Use old hdd

[Khantic]

Just wondering if I can use my old HDD with an OS in it into a new build. I already have my ssd with a new OS installed. I want to use my old hard drives from my previous build. Do I have to reformat it?

 

[panathas]

Yes you can use them but you have to reformat them. Especially the drive that has the old OS. Just get into the BIOS and make sure that the correct boot order is set. You don't want to boot from that old drive. By the way, how old are those hard drives?

 

[Khantic]

Yes you can use them but you have to reformat them. Especially the drive that has the old OS. Just get into the BIOS and make sure that the correct boot order is set. You don't want to boot from that old drive. By the way, how old are those hard drives?

Hey umm.. My hdd (OS installed) and ssd has the same age maybe 3-4yrs. The opther one is pretty old. Maybe 6+ yrs. Is it possible to copy some files from the old hard drives before I reformat them. Because I think my gpu or mobo died. And my cpu doesnt have integrated graphics

 

[panathas]

If all are SATA drives you can use them in your new system. If one of those is too old 10+ years it may be an IDE drive, that won't work on your current system. One easy way to find out if all are SATA drives is to look at the connector/cables. If all are using the same cables or have the same plug type they should be SATA, since you said that one of your drives is 3-4 years old and it should be a SATA drive.

You can still transfer the files before formatting them. In fact you only need to format the OS drive because you don't want that drive to sort of "conflict" with the newer OS drive. In some systems plugging in an older OS drive, may change the boot order in the BIOS. The system will boot from the older drive and strange things may happen such as continues boot-reset loops or the system may keep crushing. You simply have to get into the UEFI/BIOS and make sure that the correct boot order is set. That way the system will boot from the correct OS drive. You'll transfer your files and then format it in order to avoid future headaches. The other drive that simply has your files doesn't need formatting.