[SOLVED] Can I attach a disk to my PC and not lose the data on it?

[ilievxman99]

Hi guys,

I have currently 2 WD Black hard drives in my PC, not in a RAID configuration. Windows is installed on one, on the other there is just files such as photos, MS word files etc. I want to install fresh Windows on a new SSD drive and attach my 2 Hard drives but not lose any of their data. I will disconnect them during install and reconnect them later. I will later format the one with existing Windows 7 on it but I want to not lose any data on those drives for the moment. Do I have to do anything as soon as I turn on my PC after connecting them or will they change their drive letters (C and E) automatically and all my files will be there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nemesia]

Everything will be on them. The programs won't be working and you will have to reinstall them on the SSD.

 

[ilievxman99]

As @Nemesia said, everything will be there on HDDs the only thing is that the programs won't be working and you need to re-install them on the SSD to use further.

What about the drive letters? Will I have to do something in Windows 7 to get tHe drives to work? Please if you’re going to reply don’t tell me to upgrade to windows 10 I’ve heard enough of that haha

 

[USAFRet]

What about the drive letters? Will I have to do something in Windows 7 to get tHe drives to work? Please if you’re going to reply don’t tell me to upgrade to windows 10 I’ve heard enough of that haha

Windows will figure out the drive letters on its own.
As long as you're not booting from that drive, it will be assigned a different drive letter.

As above, any applications on it will not work.
And you should really have a good backup. Data that lives on only one drive can disappear at a moments notice.

And yes, we WILL recommend you upgrade from Win 7. It is no longer getting any security updates.

 

[ilievxman99]

Windows will figure out the drive letters on its own.
As long as you're not booting from that drive, it will be assigned a different drive letter.

As above, any applications on it will not work.
And you should really have a good backup. Data that lives on only one drive can disappear at a moments notice.

And yes, we WILL recommend you upgrade from Win 7. It is no longer getting any security updates.

Thanks, that was useful. I will upgrade to 10 next year. I rely on Kaspersky to protect me and I haven't had a virus on my PC since buying it in 2016. I will install all security updates until January and keep using my 7 until Chrome and common applications stop updating next year. Thanks again, my friend.

 

[Nemesia]

Thanks, that was useful. I will upgrade to 10 next year. I rely on Kaspersky to protect me and I haven't had a virus on my PC since buying it in 2016. I will install all security updates until January and keep using my 7 until Chrome and common applications stop updating next year. Thanks again, my friend.

Not next year. Windows 7 support was over January this year.

 

[ilievxman99]

Not next year. Windows 7 support was over January this year.

The programs I use still support it and I don't rely on Windows security updates anyway.