Moving HDD and SSD to new computer?

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TheLegendOfChin

TheLegendOfChin

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Sep 6, 2015
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I'm upgrading my computer to new motherboard, CPU, and RAM. I'm currently using unactivated Windows (whoops) and will actually buy Windows for the new build. How can I move all my data (Pictures, videos, docs, games, etc.) to the new motherboard without damaging anything? Will I need to uninstall Windows beforehand, or can I just plug the SATA cables in without having to prepare and just go from there?

Old Build:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kWk7M8
New Build:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HX8m2R
 
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A
No, Fabezz is NOT incorrect. It's entirely possible to move your current SSD (I assume it's your boot drive) and your Seagate HDD secondary drive to your new system and this would POSSIBLY result in a bootable functional system. We've done similar transfers many, many times. (We're assuming here that non-OEM machines are involved, right?)

BUT...

Calculagator is also correct. It becomes more of an iffy situation when going from an AMD-based system to a Intel-based system (or vice versa). Very iffy. But it can work if you're lucky.

Naturally after the present drive containing the OS (presumably your Kingston SSD) is installed in the new system and it boots to a Desktop (again, if you're lucky), you would need to install the necessary...
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Fabezz

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Dec 30, 2016
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I had this problem only yesterday. If you already have windows and your documents on the HDD or SSD (whichever has the OS installed) and it is inactivated, you should be able to move it to the new PC just fine and buy a product key from thew windows store to activate your windows once you're all set up. You should'nt need to uninstall windows. Hopefully this helped.
 
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Calculagator

Calculagator

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Nov 18, 2014
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First, you don't need to worry about damaging things unless you physically hurt your disks or manually delete things.
I don't know how things work on windows 10, but in the past, I never had good luck moving an os install from an AMD cpu to Intel. I would think you will probably need a fresh windows install. That may not be strictly necessary anymore, but it's good practice anyways.
I would copy all of your files over to your HDD, do a clean install on your SSD, reinstall all of your programs as needed to the SSD, and just move you HDD over to the new machine.
 
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Scottray

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Jul 14, 2016
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Fabezz info above is incorrect. Since you're changing CPU and mobo, you'll need to do a clean install of windows. I would recommend backing up files to another location (disk, cloud, etc). Wipe the drive. Then, reinstall windows.
 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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No, Fabezz is NOT incorrect. It's entirely possible to move your current SSD (I assume it's your boot drive) and your Seagate HDD secondary drive to your new system and this would POSSIBLY result in a bootable functional system. We've done similar transfers many, many times. (We're assuming here that non-OEM machines are involved, right?)

BUT...

Calculagator is also correct. It becomes more of an iffy situation when going from an AMD-based system to a Intel-based system (or vice versa). Very iffy. But it can work if you're lucky.

Naturally after the present drive containing the OS (presumably your Kingston SSD) is installed in the new system and it boots to a Desktop (again, if you're lucky), you would need to install the necessary drivers from the new motherboard's installation CD.

There's really nothing much to lose, except your time, to attempt the transfer. That is, USUALLY nothing much to lose. There IS a slight chance of your SSD boot drive's data becoming corrupt if the boot fails and the transfer of the OS cannot be achieved. Rarely does this happen in our experience but there's more of a chance that it will happen during an attempted AMD-based system transfer to an Intel-based system (or vice versa).

So we encourage users who desire to make this attempt to FIRST clone the contents of their present boot drive to another drive for backup purposes in case of a failed transfer attempt. Capiche?
 
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