Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
If you fi re up a new hard disk drive and it doesn't appear to be accessible, don't panic.
That's normal. A new hard disk will need to be partitioned and formatted before you use it
(unless it happens to be partitioned and formatted already). See Chapter 2, which explained
the partitioning and formatting procedures. You can use the Disk Management utility,
which is part of the Computer Management utility in Windows, to partition and format a
drive.
If you're given a choice of filesystems with which to format a drive in
Windows, choose NTFS. That's the most efficient and effective filesystem.
Choose FAT32 only if you require backward-compatibility with a very old
version of Windows (Windows 98/Millennium Edition, for example).
If Disk Management doesn't see the drive either, you may need to go into BIOS Setup
and change a setting or two in order for the drive to be recognized. Some BIOS Setup
programs enable certain PATA or SATA controllers to be turned off to save system
resources, and if this drive is using a motherboard connector that has not been previously
used, it may need to be turned on.
EXERCISE 7.5
Remove and Install a Disk Drive
1.
Unplug a desktop PC, and open the case.
2.
Remove one of the disk drives from the system. If it's a PATA drive, examine its jumper
settings. Don't change them.
3.
Reinstall the drive.
4.
Restart the computer, and confi rm that everything still works.
Installing a Circuit Board
Some upgrades for desktop PCs come in the form of circuit boards that fi t into slots in the
motherboard. Such upgrades can include display adapters, network adapters, modems,
sound cards, and so on.
Before you bought the circuit board, presumably you checked to make sure you had the
right slot available on the motherboard, so the actual process of installing the circuit board
should be fairly simple.
First, open the case and identify how the circuit boards are held in place. On some
systems, a clamp or bar holds them all down, as shown in Figure 7.14. On others, each
board is held in place by its own screw that attaches to the metal back plate of the case.
Next, if you're replacing an old board, remove it. Release the clip or screw that holds it
in place, and then pull it straight up out of the slot, holding the card by its edges.
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