SATA hard drives communicate with the PC through a thin SATA cable.
SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is the standard hard drive interface for most computers. Any new hard drive installed in a computer is likely to be an SATA drive. The SATA interface features small, flexible wires that are easily routed inside the computer case, fast transfer speeds and it eliminates the need for users to physically set jumpers on the hard drive. Install and format the hard drive before use.
Instructions
Access
1. Turn the computer off and unplug all cables.
2. Open the computer case.
3. Remove the drive bay cover, if installed, where the new drive will be located.
4. Ground yourself with an electrostatic discharge (ESD) wrist strap by clipping it to a bare metal surface inside the case.
SATA
5. Skip to the next section if you are not installing a new SATA controller. If you are installing a new SATA controller, continue to step 2.
6. Remove the cover plate from the PCI slot that the SATA controller will sit in.
7. Press the SATA controller card firmly into the PCI slot and screw in the back cover plate.
Hard Drive
8. Slide the new drive into the open drive bay that the drive bay cover was removed from.
9. Screw or clamp into the hard drive into the mounting bracket.
10. Connect the drive's SATA cable from the hard drive to the SATA controller.
11. Connect the ATA power cable to an available connector from the computer power supply.
12. Close the computer case and reconnect the cables.
13. Turn the computer on and enter BIOS by pressing F1, F2, F10, F12, or Delete key while your computer is stating to see if your drive is recognized. You may have to adjust BIOs to recognize the new drive.
14. Format the new drive for use on a Windows system by finding it in My Computer, right clicking on the drive and selecting Format. Format a Mac drive through "Disk Utility."
Tags: SATA controller, computer case, drive SATA, hard drive, cover plate