Installing a Hard Drive is a great way to either save on costs to DIY or if you need to replace or upgrade an existing Hard Drive.
Step 1. Take Off the Top Cover and Gather The Needed Equipment
If this is a new Install, The recorder should come with a Sata Power & Sata Data cables. Along with mounting screws for the Hard Drive.
If this is an upgrade or replacement installation, everything should be with the existing hard drive.
Step 2. Connecting Cables To The Recorder and Hard Drive
Locate where the Sata Power and Data connections are on the motherboard to the Recorder and connect the proper connections to it.
Next, Connect the Sata Power and Data cables to the New Hard Drive.
Step 3. Mounting The Hard Drive
Now that the Hard Drive is wired to the recorder. It is time to mount it.
First, Pre-install the Hard Drive Screws on the Hard Drive itself. Only twist on a single thread.
Next, Line up the Hard Drive Screws with the mounting holes in the recorder Chassis
Once the Screws are in the holes, slide the drive over to the proper position.
Then Tighten the screws until you feel resistance. Do not torque, you can strip the threads doing this.
With the Hard Drive installed, You are ready to Format it! Definitely Format the drive before reinstalling the cover in case the recorder doesn't recognize the drive right away or if a connection is loose.
Step 4. Formatting via HDMI Interface
After the Drive is installed, It's not quite ready to go yet. It still needs to be Formatted.
The H-series Recorders have two different attached monitor interfaces. There is a 3.4.x & and 4.0 interface. Then, there is the Web Interface if an attached monitor is unavailable .
We will go over all 3 in this guide. Simply scroll down til you see the interface that you have!
3.0 Interface
From the live view of the recorder, Right Click and select Menu.
Next, select HDD
Go into General -> Select the Hard Drive -> Click Init 
A prompt will appear asking if you want to initialize. Click OK
Then, the status will show Initializing and will go from 0% to 100% and will then show Normal as its status
4.0 Interface
From the Live View Screen, select the Home icon in the top left corner. Then Select Storage.
Next, Go into the Storage Device Tab on the left. Check mark your Hard Drive on the list. Then Click Init.
A prompt will appear. Click OK
The status will go from 0% to 100%.
Afterwards, the status will become Normal
Web Interface
Once you are logged into the Web interface of the NVR, Go into Configuration -> Storage -> Storage Management.
Then Check Mark your Hard Drive listed and Click Format.
