Configuring Drives

Before installing your hard drive(s) and CD or DVD drive(s) you will need to properly configure them. This generally consists of setting the jumpers appropriately; it's much easier to do this before physically installing them in the case.

Configure Hard Drives

You can connect one or two hard drives to the primary IDE connection on your motherboard. To determine which connection is the primary connection you will need to refer to the manual that came with your motherboard which should give a picture of your motherboard showing where each connection is located. We will go into more detail concerning the actual installation in the next article 'Installing Drives'. For now, if you have two hard drives you must decide which one you want to be the 'master' and which one will be the 'slave'. The master drive will contain your operating system and should probably be the larger and faster of the two hard drives. Once you have decided which drive is the master and which is the slave (if you only have one hard drive, it will be the master), you need to set the jumper pins on each hard drive to correspond to this. The jumper pins are located on the back of each hard drive next to the power and IDE connections; usually the jumper pins consist of four pairs of pins. Somewhere on the drive itself there should be a label showing the various jumper settings; if there is not, you will find it in the manual that came with your hard drive. Look carefully at the diagram, then look at the jumper to determine what is the current setting. If it is not set correctly, use something with a fine point such as a pen to remove the jumper from the pins; it should come out quite easily. Replace the jumper in the position indicated by the jumper diagram to set it as either master or slave.

Configure CD and DVD drives

Your CD and DVD drives should connect to the secondary IDE connection on the motherboard. As with the hard drives, if you have more than one CD or DVD drive you must set one as master and the other as slave. It's a good idea to refer to the manuals at this point for any special instructions. Proceed as with the hard drives, setting the jumpers to the appropriate positions. CD and DVD drives usually show jumper information on the back of the drive above the connectors rather than on a label on the top of the drive.

That's all there is to configuring your CD, DVD and hard drives, now you're ready to install them!