BIOS, or Basic Input / Output System, provides the initial stage of computer boot, enables the operating system to determine the hardware configuration. In the BIOS, you can perform the initial configuration of the system - select a boot device, connect or disconnect hardware. In particular, you can disable an unused hard drive in the BIOS.
Instructions
Step 1
The situation when the user has to disconnect the hard drive is quite rare - the more disk space on the computer, the better. You should be aware that disabling through the BIOS does not turn off the disk as such - it still continues to receive power, it will be visible in Windows Explorer marked None.
Step 2
Enter the BIOS, the entry is carried out at the time of the computer start. Usually you need to press Del (most often), F1, F2, F3 or F10 to do this. Sometimes the key combination is Ctrl + alt="Image" + Esc. The successful entry into the BIOS will be announced by the appearance of its window.
Step 3
Find the disk information tab in the BIOS. If you have a SATA drive, look for the SATA-device section on it, if IDE, then IDE-device. The names may be different in your BIOS version. In the required section, next to the name of the drive, the word Enabled will be present. You need to change it to Disabled, change is done with the Up and Down keys.
Step 4
After the desired inscription appears next to the disk, you must save the changes made. To do this, press F10 or select the Save and exit setup item from the menu. A small window will appear asking if you really want to save your changes. Type Y and press Enter. To discard changes, enter N.
Step 5
After rebooting the system, the disconnected drive will be inaccessible, but this will not prevent Windows from seeing it. To quickly and completely disconnect a hard drive, it is most convenient to use a Mobile Rack - a special plastic container with connectors for a hard drive, inserted into an empty slot of the system unit. If you need to disconnect the disk, you will just need to insert and turn the key (when using it) and by the handle pull out the removable part of the mobile rack with the hard disk in it. The mobile rack is also convenient if valuable data is stored on the disk - you can simply pick it up without leaving it in your computer.
