How to install a Hard Drive on Dell Desktop (Official Dell Tech Support)
Watch how to install a Hard Drive on a Dell Desktop and learn to do it yourself. Take the necessary steps to avoid ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) damage and read about important details for your specific product model. For more information please visit http://dell.com/support
For support questions email us at [email protected]
Hi, welcome to Dell Tech Support. Installing an additional hard drive sounds complicated but it’s not. Of course, not every system has this option, but if you do, watch how you can install and configure a new hard drive. To check if your computer has an expansion option, visit our Website, dell.com./support, enter your service tag and click on Manuals. For this demonstration, we will use the XPS 8300 model.
Before you begin, you need to access the equipment/product manual https://youtu.be/zduWW3QK6po and learn about Electrostatic Discharge protection https://youtu.be/bxugZ4cyf3Q. Click here to watch these videos for help. You will also need a Phillips head screwdriver and a grounding wrist strap or mat if you have one. First, open the side cover with the Phillips screwdriver. Now, locate the hard drives. If your computer has the expansion option, it will have a space to fit a new hard drive. Using the SATA cable, which is blue, and the power cable, which is many colored wires, disconnect it from your computer. Insert the new hard drive into the correct slot and secure it with the screws and close the case. To make sure the new HD has been properly installed, you need to check the BIOS. Turn on the computer and press the F2 key on the keyboard. Inside BIOS, go to GENERAL, then SYSTEM INFORMATION SYSTEM and finally DEVICE INFORMATION and confirm that there are two hard drives being recognized. If everything is okay, exit BIOS and go to Windows. If it is not being recognized, turn off the computer and check the cable connections. Within Windows, it should be automatically recognized as a new disk. But if it is not, then do the following. Right Click on the main menu icon and click on DISK MANAGEMENT. It will probably appear as ALLOCATED.
Now to format it and give it a Letter I.D. so Windows will recognize it. Right Click on it and select NEW SIMPLE VOLUME. In the next window, just continue. Select the disk size. The value shown is the actual size of the disk and does not need to be modified. And continue. Assign a letter for the drive which will appear in Windows and continue. Now select FORMAT THIS VOLUME and set as the following. FILE SYSTEM: NTFS, SIZE OF ALLOCATION UNIT: DEFAULT, VOLUME LABEL: the letter name you gave the hard drive, the one that appears in Windows. Check the PERFORM QUICK FORMAT. Click FINISH and you are done. Your new hard drive is installed, configured and ready to use. If you want to configure your new hard drive differently, watch our videos about RAID concepts and levels to understand the benefits of building RAID on two or more drives.
Introduction to RAID
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaUYXDXwoNo
Understanding RAID
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NH_i_puXgE .
If you have any questions or need help, contact us through our social media support on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for watching and if you have any tips to share please leave a comment. See you next time.
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