New CPU, Ram and Mobo + Old HDD: Will it work?

thezeronumber · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:15

A few days ago i finally got around to purchasing some much needed parts for my computer: New CPU, new Ram, new Motherboard, new case. The old and still remaining parts are the HDD, GPU, PSU, CPU cooler and CD drive. The parts arrived, i ensured a clean area, grounded myself, gutted the old case and i am now mostly finished with installing into the new one. So far so good for a relative newbie such as myself or so i thought.

I think i've made a monumental mistake in assuming that my old HDD will automatically work with everything. Because i am a giant idiot i have gone ahead with the entire process without backing anything up and i only have a single Hard drive; the one with Windows 7 Home Premium and all of my files. I have no other computer to use and swap the files to either (typing using my Phone).

I could boot it up once ready and see if it will work but i don't want to try that out if it does something irreversible.

1) Is it possible/likely that my HDD will work without having to wipe absolutely everything and reinstalling Windows 7?
2) Is there any harm in attempting to boot the old HDD (aka will it corrupt my files or damage the computer in anyway)?

If it makes any difference my old Motherboard was also an Asus and my old CPU also an Intel but everything else is of a different brand.

[New] Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V
[New] Ram: Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB
[New] CPU: Intel i5 3570K
[Old] GPU: Gigabyte GTX 480 SE
[Old] PSU: Antec 750W TruePower
[Old] HDD: Western Digital 320GB
[Old] OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

PistolPete · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:36

1) Very unlikely and not advisable anyway. You'll end up with nothing but problems.
2) Windows may try and add the missing drivers it's now "found" and that MAY cause problems going back into the old machine but nothing will be corrupted or damaged.

darael · 22 Oct 2012 at 14:55

Just get the old motherboard stood on some newspaper or plain cardboard. Install CPU, RAM, GPU, etc as they were before except they are now outside the case. Load into Windows, grab the files you need, and off you go.

Confused Stu · 22 Oct 2012 at 16:34

While a reinstall of Windows is definitely best idea to avoid issues in future, it is probably possible to get an old install up and running on your new hardware. You'll probably find Windows naturally blue screen's after a motherboard change because the HDD drivers are different and so Windows cannot recognise it's own HDD and boot from it. If this happens and if you can download a copy of Hiren's BootCD (http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd) and burn it to a disc (or a friend can for you), then you can boot from this disc, select MiniXP, then run the "Fix HDD controller" program. Point it at your C:\Windows folder and it should then re-enable the default drivers for the hard drives rather than the ones specifically for your old motherboard. This should mean you can then boot into Windows and access your files to back them up.

Although you could potentially use this state to uninstall your motherboard's old drivers and install the new ones, you would really have to know what you're doing and will probably just be lining yourself up for a world of quirky issues later on, so a Windows reinstall really is the preferred option.

I had to do the above when a friend of a friend gave me their PC to fix when their nVidia-based LGA775 motherboard had died and I had to replace it with an Intel-based one. Hiren's BootCD managed to get me past the initial BSOD and I was able to boot and then sort out drivers from within Windows.

ubersonic · 22 Oct 2012 at 17:10

It will most likely work, Windows 7 is pretty awesome at moving from system to system, especially if its moving between Intel controllers, just make sure the AHCI/IDE setting is the same in BIOS. What was your old board?

thezeronumber · 22 Oct 2012 at 17:47

Thanks for the replies.

I was afraid that might be the case. Not looking forward to re-installing everything but then again who does? The problem now is that i have no device to make a backup on so my best bet is buying another HDD, but i'd need to find a reliable one asap so i can get it delivered asap and get this all sorted asap. I'm fine with the computer being out of action for a few days but a certain family member is being very eager to get it done considering she rarely uses it (maybe it's the dust and mess in the study room, i don't know). Half-tempted to get an SSD while i'm at it seeing as now would be the best time to get one.

My old Motherboard is an Asus P5Q Pro Turbo.

thezeronumber · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:35

I decided to take advantage of the weekly offers while i could.

1) Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache
2) OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
3) OcUK Professional 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Adaptor Plate - Black

With next day delivery and VAT it comes to £145.67, which i'm very happy with. If someone told me i could get a decent 2TB HDD and 120GB SSD with next day delivery for under £150 i would have been skeptical but thanks to this site it has become a reality.

Now to impatiently wait and hope it gets here tomorrow morning so i can backup, swap components (again), re-install Windows and finish the build before the night is up.

Gibbs · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:36

I have done it before, works ok, windows doesn't run very well but you'll get done what you need to.