Can I format my used win 7 hdd

gav_the_chav

gav_the_chav

gav_the_chav

Associate
Joined
13 May 2012
Posts
36
Location
West sussex
I have purchased an ssd and I'm going to install win 7 onto it.

I have my old mechanical 500 gig hdd which I used as my primary drive, this as win 7 on it, can I format this which has :)win 7 on so I can use it as a data drive?
 
Yes you can. It's a hard drive, that's how they work. Being a former OS drive makes no difference to its formatability.

...did I just invent a new word?

:D
 
Sorry, maybe I could have been clearer.

It,s not convieniant for me to format until my machine is built, so that's the only way I can do it. Like I said having 2 win 7,s, gave me concern that my computer, would get confused and read from the wrong win 7.

I hope you can understand this, I'm finding it very tricky:(
 
At least you are giving it a go and asking relevant questions!, even ask questions you think could be irrelevant, every questions you ask helps you learn.

Another new member takes their baby steps!.
 
gav_the_chav said:
Sorry, maybe I could have been clearer.

It,s not convieniant for me to format until my machine is built, so that's the only way I can do it. Like I said having 2 win 7,s, gave me concern that my computer, would get confused and read from the wrong win 7.

I hope you can understand this, I'm finding it very tricky:(
Click to expand...

The best thing to do is to just leave the old drive disconnected while you are installing Windows onto the SSD. Then, plug the old drive back in and it should just appear as a data drive, and you can go and format it.

All you'll need to watch out for is that the SSD is set to a higher priority to boot from in the BIOS.
 
Well, thank you. I appreciate your kind words.

It maybe baby steps yes, but a flick of a switch and then the worlds your oyster, what I,m trying to say, I.ll try and find the words, I know how it works I just felt this forum was very 'friendly' and technology has moved on since I built my last pc a couple of years ago I see a few other members ask which seem noob questions so I felt fine asking here, and that is great, everyone starts
somewhere, like you say that's what I'm doing 1 step at a time.

I don,t mind others having a joke with me because I'm noob, I'm sure if you knew me you would appreciate I'm actually very intelligent and i know how it works;) just gotta start somewhere......think I said that...maybe you know what I'm getting at? Lol

Sometimes I find it hard to explain, so sorry if it reads too krypticky..is that a word? Lol
:)
 
Last edited:
Here is one thing that makes IT a lot easier.

When diagnosing problems there are two type;

Hardware & Software

If your doing things like installing operating systems best practice is to remove all existing devices inside and out to allow an easy install.

A lot of people have software problems for example, files not copied properly. An overclock can cause system instability too so a lot of people will require a bios reset.

When I first started in IT 14 years ago I never ever ever asked questions. I always put two and two together to get four. When things didn't add up I would try to solve things logically in common order. Try this, try that, do this, do that.

Once you do a few diagnostics on different systems everything becomes normal. The hardest part of IT is the acrynoms. You get used to it over time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom