[SOLVED] Moving Boot hdd from old pc into new PC

[chumpy_]

So im going to be getting a new PC soon and i was wondering what i have to do before taking the boot hdd from my old pc out (its the only hdd that is in the system) and putting it into a pc that already has a boot ssd.

 

[Nemesia]

If the new system has a boot SSD drive the only thing you have to do is plug the old HDD in the new system and make sure the boot is still the SSD in the BIOS and you will see it as a storage drive and that's it.

 

[USAFRet]

So im going to be getting a new PC soon and i was wondering what i have to do before taking the boot hdd from my old pc out (its the only hdd that is in the system) and putting it into a pc that already has a boot ssd.

Verify that the drive currently in the PC is first in the BIOS boot order.

What are you planning to do with the data on the old drive?

 

[dorsai]

So im going to be getting a new PC soon and i was wondering what i have to do before taking the boot hdd from my old pc out (its the only hdd that is in the system) and putting it into a pc that already has a boot ssd.

Make sure to verify the boot order of your drives in the new PC bios...you dont want the new PC trying to boot off the old drive. I would recommend disabling any other boot options besides the boot ssd.

 

[chumpy_]

Verify that the drive currently in the PC is first in the BIOS boot order.

What are you planning to do with the data on the old drive?

its mostly just games as i am not able to download any games right now so id like to keep what i have downloaded. especially the massive things and just other random programs. thx for the reply!

 

[chumpy_]

If the new system has a boot SSD drive the only thing you have to do is plug the old HDD in the new system and make sure the boot is still the SSD in the BIOS and you will see it as a storage drive and that's it.

thank you mate

 

[chumpy_]

Make sure to verify the boot order of your drives in the new PC bios...you dont want the new PC trying to boot off the old drive. I would recommend disabling any other boot options besides the boot ssd.

thank you had no idea about boot order in the bios

 

[USAFRet]

its mostly just games as i am not able to download any games right now so id like to keep what i have downloaded. especially the massive things and just other random programs. thx for the reply!

"Programs" on that old drive won't run properly, if at all.

Steam games will be OK, once you tell the NEW steam client in the NEW OS where those games are.
Standalone games are probably toast.

 

[chumpy_]

"Programs" on that old drive won't run properly, if at all.

Steam games will be OK, once you tell the NEW steam client in the NEW OS where those games are.
Standalone games are probably toast.

rly? that contradicts what the other people have said. can i ask why that happens lol

 

[Nemesia]

rly? that contradicts what the other people have said. can i ask why that happens lol

USAFRet is right. What I said up there was only if you didn't care about the programs and games (not steam games) installed on the old drive.

That HDD was the boot drive of the old system. All the installed programs and non steam games on that old C: won't work. That drive won't be C: on the new system and all the files pathing is wrong. Not only that but all the registry entries from those programs are not in the SSD OS registry.

 

[USAFRet]

rly? that contradicts what the other people have said. can i ask why that happens lol

If "the other people" are saying you can use any and all applications from this old drive and OS, they are completely wrong.

When an application is installed, it makes dozens, sometimes thousands, of entries in the Registry and elsewhere. The new OS knows nothing about these.

 

[chumpy_]

If "the other people" are saying you can use any and all applications from this old drive and OS, they are completely wrong.

When an application is installed, it makes dozens, sometimes thousands, of entries in the Registry and elsewhere. The new OS knows nothing about these.

in my case what you said was basically completely wrong lmao everything ive tried so far has been literally fine.

 

[Nemesia]

in my case what you said was basically completely wrong lmao everything ive tried so far has been literally fine.

Then you explained it wrong. Moving an old BOOT drive that was C: in a new system that already have a boot drive and is now D: will break every software installed and games.

So unless you did something totally different than what you explained it should be like this.

What we explained is legit if what you did is what you explained.

 

[dorsai]

rly? that contradicts what the other people have said. can i ask why that happens lol

I agree with USAFRet.

If you have games installed using Steam or other clients like Origin you can redirect the client to the game files and they will work fine.

Any other types of apps like will generally require re-install on the new system to run properly. I always uninstall apps like Photoshop when moving to a new PC and then re-install on the new system. It's a pain but it's better than losing your product key(s).

With game files now typically in the + hundred gigabyte file size I have been using a stand alone SSD for nothing but game files to avoid the hours of downloading involved in moving to a new build.

 

[chumpy_]

Then you explained it wrong. Moving an old BOOT drive that was C: in a new system that already have a boot drive and is now D: will break every software installed and games.

So unless you did something totally different than what you explained it should be like this.

What we explained is legit if what you did is what you explained.

i literally did what you just explained and i ta fine

 

[Karadjgne]

Verify 1 thing. That what you are booting is actually the new OS and not the old OS on the HDD.

When you 'install' a game, it asks for a place to install it. Sometimes this is 'Express' and chooses its own path, like C blah/program files x86/tonka/game. Most of the game files go there. Other files get opened in C user/appdata/local/mygames/tonka/ etc. The connections and links are written into the registry so when you hit the "exe" shortcut, the pc knows to load certain audio links, display drivers, make connections to the my games folder and Tonka folders etc.

When you move the hdd, physically, that's all still there. If you change the OS, it's not. Physically it is, but on another drive and not recognised. It's like if you and BFF had seperate profiles on the pc, he can't access your files, you can't access his.

The only games that will work as is are non installed games. Self contained, same as if you were loading from a dvd. You supply the shortcut, the game does the rest, not the pc nor windows. Many older games were that way, almost all DLC games are not, they tie into windows now and use the library system.

You'll know a game or app that's actually installed through windows, because when you look in tools, there's a link to 'Uninstall' the game. Same as there's a link to 'Uninstall' Steam, or Origin or U-play or nvidia files etc. Those apps have a Windows Installer data file that contains all the places and registry entries etc. When you uninstall, that data and addressing is removed and 'technically' renders the game or app unusable and available to be written over.

By swapping OS drives, the new OS doesn't contain the Windows Installer info, so 'technically' the game doesn't exist. Only self contained, non-installed games will then work.