i heard a discussion of installing a new cd/dvd drive on the handyman show. i am not always up to date with the list discussions so please forgive me if this has already been posted. i have been a computer hardware tech for over 20 years and below is some hints on drive installations.
before removing the old hardware, uninstall any software associated with the old drive, then shut down the computer and disconnect all wires from the back and take the computer where you have room to work on it. remove the computer case cover or both side panels. the old drive is held in place with 4 screws on either side. access from the open side is easy but the other side may only have holes in the base plate for a screwdriver. remove the screws. depending on the tightness of the case you may be able to disconnect the wires from the back of the drive or you may have to pull the drive out the front of the case to access the wires. the power wire is usually 4 wires which goes to a plug. wiggle it out of the back of the drive. it is usually pretty tight. don't pull in the wires to get it out. next is the wide ribbon cable wiggle it straight back. next may be the audio cable a single or twisted thin wire, again pull it straight out. observe the orientation of the wires then slide the drive out of the case. on the back of the drive, usually between the ribbon cable and the audio cable inputs is 2 parallel rows of pins forming 4, 5 or 6 columns. each column is labeled and a small cap covers one column. it is also possible that there is no cap or that the cap is horizontal. this jumper cap is used to select either master, slave or cable select (cs). a chart with the definitions of the pins is printed on the drive or the columns are labeled in very tiny print. if anyone wishes to discuss what these settings mean in terms of i.d.e primary and secondary channels, i will be glad to explain off list. determine how the old drive is set. take your new drive and locate the pins and determine the position of the jumper cap and move the cap to be the same as the old drive. the cap has tiny fingernail tabs and pulls straight out. it is very small but manageable. if the old drive was capped to master, make sure the new drive jumper cap is set to master (this is the usual factory default). take note of where the side screw holes are on the drive. there are usually more than one possible configuration of holes which you can use, depending on the computer case. slide the drive into the case from the front and re-connect the cables. the power cord can only go in one way. the ribbon cable on newer computers is keyed and can only go in one way. older cables can be accidentally put on upside down so be careful to maintain the original orientation. if you are lucky the audio cable from the old drive will fit the new drive but this is not always the case. if it does not fit take the cable from the new box and attach it to the back of the drive. trace the old wire to where is goes into the sound card and plug the new wire in the same socket. if in fact this end of the cable is also compatible. align the screw holes in the case with the ones in the drive. i usually use a thick toothpick thru the case hole to find the hole in the drive and while the toothpick holds the position, put in the first screw. once the first screw is in the rest are easy. reconnect the computers back wires and turn on the computer. if the computer beeps once that's good. if the computer does not beep or beeps several times, immediately turn it off and remove the computers power cord and recheck the new cd drive connections. also check that you did not disrupt any other wires. also the memory chips are usually located near the drives so be careful when working not to knock them. do not try to work on the computer in place, take the time to move it to somewhere where you have space. windows is very good at determining drives and setting them correctly and usually no additional software is needed. if you see the drive in the 'my computer' list and an audio cd plays when inserted then you are good to then shut down and replace the case cover. you then may wish to install the software applications which came with the drive. there are settings on the computers main board cmos which can maximize the drives performance but again i can discuss that off list. 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