[SOLVED] Asking for a Friend: "Using Old HDD in a New Pc"

mrhumbler

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Jun 1, 2019
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Hello everyone!
my friend was asking if he can use his Old Hard drive(2-3yrs old) to put it in his new pc.
He will use that hard drive as Local Disk (c).
Will there be any troubles if he do so?
Can anyone further explain what can we do about it.
Thank you!
-----------------------------
 
Solution
So the best practice to reuse a HDD is to format it fully first. You will not want the old version of Windows or the operating system on it. If you try booting without formatting, BSODs will occur non-stop due to the old drivers being installed on the drive.

Mrgr74

Reputable
BANNED
Hello everyone!
my friend was asking if he can use his Old Hard drive(2-3yrs old) to put it in his new pc.
He will use that hard drive as Local Disk (c).
Will there be any troubles if he do so?
Can anyone further explain what can we do about it.
Thank you!
-----------------------------

Hi @mrhumbler

Is it an a tried & true 7200 RPM HDD or an SSD? Should work fine, as long as the drive is in good condition. Have your friend make sure that it's detected in his Bios. If it is, he should have no problems installing his OS to it. Again, provided the drive is in good condition. During the install process, he'll have the option to format the drive & make partitions if he so wishes. Personally I would advise that he formats the drive at this time, to ensure there aren't any old files &/or drivers installed that may cause issues. Would also advise he just keeps it @ 1 partition and all set as C:/.

Any reason he does not upgrade to an SSD or m.2 if his mobo supports it? Night & day difference. Especially during the OS install lol.. :)

What type of mobo does he have and whats the exact make/model of his HDD? 2-3 years isn't necessarily "old" I have a few old Fireball HDD's that are 20 years old which still boot up fine. (Not that I keep anything TOO important on them mind you.)
 
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Cere

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Jun 6, 2020
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So the best practice to reuse a HDD is to format it fully first. You will not want the old version of Windows or the operating system on it. If you try booting without formatting, BSODs will occur non-stop due to the old drivers being installed on the drive.
 
Solution

mrhumbler

Reputable
Jun 1, 2019
20
0
4,520
Hi @mrhumbler

Is it an a tried & true 7200 RPM HDD or an SSD? Should work fine, as long as the drive is in good condition. Have your friend make sure that it's detected in his Bios. If it is, he should have no problems installing his OS to it. Again, provided the drive is in good condition. During the install process, he'll have the option to format the drive & make partitions if he so wishes. Personally I would advise that he formats the drive at this time, to ensure there aren't any old files &/or drivers installed that may cause issues. Would also advise he just keeps it @ 1 partition and all set as C:/.

Any reason he does not upgrade to an SSD or m.2 if his mobo supports it? Night & day difference. Especially during the OS install lol.. :)

What type of mobo does he have and whats the exact make/model of his HDD? 2-3 years isn't necessarily "old" I have a few old Fireball HDD's that are 20 years old which still boot up fine. (Not that I keep anything TOO important on them mind you.)
He has a Seagate Barracuda 500Gb Hdd
His motherboard is an Asus Ex A320 M.
His budget is kinda tight at the moment but his planning on buying soon.
Thank you for the information, good sir!
 

mrhumbler

Reputable
Jun 1, 2019
20
0
4,520
So the best practice to reuse a HDD is to format it fully first. You will not want the old version of Windows or the operating system on it. If you try booting without formatting, BSODs will occur non-stop due to the old drivers being installed on the drive.
Thank you for the information! I'll keep that in mind!
 

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