installing a HD

Hi folks,
I gave a computer to my pre-teen neighbour. It's a Pentium II with all of 2G HD. Tenants had left it, Win 98, I cleaned it up and it worked fine. I thought maybe his mom could use it too for word processing. It also has a CD and floppy drive and I put a dial-up modem in. But, as young boys will sometimes do, he removed the hard drive, to, he said, show it to somebody, and he has brought it back to me in pieces. Frankly, I don't know how to reconnect it. (When I take things apart, I take notes; I have confirmed with the lad that he now knows too not to take things apart unless you know how to put them back together; so at least we had a learning experience :) ) I have visited sites that explain how to match up the red line side of the connector with a numerical equivalent on the various drives, but I can't find corresponding numbers or connectors on the motherboard; I think I need diagrams. I know I could just junk it, but I'd like to get it going and give it to someone who can use it. Any help would be appreciated.
Chas

I'm a bit confused. Is the harddrive apart or just the computer? If just the computer, the red line on the IDE cable connected to the harddrive itself, should point toward the four pin power connection on the harddrive. And usually these cables only fit one way on either the motherboard or harddrive. There should be a raised piece on the plastic connectors, on the cable ends. If no raised piece exists, you need to know which is pin 1 on the motherboard controller (IDE). Usually this is marked near the controller by the words IDE 1 or IDE 2.

I've never come across an IDE connector that wasn't keyed. But in case yours isn't, plug it in so that the cable is pointing downwards with respect to the connector plug, and with the hard drive mounted with the circuit board at the bottom.

I have ribbons that are not keyed.

Thanks all,
photolady, it was just the HD and cables which were removed, which was sufficient dismantlement to have me confused. Attempting to follow your and SuperSpark's instructions, I connected it and the comp booted, but the monitor just showed moving horizontal white lines. If that tells you that I again have wrongly connected it, then I'll try again, but if not then maybe my young friend pooched the HD.
Chas

A computer will boot so far, ie, show P.O.S.T and memory test without a harddrive. This sounds more like the video card/or onboard video is screwed up. So, check all the components are still there also. Memory is seated correctly, video card is firmly in the slot and check with another monitor also.
If the harddrive was incorrectly connected, the computer/BIOS just wouldn't see the drive, you should still get the first Power On Self Test screen.

Try clearing the CMOS in case it got scrambled. There should be a jumper on the motherboard to do that, if there isn't or you can't find it then pulling the motherboard battery out for a few minutes will achieve the same result.

Thanks photolady and SuperSparks for your advice. photolady, I did try with another monitor, same result.
I will indeed give it another go on your recommendations, (but probably not until the weekend), and will post back.
Chas