Hey all,

This is my situation. Apologies if it's long winded. I'm currently running xp 32 bit and want to upgrade to 64 bit. And want to keep all the data on my current second hard disk. What I really need to know before I go ahead is ,when i format C drive, and then re-install will it pick up my second hard drive ? As this second hard drive was created with xp 32 bit?

When i built my new pc , I installed a WD 150GB as my primary hard drive and installed xp 32 bit on it. I then took my old 200GB Maxtor from the old pc and in safe mode, changed all the ownerhips on the old drive so it belonged to my new pc. I thought that was great. Took ages but still had all my stuff.

I have loads of data (music and video) on this old drive that I want to keep but have also just bought a Seagate Barracuda that I want to use in conjunction with my WD 150GB (the WD being the primary drive and boot) and replace the Maxtor with the new Seagate for storage. (you can hear the Maxtor is just about to die)

What would be the best way to get this data on to the new Barracuda ? Could I connect it up as a third drive now, copy all my files from the Maxtor to the Seagate, then format the WD and install Vista 64 bit, take out Maxtor leaving just the Seagate ? will it recognise the seagate ?

Or should I just format the WD , install 64 bit ? Will Vista 64 bit recognise the two drives ? Especially as the Maxtor use to be my boot drive and actually has XP installed on it still ? Any assistance / advice would be most appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

short answer is that it does not matter if it is xp or vista or 32 or 64 - any drive formated in either fat 32 or NTFS (that is any drive you were using with XP) should be recognized and usable without any modification in Vista 64 - same applies to all the files on it - going to a 64 bit OS does not alter your file system at all.

Many thanks mate.

to transfer the files, you should connect it as a third drive now, and transfer the files, then, disconnect both the data drives, and install vista64 on your boot drive. then after installation, just reconnect the new data drive, and remove the old data drive, voila!