Thread: Add HD DVD or Blu-ray to your PC

The successors to DVD have been around for a few years, but high prices and confusion over specifications mean that the appeal of Blu-ray and HD DVD drives has been limited. Blu-ray has had the best publicity of late but HD DVD's supporters haven't yet thrown in the towel. At the same time, prices of these next-generation DVD drives are plummeting. Blu-ray and HD DVD are not interchangeable, but both offer excellent visual quality and provide higher-capacity storage. From the PC user's perspective, such drives can also serve to back up entire hard disks or safely store large collections of documents and other personal files on a disc.

STEP 1
THE MOST DIFFICULT STEP is deciding between HD DVD or Bluray.The difference lies in their capacities as, while DVDs are limited to 805GB, Blu-ray offers up to 50GB of storage while HD DVD can manage a maximum of 30GB per disc.A few drives support both formats but these are very expensive. Save for one new model from Toshiba (the SD-H903A, which has not yet been released in the UK), HD DVD drives can only read,and not write, HD DVDs. Blu-ray writer drives, though, are far more readily available. It's worth finding out whether your favourite films and TV shows appear in Blu-ray or HD DVD too, because it's generally one or the other.

STEP 2
TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT, BE sure to buy the right drive for your PC.There are two types of interface to be aware of: Serial ATA and ParallelATA (or Sata and Pata for short). Newer PCs accept SATA drives, which are slightly easier to install.Older PCs can only accept Parallel ATA drives, often labelled as 'IDE' drives. Find out which standard your PC supports by reading the supplied manual or by opening it up and finding which connectors you have inside.We'lI cover both types as we go.

STEP 3
BLU-RAY AND HD DVD drives are both types of optical drive,and the PC versions are designed to fit into a 5.25in drivebay.To fit the drive you'll need either to locate a spare drive bay,orto replace an existing older drive.The PC should be turned off and its power cable unplugged. Before proceeding, we recommend donning an anti-static wrist-strap, which can be bought for just a few pounds. Remove the side,or sides, of the computer case and, if using a new drive bay, remove the cover currently blocking it.This can be done by removing screws or with a small push to pop it out .

STEP 4
ONCE AN EMPTY BAY has been identified, make sure it is clear of cables. Some cases have a so-called 'tool-free' design and simply require the drive to be shoved into place. Others require sliders to be screwed onto each side of the optical drive to guide it into place. Once the drive sits inside with the front face flush with the case, four screws are usually provided to secure it so it doesn't slide about if the PC is picked up.

STEP 5
BOTH SERIAL AND PARALLEL ATA drives have a range of connectors on the back.The two most important ones are the power and data connectors.There may also be analogue or digital-audio outputs present. A slim cable with a four-pin plug at each end can be used to link this output to a sound card or motherboard (in the case of an integrated soundcard).lf this is done, audio tracks from music CDs bypass the main PC components and, in some cases, music will play back undisturbed even if the computer crashes.

STEP 6 HOWEVER, USING THIS CABLE is unnecessary in most modern PCs.lndeed, some optical drives don't even include the cable. It is essential, though, to plug in the data cable. SATA drive cables have no visible pins and just need a firm shove to pop them into position. PATA drives have several vulnerable pins, which must be carefully lined up with the holes on the connector. Position the connector so the plastic lump on the rectangle matches the gap on the drive, then insert it carefully. Now plug the other end of the cable into a spare slot on the motherboard.

STEP 7
OPTICAL DRIVES DRAW ELECTRICITY from the computer's main power supply unit (PSU), which sits at the very top or bottom of the case. A single cable can often supply power to several hard disks and optical drives at the same time, via a series of plugs.There are two types of power adapter, one that looks like a wider SATA-data connector and another that has four pins in a thick plastic shell. Find an unused power connector that's the right type and plug it in.

STEP 8
IF A PATA DRIVE has been installed and is sharing a data cable with another drive,six pins on the new drive must be configured. A small piece of plastic, called ajumper, is used to choose from one of three settings check the manual that came with the drive to see how. If another optical drive is using the same cable, make sure one drive is set to'master; the other to 'slave: If a hard disk uses this cable, it's best to set the hard disk to master and the optical drive to slave. The last set of pins (cable select) should only be connected vertically if a special CS-Iabelled cable is being used.

STEP 9
NOW REASSEMBLE THE COMPUTER'S case and turn it on. Windows should automatically detect the new drive. If the drive tray fails to open when the eject button is pressed, the power connector is most likely not properly inserted. If it does open, but Windows fails to see the drive, then recheck the data connector. If the drive is a writable model, it is important to install software capable of writing to the appropriate HD disc format. Most drives include software made by Nero or Roxio, but drives sold as 'OEM' may not come with any software at all.

STEP 10
SPECIALIST HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEO SOFTWARE is required to play back high-definition movies on your new drive.Cyberiink PowerDVD is usually included with retail drives, although Intervideo WinDVD may be included instead. You'll usually get a stripped-down version of the software that is limited to 5.1 surround sound, rather than 7.1 in versions that are sold separately. If you have a 7.1 surround-sound system you can usually upgrade for a fee.