- 1). Shut down your computer. Remove the power cable from the power supply and then open the computer case by removing the case cover. Remove the screws from the rear of the case, securing the cover in place and then slide the cover from the case front about an inch. Lift the cover free to access the interior of the case.
- 2). Install the SATA hard drive into an open drive bay in your PC case, connecting the data cable to an open SATA port on your motherboard or SATA controller card, and running a SATA power cable from the power supply to the drive. If your computer only has the 4-pin Molex power connectors used with the older IDE drives, you'll need to purchase a power cable adapter, which could be obtained from a computer store that sells parts and peripherals. Attach the 4-pin end of the adapter cable to the 4-pin power cord and the SATA end of the cable into the power port of your hard drive.
- 3). Replace the cover to your computer, securing it to the case with the screws at the rear. Plug the power cord back into the power supply.
- 4). Turn on the computer and wait for the system to boot into Windows. Log on to an administrator account. Windows Vista and Windows 7 will recognize the SATA drive and install the hardware driver automatically. Earlier versions of Windows XP without the SP1 or SP2 updates may need the installation of a driver to recognize the drive. If the drive doesn't cause the update manager of your Windows to start, then go to the hard drive manufacturer's website and download the driver from the support section. Install the driver by double-clicking on the driver installation file.
- 5). Navigate to the "Start" menu. Select the "Control Panel." The Control Panel is displayed. Type the words "administrative tools" into the Search" box at the top of the Control Panel and then press "Enter." The Administrative Tools window is displayed.
- 6). Double-click "Computer Management." The Computer Management window is displayed. Scroll-down the list of tools on the left of the screen and locate the Storage section. Click "Disk Management" under this section to start the "Initialize and Convert Disk" application. Click "Next" to display all of the available drives in your system. The installed SATA drive should be on the list showing the total drive space.
- 7). Check the box next to the SATA drive and then press the "Next" button to initialize the drive for use with your system. Click "Finish" to confirm your selection to begin the initialization process. Initialization sets the drive as recognizable by the system so that you can create a new drive partition for holding data. After initialization, the drive list shows the drive's total size as well as the unallocated space for the drive, which at this point equals the total size.
- 8). Allocate space on the drive for use as storage by right-clicking on the unallocated space portion of the drive display and selecting "New Partition." Type in the amount of space you wish your new drive to make available for use, up to the total size of the drive. Any unallocated space can be later used as a separate drive partition, allowing access to that area of the drive under a different drive letter in your computer's file access system.
- 9). Click the "Format" button to format the selected unallocated space into a usable drive for your system. Wait a few minutes for the drive to format the space. Wait times will vary according to system speeds and drive size.
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Close the window after the format finishes. The drive is now available for use.
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