putting old hard drive in new system

[pepe]

If i put my old hard drive in my new pc ive built will it boot from that ? ie will i have to reinstall operating system and all my programs or will the new pc just see the old drive and start windows from that.
thanks

 

[andy_k]

it will probably see windows and boot but you are on the road to ruin doing it this way

All the drivers for your previous machine will be on there, the registry will be all wrong as will all of the hardware and windows will just start detecting the new stuff and adding more "bloat" to your hard drive.

If you've just built a new machine, enjoy the benefits of it with a fresh installation of Windows.

HTH

Andy

 

[Thmsshaun]

Dont do it, wipe the HD or use it as a slave drive and re install windows on the new drive.

*EDIT* Sorry if it didnt make any sense before dont think I was thinking.

 

[PJH]

If you had fitted a new blank HD and installed a second OS, your boot.ini file
would look something like this :-

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows ME"

with the new OS being the default.
As for wiping the HD, does this help?

 

[pepe]

cheers guys, i do have a spare hard drive i can put a fresh install on but there are a few documents and ipod library on my old one and i never got a chance to back them up before my old motherboard went, can i add this drive later just to get my old stuff off then wipe it clean ? they are only word documents and also my ipod library i want off, no programs as i can install those freshly as well.

 

[Mambo]

...can i add this drive later just to get my old stuff off then wipe it clean.....

Yup, boot from the new disk and you will be able to access all your files on the old disk, just make sure you change the jumpers on the drive so the old disk is acting as a slave device....

 

[Thmsshaun]

Yes you can add it as a second drive at any time. The system will notice it on boot but disregard any operating system. Just make sure you change the jumper settings on the back from Primary master, to secondary etc dependant on what options your drive gives.

 

[wallingd]

That's exactly what I do.

Only my 2nd drive keeps losing power every like 5 seconds .

Anyone want a 60GB hard-drive that browns-out?...