reuse SSD

Josh Waterson · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:10

Hi All,

I have an SSD (M.2 WD Blue 1TB) that has Windows 10 installed on it and was used very briefly in a build that I have now dismantled and abandoned.

I'm wondering if I can just take it off the old motherboard and plug it straight in to a new build and run Windows 10 without any issues?

If this is not a good idea, would I be able to plug it in to the new build, enter BIOS on first booting of the new PC and wipe the drive and then install a fresh version of Windows 10?

Deleted member 77746 · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:10

Josh Waterson said:
I'm wondering if I can just take it off the old motherboard and plug it straight in to a new build and run Windows 10 without any issues?

Try it.

Josh Waterson · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:14

Bouton Aide said:
Try it.

Can't yet, don't have the new build. I'm not expecting anything to blow up, just wondering if anyone has experience of trying this and whether there'd be any issues I should be aware of.

nlel1975 · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:15

When it boots for the first time it will sort itself out, only thing is you will be deactivated so will need a valid key.

Josh Waterson · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:22

nlel1975 said:
When it boots for the first time it will sort itself out, only thing is you will be deactivated so will need a valid key.

Do you think it'll work as smoothly as if it had been installed first on the new PC? I saw something on YT that suggested it might not (not much detail given as to the conditions under which this could be the case). If it wasn't running smoothly, would wiping the drive and starting from scratch be my best bet, or is this just not an issue?

nlel1975 · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:24

Should be fine.

varkanoid · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:28

Josh Waterson said:
If this is not a good idea, would I be able to plug it in to the new build, enter BIOS on first booting of the new PC and wipe the drive and then install a fresh version of Windows 10?

Personally I would do this just to avoid any driver issues or pitfalls. Windows 10 takes what 20 minutes to install nowadays if that ?
As said before having a valid key to activate it again is more important.

Josh Waterson · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:32

varkanoid said:
Personally I would do this just to avoid any driver issues or pitfalls. Windows 10 takes what 20 minutes to install nowadays if that ?
As said before having a valid key to activate it again is more important.

Ah ok, so would you do that on first boot of the new PC, or does that matter?

I couldn't do any lasting damage either way, could I?

Josh Waterson · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:33

Thanks for the responses all - rather new to this, so apologies if questions seem odd or obvious

Deleted member 77746 · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:36

Josh Waterson said:
Can't yet, don't have the new build. I'm not expecting anything to blow up, just wondering if anyone has experience of trying this and whether there'd be any issues I should be aware of.

Sometimes it's fine sometimes it's not. Easy to stick it in and try and then if there's problems start again.

varkanoid · 19 Jun 2021 at 17:59

Josh Waterson said:
Ah ok, so would you do that on first boot of the new PC, or does that matter?

I couldn't do any lasting damage either way, could I?

Naw damage its only software. In theory it will just boot to the Windows 10 you originally installed and be fine. I`d just use a fresh install.

GreyHam · 19 Jun 2021 at 18:21

Easiest to just use a fresh install but should be fine.

nlel1975 · 19 Jun 2021 at 18:32

Just one word of caution, when I did a fresh install of Windows 10 using an installation disc I created from the .iso image of Windows 10 64bit it kept freezing which didn’t allow me time to install the drivers.

Restored from a full system backup and it stopped freezing, must have been something to do with the drivers or lack of on the fresh install.

Tetras · 19 Jun 2021 at 22:22

Josh Waterson said:
Ah ok, so would you do that on first boot of the new PC, or does that matter?

I couldn't do any lasting damage either way, could I?

It won't damage anything (though it's wise to make backups if there's anything you want to keep), you're safe to try it.

simc1978 · 19 Jun 2021 at 22:38

I'd be inclined to wipe it

Cooler running · 19 Jun 2021 at 22:54

Keep it, the only risk is the key being invalidated if you've overused it - even then that can be addressed by just logging into a windows account before making the switch.

In either case it should be fine, although you may need to reinstall Nvidia drivers and such when you first boot.

HoneyBadger · 20 Jun 2021 at 11:54

No need to wipe it, plug and play.

Josh Waterson · 20 Jun 2021 at 18:46

Thanks for all your responses. This forum is great - just as useful (though less snarky, thankfully) than Stack Overflow for programming.

Re the SSD, now that I know not much is at stake, I'll plug it in and see how it runs. If I'm having any issues, I'll start from scratch.

sy-core · 20 Jun 2021 at 21:06

If you ever noticed anything acting slow or if you wanted to cut down on any bloatware that may of been on it go for a fresh install. Back in the days of torrents for movies if i really wanted to, I'd do a fresh install, but that was when Windows was still on a CD. I also believed that Microsoft tied the copy of windows into your hardware components so once you swapped motherboard you would need a fresh windows install, I don't know if they scrapped that yet though.

mickyflinn · 20 Jun 2021 at 21:28

sy-core said:
If you ever noticed anything acting slow or if you wanted to cut down on any bloatware that may of been on it go for a fresh install. Back in the days of torrents for movies if i really wanted to, I'd do a fresh install, but that was when Windows was still on a CD. I also believed that Microsoft tied the copy of windows into your hardware components so once you swapped motherboard you would need a fresh windows install, I don't know if they scrapped that yet though.

Windows 10 is still in tied to the motherboard but if the licence is linked to your microsoft account you can just register it with a change of hardware.