Installing an EXTERNAL Hard Drive
It's always a good idea to have extra storage for things like documents, pictures, resumes, music and movies. It's also a GREAT idea to have copies of these things somewhere else besides on your computer's hard drive, so if and when the drive or your computer dies, you still have these important items.
The importance of backups is for another article, but for now, I want to tell you how to install an external hard drive.
NOTE: This procedure is essentially the same for any external storage device, like USB flash drives.
This is a procedure that couldn't be easier.
An external hard drive is one that is contained in a stand-alone case that you connect to your computer by USB, FireWire, or ESata connectors. For this article, we'll install a USB drive, since that's the most common type.
Follow the manufacturer's directions for connecting the drive to your computer. Essentially, you'll just need to plug the power cord into the wall, then connect the USB cable between the USB port on the drive, and the port on your computer. Turn on the power switch, if the drive has one. Otherwise, the drive will just power up when it is connected. Note that you do NOT have to turn off the computer to plug in a USB connector.
If you have your speaker volume turned up, you should hear a tone when Windows recognizes that a USB device is plugged in. Look toward the lower right-hand corner of your screen at the System Tray, where the date and time are displayed. You should see a series of messages about Windows finding new hardware.
There will be several different messages about different types of hardware. You do not need to do anything; let Windows install the drive.
When the install is complete, Windows will display a dialog informing you that the hardware is ready to use.
When you have that message displayed, you can go to My Computer, and you should find the drive displayed with a new drive letter.
If the drive is new, it probably will need to be formatted. To do this, just right-click the drive in My Computer, as shown above, and select Format. Once the format is complete, the drive will be ready to use.
Once you install a specific drive, it's installed . If you unplug it, and later plug it in again, Windows will recognize it and make it available for use without having to reinstall it.