How do i connect my external seagate hard drive to my pc???

Question

i need to know what cables i need. on the hdd i see something with 39 pins, then one with eight and a black thing in covering the second to left pins, and then four bigger pins. i dont know what cables i need to connect this to my computer

Answer 1

Its NOT an external drive if thats all you have !

--------------------------------------...

it goes inside a PC ( NOT a laptop )

The cables you need are proberly already inside your PC

you need to make it a

master or

slave or

cable select

with the jumper

The first disk in a machine is normally the master (this is the original one that the PC boots up from) the second disk is its slave.

each ribbon cable can have one master & one slave

Normal setup could be cable1 has1st HD master 2HD slave

cable2 has a master DVD-rw & a slave CD-rw

the power cable will come from the power supply (it will only fit in on way)

the main ribbon cable also only fits in on way, but you can damage it if you force it on incorrectly

The PC's BIOS may update its self automaticly with these changes or you may need to go in to the BIOS and do the changes.

--------------------------------------...

But first you need to turn it off/unplug the power lead and understand that some electronic parts can easily be damaged / destroyed by the Static electric discharge from you when you touch them. To prevent this, if you first touch any metal part of the PC. ie the metal frame/case this will earth you to the machine so there will be no static electric discharge between you and any parts you touch. We all build up a static charge as we move about but normally never notice it.  

So STOP walking around with your hard disk unless it is in a protective anti static bag. Don't get it out of the bag untill you are ready to install it into the PC. When you get the disk out hold the frame of the machine so the disk you & the PC are all earthed together, Now there can be no static discharge between the disk and PC when they are joined together.

--------------------------------------...

or get someone else to do it :o)

or if its should have been an external disk then take it back and ask for your money back

Answer 2

Agree with what both the gents above say.

What you have is an internal IDE HDD, Gent #2 is right..

You need to case it like Gent#1 said.

I'll say plug it inside the cabinet where it belongs. It was not build to handle the shocks that come with being an external drive..

Answer 3

If you bought the HDD as an external one, you should have everything you need. If you didn't, I recommend a case to protect it, and you will need an IDE to USB adapter.

Look online for one. If you can't find them, I sell the adapters off my web site as well as external cases (may not be listed). http://www.rivercitycustomcomputers.com.