How Do I Install a Second Hard Drive? Here Is the Complete Guide

Updated by

Tracy King 

Updated on Jan 23, 2025

Do you know how to add a new hard drive to Windows 10? How to install a second hard drive or SSD in Windows 10/8/7 computer? Follow through this guide and learn how to install a disk, set up, and make use of it on your own now:

PAGE CONTENT:

#1. Install (Add) a Second Hard Drive to PC
#2. Set Up The Second Hard Drive (Initialize & Partition Disk)
#3. Make Use of The Second Hard Drive (Transfer Data & Applications)

#1. Install (Add) a Second Hard Drive to PC

Tools list: 

• The new hard drive
• A SATA data cable
• A power cable
• A screwdriver
• Some screws
• A hard drive tray

Step 1. Slide your hard drive into the hard drive tray. Fasten the hard drive to the tray with screws. 

Step 2. Open the computer case, and plug in the SATA data cable to the motherboard of your computer.

Step 3. Grab the SATA cable and Power cable into the location where you'll place the hard drive. 

Step 4. Plug two cables into your hard drive. 

Now, you've installed the second hard drive into your computer. All you need is to press the power button to restart your computer and enter the next guide to set up the second hard drive.

#2. Set Up The Second Hard Drive (Initialize & Partition Disk)

Tools List: Partition manager software - EaseUS Partition Master.

To make your hard drive showing up and detected correctly in your computer, you need to initialize the disk, setting up a correct partition style, and create partitions on your disk.

So which style to select? Recommended Partition Styles:

• MBR - Disk with 2TB or smaller capacity.
• GPT - Disk with 2TB or bigger capacity,  or a new SATA SSD.

EaseUS Partition Master with its New Disk Guide feature makes it easy and simple for you: partition hard drive and initialize disk at the same time.

Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master, go to Partition Manager and click "Partition this disk" on the popped-up New Disk Guide window.

Step 2. Set the number of partitions you need to create, and set the partition style to your disk - MBR or GPT.

Or, you can accept the default setting offered by EaseUS Partition Master. Once done, click "Proceed".

Step 3. Click "Execute 1 Task" and "Apply" to finalize partitioning the new HDD/SSD or external disk.

By doing so, you'll get several volumes that share equal capacity on the disk, for example, 2 250GB volumes on a 500GB disk.

This guide also works to fix: Disk Unknown Not Initialized or Second Hard Drive Not Showing Up error.

After creating volumes on the new disk, you may stop here. But if you need to make use of the hard drive, follow the next guide for help.

#3. Make Use of The Second Hard Drive (Transfer Data & Applications)

Tools List: File and application transfer tool - EaseUS Todo PCTrans. 

Here, we collected two types of needs and offered respective tips to help you make use of the second hard disk.

#1. Transfer Large Files to The Second Hard Drive

If you tend to use the second hard drive as a data disk, you can now copy and paste large files into the second disk. 

Or, you can directly move folders on your c: drive to the second disk with the help of EaseUS Todo PCTrans:

How to Move Large Files from OneDrive to Another?

For honing the best way to transfer large files, EaseUS Todo PCTrans now update the large file cleanup function, supporting moving files large than 20MB to another drive (partition root and custom directories). See how does it work. 

#2. Move Programs or Apps to a Second Hard Drive

Note that if your OS drive is logically too small, the other way to release its stress is to move the installed programs to a second hard drive. And here, EaseUS Todo PCTrans with its Local App Migration feature can help you out.

Check this video tutorial for help:

Besides, you can also install Windows 10 on the second hard drive. If you are interested, click the link below:

How to Install Windows 10 on Second Hard Drive

This tutorial will provide a detailed tutorial on how to install Windows 10 on a second hard drive/SSD. You can use EaseUS Partition Master for quick OS migration or Windows Media Creation Tool to create an installation CD.

Installing a Second Hard Drive Can Be Done On Your Own, Optimize Your Computer Now

On this page, we offered a complete guide, showing you the complete process of adding a new second disk on your Windows computer:

1. 1. Install the new disk
2. 2. Initialize and partition a new disk
3. 3. Make use of the second disk

To simplify the whole process, we applied EaseUS partition manager software - Partition Master to help you initialize the disk and partition it in a quick guide.

If you are experienced in setting up computers and manage hard drives, you can also apply disk management to make it show up on the computer.  In a word, installing and setting up a new disk on your computer is not complex. Follow this DIY guide to optimize your computer performance now.