Installing an SSD but want to use my old hard drive

[nstanchev16]

I am upgrading my computer from an old amd a8-6600k apu to a ryzen 5 2600, new motherboard and RAM. I am also buying a 120gb ssd, which i will install windows on but i did nott buy a new hard drive for my games and large files, I was wondering if I could use my current 1tb hard drive as a secondary drive and is it as easy as just plugging it in or will I need to do something to it because it has windows on it and it has programs for my old motherboard. I was looking to save money so please if you know if it is possible to re use this hard drive and do I need to remove stuff from it first?
Thanks.

 

[2sidedpolygon]

Yes, you can, just keep it unplugged while you're getting Windows for the sake of ease of installation.

 

[velocityg4]

It would be easier to clear out the junk if you reformat the hard drive when you plug it in to the old computer. I hope you have a backup, you should. Restore your files from the backup after you wipe the drive.

If you don't wipe the drive you'll have a bunch of old junk files to remove. At the very least move your files into a transfer folder at the root of the hard drive. Set the ownership and permissions of that folder to Everyone. Then move all your files to that folder. At least you won't have to deal with permissions and ownership issues on the new PC.

Also SSD are quite cheap right now. I think you'll regret not going with at least 240GB. 120GB goes fast. It's less than $40 for a decent 240GB SSD and less than $70 for a decent 480GB. At 480GB you can load a fair number of games and get fast load times.

 

[USAFRet]

At todays prices, a 120GB SSD is a poor choice.

250GB, $53
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764WCXCV

500GB, $83
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784SLQM6

The top tier SSD's aren't even available in 120GB size anymore.
With a 120GB, you're going TooSmall, and substandard performance.


Whichever SSD you get, you can use the old HDD.
You can't use any applications on it, however. They'd need to be reinstalled with your new OS on the SSD.

 

[jaguarskx]

If only I could buy 4TB SSDs for something like $300.... Maybe one day...