Installing A DVD Drive on a tower style PC

[countrykid]

I have aquired a second hand tower pc for a friend who has very little money. It isfrom a very trusted source and is reasonably specified with sufficient memory etc for his needs, and is in great condition and works fine but only has a CD drive rather than DVD. I have purchased a brand new Samsung DVD recordable drive via Amazon, and intend fitting it this morning. I am fairly diy minded but by no means a pc wizzo, but think I should be able to do this job. Is it easier to simply take the existing CD drive out and replace it with the DVD one, or leave the CD one in and fit the DVD drive in a spare slot (not sure how you make the slot/remove a blanking plate though, so I favour the first idea).

Any advice, tips or things to watch out for are much appreciated. Thanks

[RATTER15]

It will probably be just as easy to fit the DVD drive in a vacant slot, depending on the tower you have, the blank will either push out or unscrew, personally I sometimes find it useful to have both drives, its convenient for copying discs etc but it really is a personal choice, then simply plug it in using cables provided and run the software. very straight forward, just be very careful, lots of very delicate bits and pieces in there. Good luck.

[ChuckFickens]

I'd say if you are not sure what you are doing then replace the existing drive would be the easiest option. (sorry to disagree ratter)

Things to watch out for are...

Check the master/slave setting matches the drive you remove, this is set using a small jumper block on the back of the drive (see pic below) and you simply move the little block to go between the pins marked as master or slave as required.

pic (this drive is set to slave, if the black jumper was pulled off and put back on the right hand set of pins it would make it the master)
http://members.cox.net/yesshows/CD6.jpg

make sure you don't force the power connector in as if you push hard enough it will go on the wrong way.

The long connector on the ribbon cable must be fitted with the little red stripe that's on one side of the cable closest to the power connector.

Other than that nothing else to do, there is no software required to make the drive work as a CD/DVD reader or a CD writer although you will need to install the burning software that came with the drive(if any did) to enable you to burn DVDs

[countrykid]

Many thanks Ratter and Chuck. Just the kind of infi I was looking for. If I did feel up to fitting the new drive in a vacant slot, where do you plug the cables into if the other drive is still in situ. Cheers again

[ChuckFickens]

Thats why I said it would be easier to fit as a replacement, because we don't know what the internal configuration of the wiring is at the moment.

I am assuming as it is a slighter older computer it has IDE drives in it (long flat connectors on the back of the drive like this http://www.vgmusic.co...llery/plugs/p-IDE.jpg


If that is the case you should have 2 IDE ports on the main board, both of which are capable of running two devices (one as the master, one as the slave). The problem is we don't know if you have any spare connectors inside the case at the moment as the two existing drives (cd drive and hard drive) could either be run from one connector on the board with a 2 channel cable, or they might be using both connectors on the board but on a one channel cable each, either way would leave no spare cables for the DVD drive.


To be honest, this is a subject that is extensively covered elsewhere in loads of tutorials with pictures that are probably easier to understand,.

such as

http://computershoppe...ing-a-new-dvd-burner5

[RATTER15]

Chuck, no problem, disagree all you want, you know much more about this than I do. I have put a few drives in myself with no problems, but I do agree with all your comments.

It is a fairly straight forward job but it can be tricky at times if you arent a bit of a whizz I know.

[countrykid]

Thanks again. The step by step guide is the kind of thing I had looked for on Computeractive's site but not found. I tried putting "install a DVD drive" into the search box, but that brought up loads of unrelated stuff. The article you gave the link to is just the job, and should prove really useful. I will let you know how it goes!

[countrykid]

Hi Guys - Looks like I wont be installing the DVD drive today! Just unpacked it and it has been supplied without any cables. Was I wrong to assume they all come with them? I have just checked my order, and the description given, and it makes no mention that they are or are not supplied. The drive is a Samsung SH-S222, which has been supplied in place of the ordered one - a Samsung SH-202. The one pictured on the web shows Samsung brand name, the one supplied is unbranded, and just has data label on the back showing the model number, but not the brand name. This does not bother me unduly, so long as it works. It was Supplied by AWD-IT via Amazon at £21.04 (inc £5 shipping). I live miles from any PC shops, but if I travel to find one, what cables do I need to ask for, and how much might they be? Sorry to be a pain. Had set aside this morning to do the job, so am disappointed but worse things happen at sea, so not the end of the world. Thanks

[ChuckFickens]

Use the existing cables that are plugged into the CD drive.

[ChuckFickens]

And I would not expect a DVD drive to come with cables.

[countrykid]

Job Done. Replaced old drive with DVD one. Just tried it out and burnt CD, all fine. Very grateful to you and Ratty for help this morning. I can now deliver the PC to friend, who I know will be dead chuffed to receive it.

[ChuckFickens]

Glad it's working.

You will be able to burn CD's just using windows, but windows can not burn DVD's without extra software and neither can it play back DVD movies with out extra bit's installed.

If they drive didn't come with any software for either then the following will let them do both

Burning DVDs
http://download.cnet....-2646_4-10776287.html

Playback DVD's (I'd suggest selecting codecs only with no media player during the install)
http://download.cnet....157171.html?tag=mncol

[countrykid]

sorry only just replying to your post last Sat Chuck.I has left for my friends when you posted about not being able to lay/burn DVDs, and I soon found this out when I plugged it all in to show him his "new" PC. Thanks for the two links. Is this something I can save to a pen drive, and then install on his PC, as he does not have an internet facility? Thanks again, your help has been really useful.