if i plug in my current hard drive to a new computer, will i be able to see items that are located on a desktop

[Stryker99909]

I'm getting a new build with windows 10 and am currently on windows 7.

If i plug in my current hard drive with windows 7 on it as a secondary drive for my new computer, will i be able to transfer files located on the desktop to the new drive? or should i move them before doing so?

 

[weberdarren97]

Yes it can be done this way. However, they will not simply appear on your desktop. They will be in C:\users\username\Desktop if they are private to that user. Other files that are public to all users will be found at C:\users\Public\Desktop. You will have to navigate to these directories on the secondary hard drive to find the files you are looking for.

Note: The directories listed above assume that the secondary hard drive is the C: drive. If it is not, replace C with the appropriate drive letter.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Some games might not function if they're moved from a different hard drive. Steam games, for example, will work if they're moved. Some games if they're standalone (e.g. not downloaded from Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc.) might need to be reinstalled.

 

[Samat]

I'm getting a new build with windows 10 and am currently on windows 7.

If i plug in my current hard drive with windows 7 on it as a secondary drive for my new computer, will i be able to transfer files located on the desktop to the new drive? or should i move them before doing so?

If you don't want to play around with file permissions etc it is a lot easier if you copy all the files in my documents, desktop etc to a backup location from where you can copy them to your new build. Then you can add the old drive to the new build and format it to have a nice clean drive for extra files (just make sure you have copied all the files before this!).

When installing Windows ALLWAYS only have the drive connected to which you want to install the operating system.

 

[Stryker99909]

ok thank you ill be sure to everything to my documents folder then, atleast stuff on the dekstop.

Some games might not function if they're moved from a different hard drive. Steam games, for example, will work if they're moved. Some games if they're standalone (e.g. not downloaded from Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc.) might need to be reinstalled.

so if i use a software like steammover or gamesave manager then steam should be fine and ill only have to reinstall things like battlefield 2 revive, minecraft, etc?

 

[Samat]

ok thank you ill be sure to everything to my documents folder then, atleast stuff on the dekstop.

Some games might not function if they're moved from a different hard drive. Steam games, for example, will work if they're moved. Some games if they're standalone (e.g. not downloaded from Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc.) might need to be reinstalled.

so if i use a software like steammover or gamesave manager then steam should be fine and ill only have to reinstall things like battlefield 2 revive, minecraft, etc?

You need to copy files from my documents aswell (C:\users\my username\documents\). You can't access files on this directory without taking ownerships if you just plug the drive to another computer. Use a external harddrive or a usb stick if available. Then copy them to the same folder in the new system.

 

[Stryker99909]

What do you mean by 'taking ownerships'?

 

[Samat]

What do you mean by 'taking ownerships'?

Each file and directory has a set owner in Windows, and in case of you user directory it is the user it belongs to. Other users don't have access to these files and directories by default. So now if you plug your old drive as a secondary drive to your new computer (not booting from your old drive) you can't access these files on the users folder on the old drive since you don't have file permissions for this. Only way for you to change file permissions of these files/directories is to first take ownership of the files/directories.

This Microsoft technet article explains how to change file ownership. You can also read this article on howtogeek for more detailed explanation on how file permissions work on Windows, it's for Windows 7 but should apply for later Windows versions aswell.

 

[Stryker99909]

Is it that intricate of a process or is it just a minor inconvenience? I have over a terabyte of information to transfer.

 

[Samat]

Is it that intricate of a process or is it just a minor inconvenience? I have over a terabyte of information to transfer.

It's more of a inconvenience I guess, although changing ownership of large amount of files can take a while aswell. If you have a external harddrive you could use this as opportunity to create a backup!

 

[Stryker99909]

Well i plan on using a software to move my games and my 50gb of media or so shouldnt be that hard to move. thanks for the help