How to Install a CD or DVD drive

[Dodger]

Hi,, i bought a second hand computer from one of my friend. Pc is ok but the it is having CD drive and i want to replace it with DVD drive.

The problem i am having is i don't know how to install a CD or DVD drive.

Could anyone of you give me short tutorial fro the same ?

[Shikhar]

To install a CD-ROM drive isn't much different than installing a hard drive. The install process I've outlined below will work for a CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, you get the idea. It will work for pretty much an optical disk ready you have to install.Here is short tutorial on how to install or replace CD/DVD drive:-

1. Every CD or DVD install, starts with unplugging the power cord. Most drives are held on by two screws that mount the drive on rails. The screws prevent the drive from vibrating like crazy when your pc is on.

2. Unscrew your CD ROM or DVD drive and gently remove it from the bay. As you pull it out of its compartment you will notice two cables attached to the back of the CD or DVD drive.

3. The first cable is basically the data cable also known as the Parallel IDE cable. Unplug that and make sure you keep not of how the cable is attached.

4. The second cable is the power cable; it will always be smaller than IDE cable and a pain in the butt to remove. Gentle grab the base of the connection and wiggle it to the left and right till you can get it loose enough to pull it out.

The good thing is that the power led goes in only one direction so you can’t really accidentally plug it in the wrong way.

5. Once that is done, plug in the power cord and IDE cable. Before you put it back in the computer bay open up your windows, “my computer” and see if the drive was recognized. Generally these devices are plug and play so you don’t have to install any additional software to get them going, however occasionally some of the CD or DVD drives will come with additional software to install.

If your pc can recognize the drive don’t install the software drivers unless there is some additional software on the cd you want to install. Thats it !!!

[Twitter]

Follow this steps to install DVD drive:-

1. Unplug the power cable from your power supply and open up your computer case. Don't forget to wear your antistatic wrist band.
   
   
2. Determine which drive bay you are going to install a CD-ROM into. You should pick on of the uppermost drive bays.
   
   
3. Before you install a CD-ROM, make sure you have the proper jumper settings. Since we are only installing a single CD-ROM, set the jumpers as MASTER. The jumper settings are different for each CD-ROM drive, so consult your owner's manual so you know which pins to cover up.
   
   
4. Once you have the jumpers set, install your CD-ROM in the computer's case. How you secure the CD-ROM in one of the uppermost drive bays depends on your case. Some CD-ROM drives have to be screwed into the drive bay, like how you install a floppy drive, while other cases come with brackets (like mine) to attach to the CD-ROM drive so that it slides into the drive bay and locks in place.
   
   
5. Connect the power to the back of the CD-ROM drive, then connect the ribbon cable to the back of the CD-ROM drive. Your ribbon cable has three connectors, one in the middle and one on each end. The middle connector is a "SLAVE" connector that is used if you would install an additional CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
   Connect one of the end connectors to the CD-ROM drive, and connect the other end connector to the appropriate spot on your motherboard. Note, hard drives and CD-ROM drives have the same style of connector on the motherboard. You want to connect your CD-ROM drive to the motherboard slot that isn't red or is the highest numbered of all the IDE slots.
   
   
6. Power on your computer after you plug it in. Your computer should recognize the new CD-ROM. If it doesn't, go into your motherboards BIOS and search around for the IDE channels, they need to be set to AUTO.

[Twitter]

The computer system should automatically detect and begin using the new drive. Since CD and DVD drives are very standardized, it should not be necessary to install any specific drivers. Be sure to consult the instruction manual that came with the drive for any specific instructions for your operating system.