Huchick Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 I have an old computer and I decided to sort out the files on it which I wanted to keep and remove. I took the PC apart and took both drives out. I know how to actually put the drives into my new computer but from what I've heard I would have to format the drives, but I believe that deletes everything on the drives. Is it possible to move the drive from one computer to another while keeping all files. If so, how? Please help.
Twins_Mercury Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Technically you could move a drive from one computer to another, but this causes problems due to incompatible drivers. You could try making a backup of the hard drives to an external source. After that you format the hard drives, reinstall the operating system and restore the files from your backup.
Litwick Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 The biggest issue are the drivers. The HDD & the OS will need different drivers to work with the new hardware, if you try to boot them with the old drivers it will most likely result in crashing and freezing on start up. There are ways to work around it and keep your OS, but they're technical and aren't always guaranteed to work. It's easier to reformat the drive and reinstall your OS if its an option. A clean install will guarantee your OS and hardware will work properly with each other.
Twins_Mercury Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Why would i re install the os? Because formatting deletes everything. If you format a drive it's left completely blank.
The Oddball Posted December 15, 2015 Posted December 15, 2015 You generally can't do this. Every windows installation is custom tailored to the computer it was installed on. Install Windows 7 on a new HDD on the new PC, and move files manually.
Huchick Posted December 18, 2015 Author Posted December 18, 2015 I have a working PC atm. It already has windows 7 on it. I just want to put the drives in my pc without removing the data. They worked on another motherboard, will they work on my new pc WITHOUT formatting.
Twins_Mercury Posted December 19, 2015 Posted December 19, 2015 I have a working PC atm. It already has windows 7 on it. I just want to put the drives in my pc without removing the data. They worked on another motherboard, will they work on my new pc WITHOUT formatting. You know what, maybe the best thing to do is to just give it a shot. If everything seems to be working perfectly then that's great. If you get problems with it or if the pc seems oddly slow, then you might need to to do a fresh reinstallation.
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