What happens to old data after OS migration

[Dave16868]

I've been looking everywhere for a clear answer but i just cant find it for some reason. Im building a new desktop so Im planning to migrate the os from my super old hdd to a new ssd. I only need the os from it and 6gb of some other files, which im prob gonna store on google drive. The thing im completely confused with is that, after i migrate my os to my new ssd, does all the data in the old hdd get erased, or is only the os thats getting erased? can i continue to use that disk, or do i have to format it after the migration?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Cloning is not meant for your purpose. It is meant to transfer OS from one storage device to another and to be used on same hardware.

What you have to do, is to install fresh OS on your new pc and then copy necessary data from your old pc.
After that you can transfer windows 10 license from your old pc to new one with windows activation troubleshooter.

But to answer your original question - when you clone contents of one drive to another, original drive stays intact. You just have 2 drives with identical data on them.

 

[Rocky Bennett]

You need to do a clean install, not clone your old hard drive. If you have a laptop right now chances are that legally you need to buy a new license because there are different types of licenses for different types of computers.

 

[Rocky Bennett]

I've been looking everywhere for a clear answer but i just cant find it for some reason. Im building a new desktop so Im planning to migrate the os from my super old hdd to a new ssd. I only need the os from it and 6gb of some other files, which im prob gonna store on google drive. The thing im completely confused with is that, after i migrate my os to my new ssd, does all the data in the old hdd get erased, or is only the os thats getting erased? can i continue to use that disk, or do i have to format it after the migration?

To answer your question directly, absolutely nothing happens to your data because when you "read" a disc it does absolutely nothing to the disc that you "read." You need to do a clean install and wipe the old disc clean.

 

[USAFRet]

I've been looking everywhere for a clear answer but i just cant find it for some reason. Im building a new desktop so Im planning to migrate the os from my super old hdd to a new ssd. I only need the os from it and 6gb of some other files, which im prob gonna store on google drive. The thing im completely confused with is that, after i migrate my os to my new ssd, does all the data in the old hdd get erased, or is only the os thats getting erased? can i continue to use that disk, or do i have to format it after the migration?

1. You can't clone "only the OS". Everything in that partition or drive gets cloned over. Everything.

2. The clone/migration process, if you end up going that way, does not delete anything off the original drive. For very good reasons.

 

[USAFRet]

I've been looking everywhere for a clear answer but i just cant find it for some reason. Im building a new desktop so Im planning to migrate the os from my super old hdd to a new ssd. I only need the os from it and 6gb of some other files, which im prob gonna store on google drive. The thing im completely confused with is that, after i migrate my os to my new ssd, does all the data in the old hdd get erased, or is only the os thats getting erased? can i continue to use that disk, or do i have to format it after the migration?

Additionally, you really do not want to clone the old OS drive to a whole new PC.
That's no different than moving the physical drive over. Depending on the specific hardware involved, probably won't even boot up.

Then, you run into licensing issues.
What OS is this, and where did it come from?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

After you copy your data from the old hard drive you should format the old drive and then run some diagnostics on it to see if it is still any good.

 

[Dave16868]

I see. Thanks for all the answers, it was really helpful!