Removing/Replacing the HDD in a PC

Removing the Hard Drive in a PC is relatively easy. Whether this is for cleaning purposes or installing a new Hard Drive.

1. Firstly the cover on the PC needs to be removed. Removal of the cover is different on all PC's but is usually removed by removing screws at the back, the cover then slides off.

The inside of the PC with the cover removed will look like this. The hard drive is at the bottom of the metal rack on the right hand side.

 2. The Hard Drive is connected to the Motherboard using SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) connectors. These cabled should be removed, take care not to yank them them out.

This picture shows how the HDD is connected to the Motherboard. The left cable is the data cable and the one on the right is to power the HDD.

 3. Once the cables have been removed from the HDD the screws on the side need to be removed. This will then enable the HDD to be removed from the case.

The lower 2 screws are for the HDD. There are another 2 on the other side which also need to be removed.

With the HDD removed the case will now look like this.

4. The removed Hard Drive will look like this. If it has been removed to clean then compressed air should be used to blow dust out. Avoid using a vacuum cleaner as this could dislodge small parts.

5. If a new Hard Drive is to be inserted then the existing one should be disposed of carefully, remember all your files and folder are still on it and so could be some personal information.

Methods Of Communication

On paper I created a list of technological and none technological communication methods. This was easy because it only involved using pen and paper. Nothing could go wrong technologically speaking which would ruin the work.

We then worked in groups on creating the same list. This method was good because we could have one person writing down the ideas and then the others could come up with different ideas. This method involved difficulty of getting everyone's ideas on paper at the same time. Also, if the system is to go down then all work would be lost.

Finally we used Google docs. This allowed people in our group to collaboratively edit the document and all changes were instant across all members.