Installing DVD Writer...

[Timberland]

Im deciding to install my own DVD writer because I dont have the money to pay a technician. I've been told that it isnt hard. Anyways, I have a DVD-Rom drive which is the master. I want to put my dvd writer in place of the dvd rom. So like after I do that, exchange he drivers will windows automatically detect it when I boot up my pc or do I need to change settings and whatnot?

[Tommyknocker]

When I had to install my DVD writer in place of my CD-RW, I made the swap, and put the jumper on my writer the way it was on my old CD-RW, and went from there

[Solarjetman]

As long as you set the jumpers the same as the drive you are removing, and plug it in the same place on the IDE controller (i.e the same pulg on the same cable), it should work. Windows should detect the change and make adjustments.

[Timberland]

This might sound stupid but what exactly are jumpers?

[Solarjetman]

This might sound stupid but what exactly are jumpers?

Not stupid at all. Jumpers are nothing more than a very small, usually square and black, cap about 5mm wide. They are used to connect two pins (i.e wires) together and complete an electric circuit.

In this case, the jumpers are used to designate which drive should act as the primary drive, and which should act as the secondary drive.

Take a look at this web page. Then scroll down to the third and fourth group of pictures. It is a closeup of the IBM Deskstar hard drive jumpers. In the picture, the jumpers are white, not black.

Hope that helps.