how to upgrade your computers hard drive yourself

Okay, first things first... if your looking to replace or add-on a hdd or (hard disk drive) I'm guessing that your either have an older computer or just a lot of downloads. Either way you need more room to save your documents/downloads or you wouldn't be here. If your nervous don't be. Just kick back , pay attention and we'll be done in no time! Lets start from the beginning. We need to know what kind of hard drive you have(sata/pata).If you already know just bare with me for a sec.As for the rest of you, make sure your computer is off and all of the wires are unplugged. Once you've done this press and hold the power button for at least 3 seconds. This will release all of the remaining power on the board. Your computer case is now safe to open. Open the case and locate the hard drive. The easiest way to tell the difference between sata and pata is the data cable. Pata drives have a wide data cable on them about two inches wide. Sata drives have a much thinner cable about twice the size of a phone line. You don't need to pay any attention to the power cables. Okay you got it ? Lets move on.

It's not too hard too see the physical differences between the two, but the odd thing to me was the fact that the big pata/ide drive's cable transfers data many times slower than the smaller sata cable. this is not normally true, but in this case it is. Usually if you want to transfer data faster you would need a bigger wire. Think of it like the old dsl phone lines. They were slow and  couldn't keep up with the demand. Then comes the ethernet cable its bigger faster blah blah blah. I think you get the point by now , the whole purpose of that was just to explain pata = slow & sata = fast. 

This is the inside of one of my old computers that only uses pata drives. The picture on the right shows a pata drive still connected. Remove the power cable first by wiggling it slightly back and forth while pulling back with some force. Sometimes you have to pull harder than you might think but there are no secret or hidden clips on a pata drive. Once this is done repeat the steps on the wide ribbon cable. Remove any screws that hold the hard drive in place(most all computers are different , use a little common sense and don't expect your computer to look exactly like mine) and remove the drive if you're replacing it. If you're adding another drive there is almost always an open slot to do so. slide the drive in the slot making sure not to force it in. The data/ribbon/pata/ide whatever you want to call it and the power cables are made to be dummy proof. This means they only fit one way...the right way! push them back on making sure not to bend any of the pins and you dang right! We're done!!! put the cover to your case back on and lets format and get this thing rollin! As you might guess a sata drive connects the same way your data and power cable look a little different, but the process is still the same. Can you see the small chrome clip on the sata drive? Gently pinch it and it will release easily. The power cable on a sata has no clip and i have never seen one that does. Once you have your case back on take a sec and make sure all your connections feel true/good and everything is as it was. Turn on your computer and if your using xp/vista/7 your drive will be picked up by the system and the drivers if necessary will be downloaded and applied. Unless you change it your new drive will be given the d: drive slot. Well thats it i could babble on for hours but i'll save it for another tutorial. For now enjoy your extra space and comment on anything you need help with i would be more than happy to help. The next tutorial will be on increasing your ram in two ways(one is FREE). Remember your computer is only as smart as the operator, use common sense don't be scared to ask why and how and you'll save a ton of money in the long run.