Knowing where to plug this in is just the beginning.
A basic understanding of a computer's wiring is essential before replacing or repairing hardware components. When working inside a computer, make sure the power is unplugged and that you've cleared flea power by holding the power button down for 10 seconds.
Cable Types
Depending on the make and model of your computer and the date of its production, you could find any of 14 different kinds of power cables when you open it up, all running from the power supply unit to various bits of hardware. Each cable has a different number of wires and pins and most have one specific purpose. Some have as few as four pins or as many as 24.
Drive Power
The wires that connect to your hard drive, floppy drive and CD-ROM drive are the easiest to identify. Most HDD and CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) cables are four-pin, four-wire cables with white connectors. They have a red and yellow wire and two black wires. Some hard drives use SATA cables, which include a fifth cable for data and have a black end. Floppy cables look like HDD cables but for their plug, which has four square receptacles. All of these cables can only be plugged in one way.
Main Power Cables
Older systems used two cables to run from the power supply to the motherboard, both with six wires (one with two black, one blue, one yellow, one red and one orange wire; and one with two black, three red and one white wire). The two often plug in side by side on the main board, with the black cables together. Newer motherboards have one 20-pin cable to power the motherboard, with additional cables included for higher-powered motherboards.
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