[SOLVED] Changing HDD for SSD with new OS, what does it happen to the old one?

[mcan226]

Hello,

I'm upgrading an old desktop computer (i3-4170, 8gb of ram and asus h81m-a) with W10 . I bought a new WD 240gb ssd and I'm gonna install W10 on it. But I'm gonna keep using my old WD 1tb HDD for general storage usage. The thing is that HDD has W7 installed on it.

Once I have the new os, can i just plug the old hdd to the mobo and use it or do i have to unistall W7 from it first?

Thanks in advance

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

can i just plug the old hdd to the mobo and use it or do i have to unistall W7 from it first?

you will want to delete all partitions off of the old HDD and format the entire disk.

then you will also need to disconnect the old HDD before installing the OS on the new SSD.
else it will also install system partitions onto that old HDD.

 

[mcan226]

you will want to delete all partitions off of the old HDD and format the entire disk.

then you will also need to disconnect the old HDD before installing the OS on the new SSD.
else it will also install system partitions onto that old HDD.

The HDD has no partitions, it only has C:

I will assemble the pc and make the clean installation with the ssd without the hdd pluged in, as if it were a new build. I was planning on adding the hdd after that.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

The HDD has no partitions, it only has C:

if it has Windows installed on it then it has separate system partitions.
the amount of accessible partitions with drive letters does not mean the same thing.
you can open the disk in Disk Manager and see.
though it doesn't really matter because they will all be removed anyway when completely erasing the disk.

if you haven't formatted the drive yet when you connecting later it it may cause some issue with boot because it will have it's own Boot Manager still intact.
if so, just use a bootable disk management software and erase the drive outside of Windows.

 

[mcan226]

if it has Windows installed on it then it has separate system partitions.
the amount of accessible partitions with drive letters does not mean the same thing.
you can open the disk in Disk Manager and see.
though it doesn't really matter because they will all be removed anyway when completely erasing the disk.

if you haven't formatted the drive yet when you connecting later it it may cause some issue with boot because it will have it's own Boot Manager still intact.
if so, just use a bootable disk management software and erase the drive outside of Windows.

You are right, I've just checked the manager and there is a small partition.

I was planning on setting the UEFI to boot from the ssd after the installation of w10. Is that what you mean with "bootable disk management software"?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Is that what you mean with "bootable disk management software"?

no.
just that if you have any problem wiping this old HDD you can use a 3rd party drive management software that would boot from USB, DVD, or even operate from within Windows that can erase this old Windows 7 drive for you.

you may have problems trying to boot Windows 10 with both drives connected since the old HDD will still have it's Windows 7 boot manager intact.

 

[mcan226]

no.
just that if you have any problem wiping this old HDD you can use a 3rd party drive management software that would boot from USB, DVD, or even operate from within Windows that can erase this old Windows 7 drive for you.

you may have problems trying to boot Windows 10 with both drives connected since the old HDD will still have it's Windows 7 boot manager intact.

I get it. i'll give it a go tomorrow. Thanks for all your help!