Should I completely Wipe my HDD?

[aarontaichew]

I just got my order of new 120gb SSD and some other new parts to upgrade my computer system. right now i am running on an 500gb HDD. I was told for me to get my OS on my SSD i would have to start fresh and download a fresh version of Windows to it. meaning basically starting from scratch. Now i was wondering do i need to completely wipe my old HDD or do i not need to? I was wondering if i don't wipe it, it might cause conflicts between the two harddrives. Also note that i plan on using both harddrives. i mainly want the SSD for the OS/ 1-2 games or so on it. leave the drives/main bulk of stuff on my HDD.

Can anyone offer their opinion?

 

[groundrat]

If it’s the same motherboard you can install it on the SSD without changing the license. Your old drive can be added after the SSD is up and running on a separate SATA connector for file transfer. I would back up all your documents and music to a DVD or external drive. You should reinstall your games and applications.

Yes, I would then whip the 500GB drive and then use it as a data/programs drive and to backup your system image on. The only thing I would put on the SSD would be your fresh OS and Office, if used.

 

[aarontaichew]

I am very new to computer building and this will be my first time wiping a Harddrive. do i just go through each file and delete? or is there a free program that you can recommend?

 

[bdiddytampa]

just format it after you backup any data you want to keep.

 

[aarontaichew]

just format it after you backup any data you want to keep.

Can you explain how to format the harddrive? and i'm basically deleting everything. its mostly fluff/ things i can re-download.