Migrating SSD & 2 HDD's to a brand new PC from old one. (Wipe or no wipe?)

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Tranzcendent

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Sep 10, 2015
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I'll be building a brand new PC in a few days and I was simply going to move my current drives over to the new PC. This includes one 250gb SSD, one 1TB HDD, and one 2TB HDD.

I was wondering if I would need to wipe any of these drives before migrating it into the new build (I did not purchase any new drives for the new build, I was planning on just moving the old drives into the new one and doing a clean install on the SSD)

Would it be possible to just move everything into the new computer without having to wipe any of these drives? SSD included, or should I wipe the SSD clean and start with a fresh install?

Extra information:
The new PC will of-course have a different motherboard, CPU, GPU, and memory. All of the parts are vastly different.
- This question arose when I realized the SSD will have driver files still attached to the old Mobo.
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Hey there, Tranzcendent.

If the SSD has no personal data, which you'd miss, then you can reformat it during the Windows installation process (if you have such data on it - back it up and do the same). Note that you should have all other drives disconnected from the motherboard during the Windows installation process, so that none of the OS data gets written on one of the secondary storage drives.

As for the the 2 HDDs, you should be able to transfer them to your new PC without too much of a hassle. The data should be there and they should be recognized by the new OS without a hitch if everything's fine. Note that some programs may have files in your User Folder on your C: drive which is on your SSD (e.g. some games have "saved game"...
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, Tranzcendent.

If the SSD has no personal data, which you'd miss, then you can reformat it during the Windows installation process (if you have such data on it - back it up and do the same). Note that you should have all other drives disconnected from the motherboard during the Windows installation process, so that none of the OS data gets written on one of the secondary storage drives.

As for the the 2 HDDs, you should be able to transfer them to your new PC without too much of a hassle. The data should be there and they should be recognized by the new OS without a hitch if everything's fine. Note that some programs may have files in your User Folder on your C: drive which is on your SSD (e.g. some games have "saved game" files there) so don't forget to back them up.

About the extra info - the different hardware (more importantly - the different motherboard) is the reason for you to have to make a fresh install of Windows, otherwise you won't be able to boot with your currently installed OS.

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
 
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Solution
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
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Given the following assumptions...
1. The "old" drives are from a generic installation, i.e., a desktop PC you previously built. So that it's a generic machine - not OEM. (If the drives come from an OEM PC you previously purchased - read no further.)

2. Your new-to-be-built PC will be similiarly a generic machine.

3. The OS you will be installing on the new PC is Win 8.1. If you're planning to fresh-install Win 10 on the new PC my comments DO NOT apply. I haven't yet worked with Win 10 to any degree so I don't know if what I'm indicating will work. It probably will but I can't be sure at this time. Capiche?

4. Presumably the OS on your current 250 GB SSD is also Win 8.1

Assuming the above assumptions...
After building your new PC ensure it's connected to the net. Install your 250 GB SSD former boot drive in the new machine. Boot. Hopefully the system will boot without a problem. If all goes well you may (or may not) need to install this or that driver(s). It's amazing what Windows will pick up re drivers and automatically install without user input. In any event check Device Manager to determine whether there are any drivers you need to install. Ditto for the motherboard's drivers/utilities installation CD.

With the system booting without incident and properly functioning you can then install your two former secondary HDDs. It's prudent to access Disk Management and assign the identical drive letters to those drives that they formerly had. It's possible that DM has already done that for you.

Of course it's conceivable the system will not boot and then it will be necessary to fresh install the OS on your boot drive after it's installed in the new PC. You can then follow Boogieman_WD's instructions.

(I neglected to add one cautionary note to the above. Before you install the 250 GB SSD boot drive in your new PC it's really best to clone the contents of that drive to another drive. We always do this as a matter of course. Then, should things go awry after you've installed that drive in the new PC and the boot failed, it's possible data has been corrupted on that drive. So it's comforting to know that you have a clone of that drive should that happen.
 
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Tranzcendent

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Sep 10, 2015
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Thanks for the responses, It will be a windows 7 install and as I assumed only the SSD will need to be backed up and reinstalled. (Forgot about the saved games files and such) Saved me a hell of a lot of headache there, thanks!
 
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