[SOLVED] Can I use a hard drive with a previous installation of Windows (7) to boot on another computer??

[SJRouge91]

I apologize in advance for the confusing title; I didn't know how else to word it, and/or if this question/topic is possibly in the wrong sub-forum, but hopefully it is in the right one. Now onto my question.

I had built a mini-itx computer back in 2016, using an Asrock B-85 motherboard, Intel core I5 4590 cpu, 1x 8gb of Corsair ram, a 1tb hard drive, an optical drive, an EVGA 1050 TI, an EVGA BQ 500 watt semi-modular PSU, all housed in a Fractal Design Core 500, and it ran Windows 7 Ultimate 4-bit; it ran fine without any issues up until June of this year, whenever I tried to turn it on it would only power on for a minute, before turning off then turn back on in a continuous loop, and with a black/blank screen when I used both the on-board and GPU HDMI ports to connect it to my tv.

I tried many troubleshooting methods like re-seating the ram in both slots, replacing the CMOS battery and the power supply, unplugging all optional parts and running it with only the necessary parts to see if maybe it could have been the optical drive or gpu causing the issue, but it all seemed to point back to something being wrong with the motherboard; I'm now using an old laptop with Linux Mint as my backup in the meantime, til I save up enough money to buy a new motherboard, ram, and cpu (fortunately, all my other parts still work).

So, I want to recover all my music, videos, pictures, and other files from my hard drive so I can have them for my new pc, and I was thinking I could get them in two ways: buy an external hard drive enclosure for the hd, connect it to the new pc and transfer them that way, or buy another Asrock b-85 motherboard, connect my hard drive to it, see if I can boot into Windows and try to get the files that way.

So, my question is what would you guys do in a situation like this to get the files off of the hard drive, and could that latter option of buying the same motherboard to boot into Windows work?? I tried googling my question before posting my question here, but I really couldn't find anything, and I really would like to recover my files, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[USAFRet]

You can connect that drive as a secondary drive, in either Windows or Linux, and access or copy the files.

Don't try to boot from that Win 7 drive in a different PC.

$25 gets you an external USB dock that will work for this.
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4
https://www.amazon.com/SISUN-Docking-Station-Reader-Black/dp/B009F7TXMK

 

[AllanGH]

File recovery/back-up can be done under Linux (and it would actually be easier, because Linux will just read the drive without a bunch of security fussing) quite easily. If you use a USB-connected drive dock (which would be my strategy), or you connect the drive directly to the Linux-booting computer; either way, you'll be able to conserve the files you want to save.

Booting into windows, using another motherboard, is a dicey proposition. It might work, and it might not work, and it might corrupt what you are seeking to save. Normally, though, you shouldn't expect to be able to boot an earlier installation of windows on a system that is different from the system upon which the installation was performed.

 

[SJRouge91]

You can connect that drive as a secondary drive, in either Windows or Linux, and access or copy the files.

Don't try to boot from that Win 7 drive in a different PC.

$25 gets you an external USB dock that will work for this.
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4
https://www.amazon.com/SISUN-Docking-Station-Reader-Black/dp/B009F7TXMK

Ok then, I'll just buy an external drive enclosure, connect it to a computer, and get the files that way. Thank you very much for the advice, I really do appreciate it.

 

[SJRouge91]

File recovery/back-up can be done under Linux (and it would actually be easier, because Linux will just read the drive without a bunch of security fussing) quite easily. If you use a USB-connected drive dock (which would be my strategy), or you connect the drive directly to the Linux-booting computer; either way, you'll be able to conserve the files you want to save.

Booting into windows, using another motherboard, is a dicey proposition. It might work, and it might not work, and it might corrupt what you are seeking to save. Normally, though, you shouldn't expect to be able to boot an earlier installation of windows on a system that is different from the system upon which the installation was performed.

I didn't know Linux could do all of that; I'm still a novice/learning when it comes to this OS, so thank you for that, and I'll also scrap the buying another motherboard idea, seeing as booting from one other than the original board could be hit or miss, and I definitely don't want to risk corrupting my files. Thanks a lot for the helpful information.

 

[SJRouge91]

Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions, and I know for sure that my best bet to recovering my files, is to just buy an external hard drive enclosure. Mods, you can close this thread now since I have the answer to my questions.