Can I use old hd on new mb without format?

BlrwtcH

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Nov 24, 2014
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My computer recently stopped working. I figured it was either the MB or processor so I ordered a new one of each. I would like to use my old hard drive on the new motherboard. Can I just reinstall windows without formatting the hard drive. There are photos and music I don't want to lose on the drive.

 
Solution
Which Windows version? You can do a repair installation in some versions that will save programs and documents. If it is the exact same motherboard and cpu you may not even need to do that.

In any case, if the data is important, you might want to access the drive on another computer using a sata dock or a direction sata attachment and backup the data first. I would suggest that you backup important data in the future, as drives also die.
Which Windows version? You can do a repair installation in some versions that will save programs and documents. If it is the exact same motherboard and cpu you may not even need to do that.

In any case, if the data is important, you might want to access the drive on another computer using a sata dock or a direction sata attachment and backup the data first. I would suggest that you backup important data in the future, as drives also die.
 
Solution