How to connect a hard drive to a computer

Despite the fact that all components for laptops and personal computers have long been standardized, there is still the question of how to properly connect a hard disk. In fact, there is nothing complicated in this, the main thing is to follow the recommendations accurately.

First of all, remember that any operations with components and the computer itself must be done with the power turned off. Important: simply turning off the button-toggle switch on the extension cord is not enough, but it is necessary to remove the plug from the mains socket. It is enough that the electric currents flowing through the circuits of the motherboard make up several tens of amperes, despite the fact that their dangerous value is only 10 mA. In addition, since there is always a certain electric charge on the human body (all of it was seen when a synthetic sweater was removed), capable of damaging sensitive electronics, accidental contact with conductive lines and microcircuits on the board should be avoided.

To answer the question of how to connect a hard disk to a computer, so often sounding on computer forums, it is necessary to understand what distinguishes one hard drive from another. There are several differences: the volume, the manufacturer, the type of interface and some others. In this case, the interface type is of interest. Distribution has received three of them: obsolete IDE, modern SATA and alternative connection via USB bus.

If you look at the back of the hard drive, next to the power connector there is always another connector - this is the interface output. In the IDE, it is represented by two rows of metal pins. If the motherboard supports this interface, then it has the same two rows of pins. How to connect an IDE hard drive? To do this, connect the device and the connector on the motherboard with a special cable, without forgetting to connect the power. Loops come with 40 and 80 cores. Thin wiring is not necessary to count, because the difference can be seen "by eye": the 40 vein version of the wire is thicker and clearly smaller. Standards 40 and 80 are compatible, that is, the newest IDE hard drive can be connected with a 40-wire loop, but the speed decreases by two or three times. On such a device there is always a special jumper, which allows choosing the operating mode. The explanation is usually given on the information sticker. The loop allows two devices to be connected to the port simultaneously: the nearer to the computer is the slave, and the far one is the master. The operating system can only be downloaded from the Master. For automatic tuning, it is recommended to set the jumper on all devices to the Cable select position. Currently, IDE hard drives (and other equipment) are practically not manufactured, since there is no longer any support for this interface in the mass segment of motherboards.

The newer SATA interface has replaced the IDE. How to connect a SATA hard drive? Much easier than in the previous case, since the principle "one port - one device" is implemented here. Outwardly, the connector is a small plastic bar with several sliding contacts. The dimensions are significantly smaller than those of the IDE. The SATA cable is easily inserted into the connector on the device and the motherboard. In addition to the hard drive power is connected. If there is a speed limit jumper on the hard drive, then it should be set to S-ATA 3.0 Gbps mode and only for old cards - 1.5 Gbps. Sometimes a computer power supply does not have a SATA power cable. In this case it is allowed to use an adapter from the usual Molex-SATA connector. Sometimes the recommendations of various instructions that help you figure out how to connect a hard drive, overlook the quality of the trails. The main scourge of SATA is the weak fixation of the loop in the connector, which leads to loss of operability and even failure of the device. Therefore, you should buy special trains with metal snaps.

So, the answer to the question of how to connect a hard drive is: you should connect the device and the connector on the motherboard with the appropriate cable, and also connect the power.