Can I re-use my pre-built hard drive?

[ToxiicHydra]

So I have a pre-built machine that I bought about 2 years ago and I have my actual gaming PC now, I was wondering if I could use my old pre-build hard drive (I already have windows installed on my current hard drive), could I just erase the information off of it and use it, I have tried this before but it loads the information on the old hard drive not the one I want. I didn't erase the information though, is it this simple? Thanks for help.

 

[AmusingUserID]

I assume its sata, it wont attempt to boot from it as your current drive is primary, but lets say it does. Just plug it in after windows is loaded, then go to my computer, right click the drive and format.

 

[glamdringfh]

Hi ToxiicHydra,

Yes, if you re-format your old drive you can use it again for extra storage without any problem at all.

After physically installing the old drive to your new PC, make sure your most recent hard drive comes first in the BIOS boot order to be sure you boot into the right drive at startup. After that you can go into Disk Management and re-format the old drive.

*Be sure to backup/ transfer any data you want to keep off the old drive before formatting it!