Do I need to clear my hard drive or reformat it?

[sdegelia]

I currently have a 2 TB Hard Drive for storage in my current build, there is no OS on it. I am in the process of building a new PC and using a SSD to install windows on that computer. If I use the 2 TB Drive for storage in the new computer, can I just move it from the old to the new build without having to worry about clearing or formatting anything? Will it automatically recognize it and work?

I am a total noob about this so any help would be awesome!

 

[rage33]

The biggest issue when reinstalling the OS is the registry files, for example you will need to re-install any programs that are currently installed because those programs have specific registry or "pathways". If your 2TB has simple files types like for example movies, pictures, documents ect. those will still work perfectly fine, with no need to format your current storage drive.

 

[omac1a]

You can just put the 2TB Hard drive in the new build. It will recognize it.

 

[jsmakkar]

You said you currently have a 2 TB HDD for storage in your current build and there's no OS.
As Rage33 and omac1a said, if you have only Data on your 2TB HDD, there would not be any need to format and your HDD would be recognized.