Installed New HDD

[Oz1956]

I have been rebuilding my pc and today I installed the final piece, a 1 TB HDD. While doing this I have talked to others on this forum and had told them that I was wanting to keep my old 500 GB HDD, just for misc items. I was advised to install the new HDD, install the OS and then go back in and hook up the old HDD, which I did. What I wasn't told was that all the data still on the old hard drive would be totally useless. So now do I format the old disk to remove everything and get all it's storage back or what? Also, when I ran the Windows Experience Rating to get my new index the data processing index was the same as when I had my old system running. I don't understand that, because I went from a duo-core to a quad-core processor and a 500 GB HDD to a 1T HDD. My old hard drive still has the windows 7 software, but I don't have it set in any boot sequence. I doubt much of this is making sense, but if any one can help me, I'll be glad to answer all your questions.

 

[USAFRet]

What I wasn't told was that all the data still on the old hard drive would be totally useless.

The applications on that old drive, in the old OS....no, you cannot use them.
The 'files' (music/pics/etc) probably

Your WEI?
That may or may not change, depending on whatever the slowest device is.
If the original 'slowest' device was an HDD, and you simply changed to a different HDD....the WEI probably won;t change.

Windows Experience Index is a badly flawed 'benchmark'.

 

[avenseth12]

If you had upgraded to an SSD your WEI would have gone up but going from one mechanical drive to another typically wont change your WEI.

 

[Paperdoc]

The stuff on the old HDD is NOT useless, so be sure not to destroy it. BUT you might well want to disconnect it (both power and data connections) while you get everything else set up.

You did a fresh Install of Windows on the new 1 TB unit, I expect, which is good. The problem you're having is that the new Registry files on that unit have NO information about anything on the old 500 GB unit. That is why you cannot run your old apps installed on that old drive.

You need now to re-Install all your application software on the new 1 TB HDD. This will create in the Registry the necessary information so you can use them all. This will also create a bunch of folders for data files. Once that's done, you MIGHT want to create a few folders yourself that you want to use. THEN you can reconnect the old 500 GB HDD and copy all your user-created data files over to the folders on the larger drive. After doing this, I suggest you simply disconnect that 500 GB unit again and wait for a month or two, just in case you discover that some file you had is now missing because you forgot to find it and copy it over.

Once you're sure you've got everything you need from the old 500 GB unit, then you can wipe it clean and set it up for use as a second drive. For an older used HDD, I prefer to run a Zero Fill on the old unit. This completely wipes out all old data and triggers a comprehensive self-check and repair process inside the HDD itself, so that it is in perfect shape for re-use OR you find out it has major problems and should not be used. Then use Windows' built-in utility disk Management to Create a New Simple Volume on that old unit. I expect you will want that to be all of the space on the unit in one volume. It does not need to be made bootable - you only plan to use it for data, right?

 

[Oz1956]

Thanks for the info. Not sure what I was hoping was usable on the old disk is still even available, but I'll do as you suggested, Paperdoc, and see if I can salvage anything. I wasn't wanting to crowd up my new HDD, with some of the stuff that was on the old hdd and honestly there wasn't anything on there that I will miss. After, upgrading from XP to Win 7 less than a year ago, I haven't put much back on the hdd, because I was already planning to rebuild my pc. Most of the data was my games and I have the disk to reinstall them onto my new hdd. There were some saved games that would have been uploaded to the next expansion on a couple of my games, but I can always play them again and get new data to transfer. Will be checking out that Zero Fill. Thanks for the tip. I was mostly worried, because the Win 7 OS is also on the old hdd and I wasn't sure if it would cause complications. Since it's not a bootable disk and I don't plan to use it as one, I guess it's ok for now.