So, you are one of the first kids on your block to own a new CD-R, or CD-RW. Cool. Now all you have to do is install it. Follow our simple installation guide for a hassle-free initiation to the burner club.

These instructions for installing a CD-RW drive are based on the Hewlett Packard 8200i CD-RW and it was installed alongside a CD-ROM drive already resident in our computer. That these instructions may vary slightly with different hardware configurations. These instructions should be similar if you are installing a CD-R.

When opening the CD-RW package, the contents that should be included are a CD-RW, an audio cable, a data cable, screws, a user's guide, 2 blank CDs, and the software installation CDs. The only equipment I needed to install the drive was a Phillips head screwdriver.

After unplugging the computer from the wall socket, use the screwdriver to remove the sides of the computer's case. Depending on your case' design there are around 3-4 screws securing the light metal shell to the computer chassis that need to be removed. Removing the screws may free the shell entirely, but if you're lucky, there may onle be a single side panel between you and the interior the system. Once you slide the case off, the computer's motherboard and all the cables attached to it will be exposed.

The next step is to remove the cover plate from a half-height drive bay. The drive bay cover also varies with different computers, but most simply "snap" off with a bit of effort. You also need to remove a plastic façade from the face of the computer to fit the new drive into the bay. Once the cover plate is removed, simply slide the CD-RW about three-quarters of the way into its bay.

The data cable
After removing the drive bay cover, lay the computer on its side. This allows you to have easy access to the connectors on the computer's motherboard. The motherboard usually has a pair of 40-pin IDE connectors. One of these connectors has a data cable attached to it. The other end of the data cable has 2 connectors. In a standard system one of these IDE connectors (known as the primary IDE channel) will be serving your CD-ROM and hard drive.

The first connector is attached to the computer's IDE hard drive, and the second is attached to the CD-ROM drive. I used the second connector on the motherboard to attach the cable that was included with the CD-RW. The other end of this cable went into the CD-RW. Note that these cables have grooves on them, so they will only go in one way. If the don't make sure that the red stripe on the cable is orientated to pin-1 (take a look at the way the existing IDE cable is orientated to find out which end of the motherboard IDE connector pin-1 is located at). Do NOT force the cables in any way.

After installing the data cable, attach the power cable. To do this, simply find an unused power cable inside your computer, and with the bevelled edge up, connect it to the CD-RW.

The audio cable
The next step in the installation process is to install the audio cable. Note, this is step is optional; you do not need to install an audio cable to record music or data. The audio cable is used only for listening to audio through the computer's sound system. If you have a CD-ROM drive in your computer already(as I did), the sound card's CD-IN is being used by the CD-ROM drive. If you do not have a CD-ROM drive in your computer, or if you wish to make the CD-RW the primary sound source for your computer, proceed with the following instructions.

Insert one end of the audio cable included with the CD-RW package into the CD-IN connector on your sound card. Then insert the other end of the audio cable into your CD-RWs Audio Out connector.

Once the audio cable has been installed, slide the CD-RW the remainder of the way into the bay. Use the provided screws to secure the CD-RW to the bay. Complete the installation by replacing your computer's cover, securing it into place with the screws removed earlier. Plug the computer back into the wall outlet.

From here, start up your computer and install the software that was included in the package. This will vary depending on which version of the operating system and CD-RW you are using.

Happy recording!

Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive, a CBS Company. All Rights Reserved.
ZDNET is a registered service mark of CBS Interactive. ZDNET Logo is a service mark of CBS Interactive.