Can i make a old drive to a new one?

[leaveleague]

Idk if the title makes sense, but I will explain it here! So I found this really old drive (WD caviar SE 80GB) and I want to put this in my new build so I can have two hard drives (1tb drive and this drive Caviar SE) however I'm wondering if I can make this hard drive to a "brand new" one. (The new computer is coming) Also the drive, I think has a virus inside so is there any way I can remove it before I install the OS? (The drive has window XP as well)
I don't want my new computer to be infected with virus so yeah

 

[pedrochin]

Just format the old drive and you'll be ok. The only issues are that the old drive has a slow SATA I interface, and being an old mechanical drive, its days are numbered...

 

[USAFRet]

Yes you can. There are various methods of doing this.

However...it is an old 80GB drive.
Adding that to a system with a 1TB drive adds 8% drive space. And since it is old.....failure is likely.

To wipe that drive? DBAN. Make a bootable CD with that, connect only that old drive.
Boot from that CD, and completely wipe the drive.

 

[Solandri]

The only issues are that the old drive has a slow SATA I interface, and being an old mechanical drive, its days are numbered...

SATA I has a max speed of 150 MB/s. The fastest new drives peak at about 175 MB/s, and usually only hit about 135 MB/s for sustained throughput on sequential files. With smaller files they're closer to 1-30 MB/s. The SATA I interface is absolutely not a problem on HDDs.

The problem with an old drive like this is lower data density - fewer bytes per square cm of platter surface. A 7200 RPM drive with low data density has fewer bytes passing under the read/write heads with each rotation than a drive with high data density. An 80 GB drive is probably going to have a max sustained data transfer of around 40-60 MB/s due to lower data density.

If you plan to get a SSD on the new computer and use this drive for a little extra storage, then there's no problem. If you're thinking of using this HDD as your primary or only drive on the new system, you'd be better off with a newer HDD, and much better off with a SSD.

 

[leaveleague]

Just format the old drive and you'll be ok. The only issues are that the old drive has a slow SATA I interface, and being an old mechanical drive, its days are numbered...

Can i format it while im in the booting screen or when my computer ready installed windows? (Again the old harddrive has Window XP already and has a virus, dont want to download an anti-virus)

 

[leaveleague]

Yes you can. There are various methods of doing this.

However...it is an old 80GB drive.
Adding that to a system with a 1TB drive adds 8% drive space. And since it is old.....failure is likely.

To wipe that drive? DBAN. Make a bootable CD with that, connect only that old drive.
Boot from that CD, and completely wipe the drive.
But what about the 1TB hardrive im gonna install my windows on it? Are you telling me to use the window Xp on the old harddrive and wipe it out and then connect the new harddrive back and install window 8.1

 

[leaveleague]

I dont know if this is inportant but my build is
AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
Asus Sabertooth 990FX ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
ASUS GeForce GTX 970 TURBO-GTX970-OC-4GD5 4GB
Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case
Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit)

 

[CountMike]

It's more than likely that old HDD is IDE/PATA and you don't have a place on that MB to plug it in. Best use for that HDD would be to get and IDE to USB adapter and use it for some backup etc.

 

[USAFRet]

But what about the 1TB hardrive im gonna install my windows on it? Are you telling me to use the window Xp on the old harddrive and wipe it out and then connect the new harddrive back and install window 8.1

No. The old drive has nothing to do with the new one.

First...is it an IDE or SATA connection?