In recent years, the PC has evolved into a fully fledge multimedia
platform, capable of anything from music playback to supporting a full
home cinema set up. The vast majority of machines shipped in the last
few years are capable of playing back CD�s and DVD�s, though you may
not have recording capabilities. Adding a CD or DVD writer opens up a
variety of new doors, allowing you to burn music and movies to disc or
make comprehensive backups of valuable data.
With fully featured DVD burners available for as little as $50, and
their CD counterparts little more than $25, there is no reason not to
give yourself a cheap backup option. Alternatively, bare-basics DVD-ROM
drives retail for little more than $20, so if you�re currently confined
to playing CD�s or are struggling with an old and slow DVD drive, there
has never been a better time to upgrade.
You should also remember that DVD burners are capable of burning CD�s,
so for a little extra cash you can give yourself the added flexibility.
There are also several DVD formats, so you may wish to check what the
drive you are looking at can record to. Another feature to look out for
is BURN, or �Buffer Under-RuN??? protection, which is standard on almost
all drives available today.
To install your new drive, open your PC case by removing the screws
located at the back of your machine. If you are replacing or upgrading
a drive, you will need to remove the power and ribbon cable from the
back, unscrew the four screws holding the drive into the cage and slide
the drive out forwards. Alternatively, you will need to carefully
remove one of the large blanking plates at the front of your machine.
Look for clips holding the plastic plates in place, though you may need
to use a flat blade screwdriver to carefully prise it out.
Next, you will need to set the jumper on your new drive. If you are
replacing a drive, look to see whether the drive was set as master or
slave using the sticker on the old drive as a guide, and ensure that
your new drive is set as the same. If you are installing the drive
alongside a current drive, you will probably need to set it to slave,
though that will depend on the configuration of the other drive located
on the same IDE channel. Incorrect jumper settings will not damage the
drive or your machine, so if you are unsure, set the drive to slave to
begin with as you can always set it to master if required.
Now, slide the new drive into the vacant bay and secure it using the
small screws provided. Finally, connect the ribbon cable to the drive
along with a 4-pin molex power connector.
Boot your machine up and look to see whether or not the drive is
detected during POST. It can be worth leaving the case off should you
need to check any jumpers or cables. If the drive appears, you should
now be able to access it from Windows. If not, check the cable
connections and jumper before trying it again. You should now be in a
position to install any applications that came with your drive, such as
DVD playing or burning software.
In recent years, the PC has evolved into a fully fledge multimedia
platform, capable of anything from music playback to supporting a full
home cinema set up. The vast majority of machines shipped in the last
few years are capable of playing back CD�s and DVD�s, though you may
not have recording capabilities. Adding a CD or DVD writer opens up a
variety of new doors, allowing you to burn music and movies to disc or
make comprehensive backups of valuable data.
With fully featured DVD burners available for as little as $50, and
their CD counterparts little more than $25, there is no reason not to
give yourself a cheap backup option. Alternatively, bare-basics DVD-ROM
drives retail for little more than $20, so if you�re currently confined
to playing CD�s or are struggling with an old and slow DVD drive, there
has never been a better time to upgrade.
You should also remember that DVD burners are capable of burning CD�s,
so for a little extra cash you can give yourself the added flexibility.
There are also several DVD formats, so you may wish to check what the
drive you are looking at can record to. Another feature to look out for
is BURN, or �Buffer Under-RuN??? protection, which is standard on almost
all drives available today.
To install your new drive, open your PC case by removing the screws
located at the back of your machine. If you are replacing or upgrading
a drive, you will need to remove the power and ribbon cable from the
back, unscrew the four screws holding the drive into the cage and slide
the drive out forwards. Alternatively, you will need to carefully
remove one of the large blanking plates at the front of your machine.
Look for clips holding the plastic plates in place, though you may need
to use a flat blade screwdriver to carefully prise it out.
Next, you will need to set the jumper on your new drive. If you are
replacing a drive, look to see whether the drive was set as master or
slave using the sticker on the old drive as a guide, and ensure that
your new drive is set as the same. If you are installing the drive
alongside a current drive, you will probably need to set it to slave,
though that will depend on the configuration of the other drive located
on the same IDE channel. Incorrect jumper settings will not damage the
drive or your machine, so if you are unsure, set the drive to slave to
begin with as you can always set it to master if required.
Now, slide the new drive into the vacant bay and secure it using the
small screws provided. Finally, connect the ribbon cable to the drive
along with a 4-pin molex power connector.
Boot your machine up and look to see whether or not the drive is
detected during POST. It can be worth leaving the case off should you
need to check any jumpers or cables. If the drive appears, you should
now be able to access it from Windows. If not, check the cable
connections and jumper before trying it again. You should now be in a
position to install any applications that came with your drive, such as
DVD playing or burning software.