Used HDD in new system

Tigjaw · 27 Jul 2006 at 11:59

Hi guys,
As you may have seen I'm building a conroe computer and I decided to use my HDD and CD Drive out my current computer in my new system. The CD Drive should be easily plugged and played but I've been wondering about the Hard Drive.

Obviously my current HDD has everything that is on my current computer, including the operating system etc... So I know I can't just plug it in my new computer, presumably I'll have to format it.
But how?

Do I need to format it whilst in my current computer or when I plug it into my new computer?

And, is there anything else I'm missing? Using a used HDD in a new system now seems a bit more awkward than I have originally thought.

SiriusB · 27 Jul 2006 at 12:39

You can format it wherever you like. Makes no odds really since during the XP install it will pretty much format it for you.

Just make sure you have all the data you want to keep backup before you format

SiriusB

Tigjaw · 27 Jul 2006 at 12:54

SiriusB said:
You can format it wherever you like. Makes no odds really since during the XP install it will pretty much format it for you.

Just make sure you have all the data you want to keep backup before you format

SiriusB

Thanks for the reply, so really all I need to do is, backup my drive, plonk it in my new computer and it will be formatted during the first bootup?

SiriusB · 27 Jul 2006 at 13:18

Tigjaw said:
Thanks for the reply, so really all I need to do is, backup my drive, plonk it in my new computer and it will be formatted during the first bootup?

Not quite. Yes to backing up, and yes to plonking in the new PC.

Now, when you come to install Windows XP [assuming this is indeed what you are using] then during the XP setup you get to a screen asking where you want to install XP to.

This is where you get a chance to partition up your HDD [split it up]. If you just want to leave it the way it was, just choose C: and go - it will ask if you wanna Quick Format or Full - I usually choose full just to make sure, but a lot of people just go for Quick too. I don't think it matters too much.

Anyway once you tell it which type of format to do, it will go away and do it.

SiriusB

agw_01 · 27 Jul 2006 at 13:19

You don't have to format the drive at all.

You can install another instance of XP on the same drive. The XP installation will search the drive, find the previous install and then ask you to specify a directory for installation.

Tigjaw · 27 Jul 2006 at 13:57

Thanks guys, and thanks for the walkthrough SiriusB...I think I'll do a full format, that way there's no complications and I don't have to worry about uninstalling or deleting old stuff.