Question Brand New Computer and Old Computer's Second Hard Drive

[c3walk3r]

I just bought a new computer that came with a single SSD. It should be safe to connect my old computer's second hard drive (data, games and some programs) internally, correct?

Windows should recognize is as a drive with data already?

Also, should I boot up the new computer initially (without adding the second drive) and then shut down, connect second drive, restart?

 

[USAFRet]

You can connect it, but the OS in the new system won't recognise the "programs" as things that can be run.

And connect it AFTER you get the machine up and running.

 

[lynx1021]

Yes, turn on your new computer and make sure everything is working properly and then shut down, connect second drive, restart. Like USAFRet said "the new system won't recognize the "programs" on the old drive but you should be able to see all you documents, pictures, music files, ect files in general. You may need some programs on your new computer to open the files like "Office type" for documents (there are free versions) VLC for music and videos.

 

[sdedu77]

Connect the old hard drive while the computer is still off. Then enter in the BIOS and make sure the SSD is above it (that way it won't boot from the wrong drive). Then you should access your files normally. The Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos libraries are located in C:/Users/[your name].