Installing Drives; Removing And Replacing Front-Panel Inserts; Figure 7-1. Drive Locations - Dell OptiPlex Gn Reference And Installation Manual

Chapter 7

Installing Drives

Y
our Dell computer has three drive bays for installing
the following types of drives (see Figure 7-1):
•
The externally accessible drive bays at the front of
the computer consist of one 3.5-inch drive bay (dedi-
cated to a 3.5-inch diskette drive) and one 5.25-inch
bay that can hold one half-height, 5.25-inch
device—typically a tape drive or CD-ROM drive.
•
The hard-disk drive bay (located to the left of the
externally accessible drive bays) can hold a 3.5-inch
enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) hard-
disk drive.
The next two sections contain information that you will
need in several of the installation procedures described
later in the chapter. The remaining sections of this
chapter cover each type of drive installation.
NOTE: In all of the following procedures, left and right
refer to your left and right as you face the front of the computer.
front of
computer

Figure 7-1. Drive Locations

hard-disk drive bay (internal)
externally accessible
drive bays
R
emoving and Replacing
Front-Panel Inserts
Empty drive bays contain a front-panel insert to protect
the inside of the computer from dust particles and ensure
proper airflow within the computer. Before you install a
drive in an empty drive bay, you must first remove the
front-panel insert.
To remove the insert covering the 5.25-inch bay, follow
these steps:
1. Turn off the system, including any attached
peripherals, and disconnect all the alternating
current (AC) power cables from their power
sources.
2. Remove the computer cover as instructed in
"Removing the Computer Cover" in Chapter 5.
3. Lay the computer cover upside down on a flat
work surface, with the front of the cover facing
toward you.
4. With your thumbs, press in each end of the insert
until it snaps free of the cover (see Figure 7-2).
Installing Drives 7-1