If you have a new PC, then the chances are it already has a DVD drive installed as
standard. However, older machines will just have a plain old CD drive, and if you
want to watch DVD movies on your PC, or play games that come in the DVD format, then
you'll need a DVD drive. This tutorial will show you how to install one.
Part 1: installing the hardware
A DVD drive looks just like a CD drive, and all the ports on the back are exactly the
same too. When you take everything out of the box, you should get the drive unit, the
software, an IDE cable (though you can use the one that is already with your CD drive)
and a sound cable to connect your drive to your PC card.
The first thing you need to do is unplug your PC from the mains and remove all the
cables from the back of it. You also must earth yourself, and to do this you need to
touch something metal like a tap, or a radiator. This discharges any static electricity
from your body, because that's what can cause damage to the components inside of your
PC. Open up your PC by taking out the screws on the back that hold the case together.
If you have a tower then the side will slide off, and if you have a desktop unit then
the top will come off. You need to decide where you want your drive to go on the front
of your PC and remove the plastic drive bay covers. We will assume we are installing
the drive into a tower.
We aren't going to remove the CD-ROM drive, but are going to have both drives running
inside our PC. If you want to, you can remove your CD drive completely.
Look for a flat grey cable (the IDE cable), because it will come from the motherboard
and into the back of your CD-ROM drive.
You will notice that part way up the IDE cable, there is another cable leading off it.
This is where the 'slave' unit plugs in to, whereas the end of the IDE cable is where
the 'master' unit plugs into, and where you CD drive should already be plugged into.
We want the DVD drive to be the master, and the CD drive to be the slave. Slide the
DVD drive into the slot where you want it to go.
On the back of your new DVD drive there will be a jumper setting, and there will be
the same on the CD drive. We need to pull the jumper off the 'master' setting on the
back of the CD drive inside your PC, and put it on to the 'slave' setting. The DVD
drive should already be set to be the master. This will make more sense when you look
at the back of your drive unit, because it should be clearly labelled. There
are 3 settings, but you only need to worry about the slave and master.
Also on the back of the DVD drive you will see a long rectangular port for
the IDE cable. Gently pull the IDE cable from the back of the CD drive and slide it
into your DVD drive.
In every PC there is a spare power lead, and that needs to go into the back of your
DVD drive. It should have 4 holes and a curved top, which will fit into the power
port on your drive.
Now locate your sound card. You will se a couple of expansion slots on your card, and
you need to plug your sound cable into one of them, and then plug the other end into
the DVD drive. Now locate the slave part of the IDE cable and plug it into the CD drive.
Toppers' tip: unplug the power before you start
Part 2: installing the software
Now you've installed your drive, you need to put the screws into your DVD drive to
hold it in place. You also need to put the side back on to your PC and put the screws
back into the case. Then you need to reconnect all the various cables into the back
of your PC, such as the power cable, the monitor cable and any peripherals, such as a
printer and a scanner.
Switch on your PC and Windows will automatically detect that you have installed some
new hardware, and it will try and locate the drivers for it. This is where you might
need the CD that came with your unit. If you double-click on 'My Computer' you should
see that there is now an extra drive in there. If you have both a CD drive and a DVD
drive, the DVD drive will have taken the letter that was assigned to your CD drive.
For example, if your CD drive used to be the D drive, it will now be the E drive.
Now we need to install the software that comes with your DVD unit. Put your
installation CD into your CD drive and the installation software should start
automatically. You will also need the serial number that came with your drive.
Follow the on screen instructions and the software will be installed. You may need
to restart your computer.
Once the software is loaded you can put a DVD into your PC and the software you just
installed will bring up the player. Just like a DVD player you will be able to access
the extra features, and also any DVD-ROM features that only computer users can access.
