graedus

hi guys.
now that i've built my new system, i want to take my hard drive out of my old rig. can i just "plug and play" and use the provided software to change the hardware settings in windows, or will i have to run a whole new install?

Vestitor

Depends on the operating system. In my experience if you have Windows Xp of any sort or Vista for that manner, than you have to install a fresh copy of the operating system. I do not know the possibilities of any other operating system though.

Edit: I used to switch hard drives from computer to computer all the time with Windows 98 though.

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AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz @ 2.84Ghz Stable (35C-58C) CPU Temp
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paratwa

Are you wanting to use the old hard drive as a backup drive? Or are you wanting to use it to run your system with the OS already installed on the old drive?

If you are wanting to use the old OS, then you will need to reformat and reinstall the OS. Trying to use a copy of a OS out of a different system leads to tons of problems. It is always best to reformat and reinstall.

If you are wanting to use it as a back up drive. Then once you have your new drive up and running with the OS installed, you can then install the old drive, and pull any files you want off of it to your new drive and then reformat the old drive.

graedus

ok thanks guys, i was hoping i wouldn't have to reinstall, but i guess that's just a pipe dream.