Old Hard Drive to New computer

[hwayan]

Is it possible for me to take my old drive to a newer computer? I don't have any access to the old computer, and I have some documents and files I would like to keep. But since I don't have access to the computer, it's broken and won't start up, I don't have access to systemprep. Would it still be possible for me to transfer the hard drive?

 

[molletts]

You should be able to attach the old hard drive to the new computer quite easily as a second hard drive, which will allow you to recover your data from it.

I wouldn't recommend actually trying to use the old drive as a basis for building a new computer without wiping it first - you'll be far better off doing a fresh install of your OS than trying to get an existing install to work on a different PC.

Stephen

 

[MrFixitHeavy]

You can easily use an old harddrive in a new system... provided that the new motherboard has the proper connection interface and power connector. You may need an adapter in some cases.. As Molletts said it's possible but ill-advised to use an old HD to boot a new system because really..it's likely to cause issues. And the least you'll have to go through redetecting and installing all your new hardware drivers.

At worse your OS may throw a hissy fit since it's in a new system. Windows has had many issues where it gets flagged as pirated if too many system components change.