2 Internal Drives, Different Operating Systems

[gusfbuild]

Hello,
I'm a newbie and just finished my first computer build. I currently have a Windows XP IDE drive that I have been using as an external drive. The new PC is Windows 7 and has a SATA 6.0 drive. Since I have space in the case for my IDE drive, I was thinking about installing it (with a SATA adapter) so that I can improve the transfer speed. Will it be possible for me to use that drive for storage since it has a different operating system installed? I always plan to boot the PC using my new drive with Windows 7.

Sorry this got posted twice, I got an error message the first time I submitted.

Thanks.

 

[weedn]

if you dont plan on ever booting from the different OS, i would backup all the data off the IDE drive to a different drive, then format it and remove the OS off the IDE drive, mostly because the OS takes up a solid amount of room on the drive, then go ahead and use it as storage

however if you dont want to do that then you can simply just install it and use it as is and it should be fine

 

[gusfbuild]

if you dont plan on ever booting from the different OS, i would backup all the data off the IDE drive to a different drive, then format it and remove the OS off the IDE drive, mostly because the OS takes up a solid amount of room on the drive, then go ahead and use it as storage

however if you dont want to do that then you can simply just install it and use it as is and it should be fine

I have no experience with this, so I'm just curious. Without booting from the XP drive, will accessing files be equivalent to using it as an external? What I mean is, I'll be able to open files, but not access programs? Is that correct?

 

[lvleteor]

You would not be able to run any programs while running Windows 7 from the hard drive that has the XP installation on it. The only way to run those programs that you installed to this drive while using Windows XP, would be to dual boot. You must be running Windows XP to use the programs that you previously installed to that drive. If all you need is your files such as videos, music, documents, and pictures. Those can be accessed if you boot to Windows 7.

Programs on the windows xp hard drive will have to be reinstalled and they may or may not work with Windows 7. If they don't run after initial install, don't forget to try to run the executable in compatibility mode. The program may work or may not in compatibility. Otherwise you'd have to resort to purchasing a newer version of the program.

Personally, I would get rid of XP and use the hard drive for storage only. XP is going to be unsupported and is already an open door to malware/virus infections. My advice: Complete a secure wipe of the hard drive afterwards using something like DBAN to ensure no malware remnants are remaining and won't replicate (yes this does happen). After securely wiping, format the partition as NTFS and assign it as a logical partition. From that point forward, you can install whatever you want or save data to it. You can install and run programs from the secondary hard drive. Many people purchase a high end hard drive, 7200rpm and up, sata or Solid State Device Hard drive and only install the operating system on it. Then put everything else on the secondary hard drive. In your case, I would only use the IDE / current XP hard drive for storage. I wouldn't place any programs on the IDE drive, only backup files, pics/music/documents and things that don't require 'speed'. IDE drives are slow in comparison to today's technology, but hold / retain data all the same.

I assume after almost 2 years this response is a bit overdue and you've found your solution. Perhaps my 'answer' post will help others who stumble upon this thread.