PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Step 7: Install Other Drives

How you mount hard disk drives, tape drives, and optical drives varies from case to case, and may depend on the drive itself and whether or not the drive is to be mounted in an externally accessible bay. Some cases use multiple mounting methods, as follows:

Direct attachment

With typical mini- and mid-tower cases, slide the drive into the bay and secure it with screws to the bay itself. Depending on the particular case and drive, you may need to slide the drive into place from the front or from the back. Use the screws provided with the drive to secure the drive. If no screws were provided with the drive, make sure that the screws you use not only have the proper thread, but are the proper length. A too-long screw can project inside the drive enclosure and damage a circuit board or other component. Four screws—front and back on each side—are adequate, although there may be room to install as many as eight. Although it is not recommended practice, we have sometimes secured a drive with only two screws on the same side when the case design made it difficult to drive screws into the other side. We have never had any problems result from doing this, but if you do it, do so at your own risk.

Figure 28-27 shows a typical mini-tower arrangement. The drive in the top bay of this Antec KS288 case has all four screw holes aligned with the corresponding chassis holes, which automatically aligns the drive front-to-back to be flush with the front bezel. Cases built ...