Help to fit a slave hard drive

[alanw]

If I buy a hard drive, say from a computer fair, how do I fit it to my computer? And how do I program it?

[ndarroch]

Best idea would probably get someone who knows what they are doing to do it and get then to talk it through with you - easiest to learn by demonstration.
I'm assuming that you do not currently have a slave drive on your computer.
Open your case. The primary IDE lead (grey ribbon) should be plugged into the back of your current hard drive. Somewhere else on this lead there should be a spare plug to connect your second hard drive (HDD) to.
Before you connect your second HDD ensure it is set to be a slave. This is done via a jumper at the back/front of the drive (next to where the cable plugs in) and there should be a diagram to indicate where to place the jumper.
Next you must ensure that the jumper for the master drive (original HDD) is set correctly. This should be set currently to master and you need to change it to master, slave present or something similar, again a diagram should indicate where to place the jumper.
Continued ...

[ndarroch]

Continuing.. Next you need to fit your second HDD it should be clear if there is space for it, slide the HDD in (with the pins facing out so you can connect the cables) support it and put a screw in at each corner. (Note you should probably check if there is room before you buy a second drive) They fit in the three and a half inch (smaller) bays but you can buy a conversion kit for the five and a quarter inch (larger bays) to fit in there. Now attach the IDE ribbon, this may well have a marker to guide you which way round to put it on, if not the red line side goes to pin one (this is the case on the older machines I've worked with). Now plug in power to theHDD - the white/grey opaque lead (to the four big silver pins) this should only fit one way but might need a bit of a push, however take care not to push too hard. NOTE I have assumed you have disconnected the computer from the mains before opening the case.

[ndarroch]

Continuing.. Now you can switch on your computer again and hopefully the primary slave (your new drive) will be detected. If not, (assuming it is installed correctly) then you'll probably have to change the bios settings to detect the new drive. I could give you a general overview but since bios are different for different machines, it may not be accurate. If you would like an overview then please post a followup. There is a possibility that, if you have a cd or dvd drive, then it is the primary slave. In this case the new drive would have to be installed as the secondary master or slave. This is the other IDE cable in the computer (not the floppy drive cable which is narrower). If there is not one present then you will have to buy one. However, they are relatively cheap. Obviously if installing it a secondary master the jumper will need to set to master. If you have any further questions, please post a followup. I apologise for the length of this response but it would not be possible to make it thorough had it been shorter. Given the apparent little experience in this area that you had I felt the more thorough, the better.