My misssus bought me a dvd rewrider for xmas.

How difficult are these to fit ?

I've only a basic knowledge of pc's......but would'nt mind having a bash at it !

the dvd writer was supplied with nothing but an instruction leaflet,that a space shuttle repair man would struggle to understand !

Would any cables already be inside my pc ?


thank's for any help,it would be really appreciated !

It depends what is already inside your machine. If you are just replacing a CD rom drive with it then you just make sure it is set up the same. There are three places for the supplied jumper to go. (Master/Slave/CableSelect) If you get this wrong, then the drive won't come up. Won't cause any damage, just try another option.

If you have only one interface cable in your machine, and it is plugged into 2 devices already (e.g. Disk Drive & CDwriter). Then you need to go to a local PC supplies shop and get another cable. They are called IDE cables. (Integrated Drive Electronics) Which is the old name for the pc's standard disk interface. Sometimes they are listed as ATA (AT Attachment) Cables. These cables are usually £2 - £5. There is no point spending more money on a more expensive cable, as the drive only works relatively slowly anyway.

If one of the cables has a plug spare, then use this one to plug into your new drive. If it doesnt reach, then you can unplug it from the other drive, and try fitting the drives the other way around. If still won't reach then get a longer cable from local PC shop.

The drive is a piece of **** to install on your PC mate.
Just make sure its set to MASTER before connecting it inside.

Takes about 10mins tops!

Originally posted by ANGELUS
The drive is a piece of **** to install on your PC mate.
Just make sure its set to MASTER before connecting it inside.

Takes about 10mins tops!

Great advice, until he connects it to the same ribbon cable as his existing drive, on the middle connector, in which case it wont work. Set it to Cable Select (usually marked on the jumpers as CS) and itll work no matter which connector on the IDE coble you plug it in to.

Originally posted by deanprez
My misssus bought me a dvd rewrider for xmas.

How difficult are these to fit ?

I've only a basic knowledge of pc's......but would'nt mind having a bash at it !
If you know what you're doing they are very simple to do but unfortunately the potential to do damage to the PC whilst you have the box open can be quite high (pets, children, well meaning relatives! ;)) so when in doubt you'd be advised to get someone in the know to sort it.

If you want to drop me a line I can sort it out for you... Take about 5 minutes to pop it in, test it and run it up so if you're still in need drop me a line and I can sort it... Free of charge... charging would be embarrassing to be honest :D

the potential for learning is greater than the potential for damage.
Just don't do it where the pets kids or relatives can come and poke a nose or a sticky finger in.

Its a very nice offer Martin is offering if you don't feel confident about it then I would let him do it. Atleast you will know it's done right.:thumbsup:

Originally posted by Cyclone
the potential for learning is greater than the potential for damage.
Just don't do it where the pets kids or relatives can come and poke a nose or a sticky finger in.
To be honest I disagree... if you're talking about an old machine that you're not too fussed about then yeah go for it..

But one that's "in use" and important to any degree is not something to consider as a "oh what the heck"... It's not a tough job to do and given that it's a 5 minute job I can provide a quick lesson in computer internals.

As we've all said, it's easy enough but when you've got the potential to screw up £400+ worth of computer and someone offers to show you how not to cost yourself a small fortune, it's generally smarter to take the offer AND learn at the same time.

Anyway the offer is still there...

Thank's for all the replie's.what a smashing bunch !

Cheers Martin..i will pm you shortly....thanx !

Originally posted by deanprez
Thank's for all the replie's.what a smashing bunch !

Cheers Martin..i will pm you shortly....thanx !
No problem at all...

i suppose since you're offering to do it for free.

but it really is simple, and the chance for damage is much lower than you seem to be suggesting.

Most people would never learn anything about a pc if they didn't just 'have a go' at some point.

Originally posted by Martin_s
To be honest I disagree... if you're talking about an old machine that you're not too fussed about then yeah go for it..

But one that's "in use" and important to any degree is not something to consider as a "oh what the heck"... It's not a tough job to do and given that it's a 5 minute job I can provide a quick lesson in computer internals.

As we've all said, it's easy enough but when you've got the potential to screw up £400+ worth of computer and someone offers to show you how not to cost yourself a small fortune, it's generally smarter to take the offer AND learn at the same time.

Anyway the offer is still there...

Originally posted by slh73
Great advice, until he connects it to the same ribbon cable as his existing drive, on the middle connector, in which case it wont work. Set it to Cable Select (usually marked on the jumpers as CS) and itll work no matter which connector on the IDE coble you plug it in to.


My PC is set up as follows:

2 Ide cables...

1st one has 2 hard drives attached Master/Slave

2nd one has 1X DVD-RW (Pioneer 108 set as Master)
+ Liteon CDRW (Slave) --- and this configuration works 100%

No faffing about with cable selects....

You basically cant go wrong connecting drives up like that... BUT I would use the DVD-RW as a MASTER everytime.. and I havent burned 1 coaster as of yet.

Discuss.

but it's not being connected to your pc.
And telling a novice to make sure it's set to Master as the only point of advice is only going to work 50% of the time, if that. Not the best bit of advice I ever heard.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
My PC is set up as follows:

2 Ide cables...

1st one has 2 hard drives attached Master/Slave

2nd one has 1X DVD-RW (Pioneer 108 set as Master)
+ Liteon CDRW (Slave) --- and this configuration works 100%

No faffing about with cable selects....

You basically cant go wrong connecting drives up like that... BUT I would use the DVD-RW as a MASTER everytime.. and I havent burned 1 coaster as of yet.

Discuss.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
My PC is set up as follows:

2 Ide cables...

1st one has 2 hard drives attached Master/Slave

2nd one has 1X DVD-RW (Pioneer 108 set as Master)
+ Liteon CDRW (Slave) --- and this configuration works 100%

No faffing about with cable selects....

You basically cant go wrong connecting drives up like that... BUT I would use the DVD-RW as a MASTER everytime.. and I havent burned 1 coaster as of yet.

Discuss.

But its not your PC its being fitted in. The OP may only have one IDE cable in his machine to start with (some pre built PCs Ive seen have had the hard drive and CDRom on the same channel, and nothing in the second) in which case, setting it to master wouldnt do it any good.

Not being negative or owt but..

If you got to any 'decent' DVD recorder forum they will tell you to setup your DVD-RW inside your PC as a master.. pure and simple.
Check out the forums at www.afterdawn.com for more advice.

But yep you are right.. it all depends on the number of IDE cables inside the machine.

But I still stand by the fact for the past 5 years for doing cd's and dvd's - I havent burnt one simple coaster.. FACT.
Thats with my method.

Over to you guys.

Happy New Year by the way to ya'll!!!

Hopefully they explain what that means and how to do it. Otherwise they're not offering advice that's useful to a novice.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
Not being negative or owt but..

If you got to any 'decent' DVD recorder forum they will tell you to setup your DVD-RW inside your PC as a master.. pure and simple.
Check out the forums at www.afterdawn.com for more advice.

But yep you are right.. it all depends on the number of IDE cables inside the machine.

But I still stand by the fact for the past 5 years for doing cd's and dvd's - I havent burnt one simple coaster.. FACT.
Thats with my method.

Over to you guys.

Happy New Year by the way to ya'll!!!

A writer (CD or DVD) should be fitted as master or even on it's own channel if possible but seeing as though the guy asking is a novice he'll need an explanation on how to work out how his machine is currently set up and where to go from there. Ok it's not rocket science but if he's never been in a machine before he won't have a clue what you're on about...

It's always a wise idea to learn a bit about static and how it can damage the internals of a PC before you go digging too.

Your right mate-- thankyou.
So thats now two of us saying the writer needs to be set as master - pat on the back for you!!

If the guy needs anyhelp putting his PC together.. I'd be glad to offer my services.

Just PM me and I'll tell you how to if you need the help.

Actually if your going to be REALLY arsey about it and talk to anyone that copies DVD's and/or CD's regular they'll tell you the best option is to have an IDE card with 1 HD and your DVD-RW :P that way its entirely seperate to your system... but thats a bit more complex than your bog standard using it for the odd burn and back-up ;)

In my oppinion best bet is to have the DVD-RW and/or DVD-ROM or cd-rw on one IDE cable onto slot 2 on your mobo, and then your HD onto the first slot...

with the two drives you can get away with cable select, master and slave is only generally nessecary when your involving two HD's that are bootable, it's so that the computer knows what to boot up first, of course this can all be changed in all modern BIOS's anyways, hell on some of them you can set them to boot from a USB HD and all sorts :)