive.html
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/howto/ata_install_tshoot.html

Answer 4

It is not hard, you can do it yourself. First, if your computer is not old, chance is you just need to buy IDE Harddrive. After that you open your computer, unplug the power and data cable from the old drive and plug it into the new harddrive.

After this, I bet you need to either format your new harddrive if it has not been formatted. Then you still need to install all of the software you have into your new harddrive.

Then, finally, you might need to transfer your old data from your old harddrive to the new one. Well this can be done by connecting your new harddrive to the new harddrive in "Master-Slave" Configuration. Your new harddrive is the master and the old harddrive is the slave one. Now, this is somewhat troublesome if you never do it. Because there is a pin configuration on the back of your harddrive.

Suppose you know to set the pin on the harddrives to be master and slave, then you just connect the old harddrive as slave, and copy all your data from old harddrive to new harddrive. How to copy? Just open up "My Computer", you should see both your new and old harddrive icons there (after you connect both old and new harddrives as master and slave)

Answer 5

its actually very easy.

You dont actually need to open the computer. you can buy an external harddrive that can be moved from your existing PC to any PC that you buy in the future. Its very simple, since you can just plug it in and it works, no jumpers or opening the case.

Here is an external harddrive that is from an excellent company, Western Digital.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136021

Answer 6

go to gateways site and click on support to search for help

Answer 7

It's easy. Look for instructions on the web