PC dead but HDD's perfect, how can I get it to work in a newer PC?

[jamjamjones]

So my PC crapped out on me but my HDD is still perfectly healthy. Is there any way at all for me, when I do get a new PC, to perfectly clone or transfer everything from it to the newer HDD? or get it working on the new PC without losing any data?

Basically I'm just asking if it's possible to transfer stuff without having to deal with the problems that come with redownloading and reconfiguring a ton of stuff. I've got 3TB of data so this would take a very long time.

Another question I guess is if it would possible to put it in the new PC and get the OS installed on it and have it work like nothing changed?

 

[Countgreen]

If the HDD is still in good health and has the OS and everything else that you want on it just plug it into the new PC. Make sure that there are no other drives with windows installed because this can cause issues. Make sure all drivers are up to date and from there it will work like nothing changed.

 

[jamjamjones]

If the HDD is still in good health and has the OS and everything else that you want on it just plug it into the new PC. Make sure that there are no other drives with windows installed because this can cause issues. Make sure all drivers are up to date and from there it will work like nothing changed.

Are you sure this will work? Like let's say I get a new PC, take the HDD it comes with out, put this one in and turn it on. What happens?

 

[Countgreen]

If the HDD is still in good health and has the OS and everything else that you want on it just plug it into the new PC. Make sure that there are no other drives with windows installed because this can cause issues. Make sure all drivers are up to date and from there it will work like nothing changed.

Are you sure this will work? Like let's say I get a new PC, take the HDD it comes with out, put this one in and turn it on. What happens?

It will work like it was in the other pc

 

[Ztdutxjgxgtu]

It works fine even you have many boot drives,
Just set it in bios.

You windows 10 license may be gone though

 

[jamjamjones]

It works fine even you have many boot drives,
Just set it in bios.

You windows 10 license may be gone though

So what do I do about that, if it is?

 

[Ztdutxjgxgtu]

May be too late since pc is 100% dead.

Digital licence is installed on other hardware.
If you can revive old pc, maybe remove faulty parts.,
somehow ,
Boot to windows link it to microsoft account

 

[jamjamjones]

May be too late since pc is 100% dead.

Digital licence is installed on other hardware.
If you can revive old pc, maybe remove faulty parts.,
somehow ,
Boot to windows link it to microsoft account

It's not 100% dead, but it's definitely on its way. I've already taken stuff out of it but I guess I could reassemble it. Basically it will only boot with 1 stick of ram and the motherboard is very likely the cause. Anyway I *think* it might already be linked to my microsoft account, but what else do I do need to do?

 

[jamjamjones]

Also if it helps, the HDD is 8TB and has Windows 10

 

[Ztdutxjgxgtu]

Nothing more.
I think you can put drive back to old pc to recover license anytime

 

[jamjamjones]

Nothing more.
I think you can put drive back to old pc to recover license anytime

Okay, but I'm not sure how to do that.

 

[jamjamjones]

Also my OS on this HDD was Windows 7 but upgraded to Windows 10, will that be a problem??

 

[ElectrO_90]

I think you are getting bad advice here.
If you buy a NEW PC, Windows does have a chance to configure itself when inserted into a new PC, but the chances are against it and that it will crap out and corrupt it.
If you get a New PC, which has windows installed, you can only really get your data off of the old one.
Most software won't copy over but the data will still be there. Just reinstall that software on the new hard disk and copy the data over.

 

[jamjamjones]

I think you are getting bad advice here.
If you buy a NEW PC, Windows does have a chance to configure itself when inserted into a new PC, but the chances are against it and that it will crap out and corrupt it.
If you get a New PC, which has windows installed, you can only really get your data off of the old one.
Most software won't copy over but the data will still be there. Just reinstall that software on the new hard disk and copy the data over.

Is there anything that makes it easier to transfer the data, then? I've considered just dragging and dropping the entire drive and combining it into the new one but that still won't get me everything I need.

 

[ElectrO_90]

Certain things will work like that, can't say for sure what will. It's something you can try - just remember to COPY and not CUT - so you always have a backup.
If you replace the computer with exactly same motherboard, you won't have a problem, as windows will see everything the same.

 

[jamjamjones]

Certain things will work like that, can't say for sure what will. It's something you can try - just remember to COPY and not CUT - so you always have a backup.
If you replace the computer with exactly same motherboard, you won't have a problem, as windows will see everything the same.

The main thing I'm concerned about is certain programs not carrying over correctly like Photoshop, which would be disastrous as I would have no way of getting it again without repurchasing.

There's also windows settings that I would want to keep as-is, but I think that would work out.. Just don't know for sure.

 

[USAFRet]

So much wrong in here.

Moving a drive with its OS from one system to another has 3 possible outcomes.

1. It boots up just fine.
2. It fails completely.
3. It boots up, but you have lingering issues later.

I've seen all 3
Anyone that says it always works simply hasn't done it enough times to see it fail completely.

And a clone of that drive is no different than moving the physical drive.

Bottom line - Likely you'll need a fresh OS install. Which includes your applications as well.
It may work, but it also may fail completely.

 

[jamjamjones]

Do you mean you want to transfer everything in the old but healthy HDD to a new one without reinstalling the OS or some basic or necessary applications/software? If that's what you want, you can try a third-party tool- AOMEI Partition Assistant(https://www.disk-partition.com/free-partition-manager.html). It could enable you to easily and safely migrate the OS to HDD or SSD, so you don't spend extra time reinstaling everything.

So let's say I get a new computer, fresh HDD in it, set it up completely so it has windows installed and is basically a brand new PC. Now, I have my old HDD, and I want everything that's on it in this new HDD.

Will I be able to just migrate/copy it to the newer HDD using this type of software without any problems? I was always under the assumption this was impossible or at least not recommended.

 

[USAFRet]

Do you mean you want to transfer everything in the old but healthy HDD to a new one without reinstalling the OS or some basic or necessary applications/software? If that's what you want, you can try a third-party tool- AOMEI Partition Assistant(https://www.disk-partition.com/free-partition-manager.html). It could enable you to easily and safely migrate the OS to HDD or SSD, so you don't spend extra time reinstaling everything.

So let's say I get a new computer, fresh HDD in it, set it up completely so it has windows installed and is basically a brand new PC. Now, I have my old HDD, and I want everything that's on it in this new HDD.

Will I be able to just migrate/copy it to the newer HDD using this type of software without any problems? I was always under the assumption this was impossible or at least not recommended.

Your personal files can be copied no problem.
Applications, no.

And the cloning process mentioned above will not work for this.
The clone replaces whatever is on the drive. Not adds to it.

 

[ElectrO_90]

This is why I said, if you got the exact same motherboard, then everything would work as it was previously. You change anything and the chances are you have to reinstall them all.
New Computer = New Everything (generally speaking).

 

[jamjamjones]

Do you mean you want to transfer everything in the old but healthy HDD to a new one without reinstalling the OS or some basic or necessary applications/software? If that's what you want, you can try a third-party tool- AOMEI Partition Assistant(https://www.disk-partition.com/free-partition-manager.html). It could enable you to easily and safely migrate the OS to HDD or SSD, so you don't spend extra time reinstaling everything.

So let's say I get a new computer, fresh HDD in it, set it up completely so it has windows installed and is basically a brand new PC. Now, I have my old HDD, and I want everything that's on it in this new HDD.

Will I be able to just migrate/copy it to the newer HDD using this type of software without any problems? I was always under the assumption this was impossible or at least not recommended.

Your personal files can be copied no problem.
Applications, no.

And the cloning process mentioned above will not work for this.
The clone replaces whatever is on the drive. Not adds to it.

Guess that means I can only do it the old-fashioned way, eh? Oh well..

 

[jamjamjones]

deleted.

This will not help me as it seems to just be a way of cloning to another HDD. I need an older HDD to work on a newer SYSTEM, or a way to make the HDD in the new system exactly like my old one.