Can I transfer my hard drive?

[PC Drew02]

Hey guys, so, I am building my first computer. I have all the parts, but then I realized, I wanna keep the data from my old computer. So, I have a 1TB hard drive in my new parts that I will install windows 10 on, but my old hard drive has windows 7, and is a lot smaller. Is there a safe way to basically run my computer with the new hard drive and windows 10, then put in the old hard drive so I have all that data? Or is there a way to do something similar to that? All help is appreciated!!! Thanks!

 

[Kurz]

Easy install windows 10 on the new drive. Once you are done setting everything up with the new drive, updates programs etc.
Plug in the Windows 7 harddrive while the computer is off and next time you turn on the computer the Windows 10 OS should see the drive and you'll be able to access the files.

 

[mcnumpty23]

or do an in place upgrade of windows 7 to 10 then clone it to the new drive--assuming the new drive is bigger than the old one

 

[PC Drew02]

Easy install windows 10 on the new drive. Once you are done setting everything up with the new drive, updates programs etc.
Plug in the Windows 7 harddrive while the computer is off and next time you turn on the computer the Windows 10 OS should see the drive and you'll be able to access the files.

So, there should be no issues with using a windows 10 hard drive, then plugging in a windows 7?

 

[Kurz]

Easy install windows 10 on the new drive. Once you are done setting everything up with the new drive, updates programs etc.
Plug in the Windows 7 harddrive while the computer is off and next time you turn on the computer the Windows 10 OS should see the drive and you'll be able to access the files.

So, there should be no issues with using a windows 10 hard drive, then plugging in a windows 7?

Should be no issues, when you install windows on the drive the BIOS settings changed are to always look for that Windows 10 Drive at the same SATA port. This will only become an issue if you change the Sata connections on the main install drive. Though if you need to change the ports in the future, you just need to go into the BIOS to change the boot order and select the Windows Boot Manager/Drive that has Windows 10 on it.

Don't do an inplace upgrade as the previous poster said, I always recommend a fresh install of Windows 10.

 

[mcnumpty23]

yes a fresh install is always best

but that would depend

has the poster bought windows 10? if not they will be trying to install 10 with a 7 serial

once you have done an inplace upgrade you can then do a clean install bit weird but thats how it seems to work with windows 10