Building Your Own PC Part Six

I apologize to my readers for the delay. technical problems at home


Hard Drive Optical Drive and (Optional Card Reader)


Hard Drive

I suggested a Western Digital 500 Gig Hard Drive (HDD) to start. You can purchase any size you like. In the In Win case you will find two places to mount your HDD. One place is the in the lower 3.5 inch bay below where a (Not used any more) 3.5" floppy drive would have gone. (Optional Card reader goes in there. A better place is the bracket provided on the inside, just behind the power button. You will find tabs made to mount the HDD. On the lower side two tabs with points fit into the screw holes on the HDD. The upper tabs have holes for you mounting screws. With the front of the case facing you, the drive mounts with power and data connections facing the right. Connect the power cable to the drive. Your motherboard should have come with two SATA data cables. Open the plastic bag and remove them. Take one cable and attach it tie the drive. If the cable comes with a a 90 degree end, use this on the HDD. Next match the holes to the points on the lower mount. Tilt the drive into place and lock it down with two mounting screws.

Optical Drive

Your DVD or DVDRW (Or both) do not require any screws to mount. Remove the plastic bay cover from the computer. Pull out the plastic posts on the inside of the case. I usually mount the first drive in the top bay. Your choice. Next slide your optical drive into place and press the posts in to lock the drove in the bay. After your done this try sliding the drive to make sure it is locked into place. Next connect a SATA power connector to the drive. Take the SATA data cable and connect it to the drive.  Again if you have a 90 degree end connect this to the optical drive.

Locate the SATA connectors on the motherboard. They are located near front of the board. These are small red oblong sockets with 'L' shaped tabs in the center. These slots line up with the slot in your SATA data cables check your manual to locate slot 1 & 2. Connect the HDD to slot one and the Optical drive to slot 2.

Optional Card Reader

In place of the old floppy drive many people are opting for a digital card reader. These readers are capable of reading a number of Digital cards and are handy for transferring pictures from you digital camera or digital files of any kind. The card reader fit in a 3.5" bay (I use the top bay) and connects to the second USB connector on the motherboard. The reader takes its power from the USB, so no additional power connectors are required.


Optional Video Card

If you've decided to install an optional video card, now is the time. Unpack the card and remove it from the anti-static bag. At the back of the case press the release clamp and rotate the clamp up. Insert the card in the PCIE slot, making sure the rear tab locks. Insert a screw and tighten. lower the clamp.

With these things done we are ready to install the operating system.