questioneer

Distinguished
Apr 19, 2011
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18,510
I got a kind of stupid question...
is it possible to use an old HDD(with Operating system programs etc.) in a new computer build???
 
Theoretically, yes, in practice, depends, if the chipset on the new motherboard is too different from the old one Windows will probably have trouble starting up and you'll probably have to reinstall the OS. Also if the HDD is really old you will probably want to spring for a new one, as newer models are going to be much faster, you don't want to bottleneck your system with an ancient HDD.
 
I would definitely get a new HDD, if it's as old as your system is, using it will seriously bottleneck your new system. They are not that expensive and you can get a decently fast 1TB drive for around $70-90. If you don't need lots of space you could get a 500GB model for much cheaper. If you must use your current drive, you will probably have to reinstall your OS, though you can try to boot up the system and try your luck. I doubt XP is going to like going from an 8 year old intel chipset to a current AMD chipset. Just make sure your motherboard has an IDE header for the old drive. Some manufacturers are phasing out IDE support on some of their models and not all boards will have an IDE header.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
It won't boot. Unless you change the IDE driver to the windows default BEFORE you shut down and move it it won't boot. You can't go from an Intel to an AMD driver and have windows load.

I also agree that if your drive is 8 years old you want a new one. More so if the original computer is an OEM because I doubt they sprung for a fast one in the first place. Drives have many improvements in the last few years. For example, my OS drive is a Seagate 7200.10 that I bought I think around 2005. (so around 6 years old?) Its avg transfer speed is 60MBps. Current gen drives can do 120-150MBps, or double what mine can do. I can't imagine what using an even older drive would be like.
 

questioneer

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Apr 19, 2011
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18,510
thx guys

i have another problem
Yesterday my Pc (the 8 year old one) just crashed. when i tried to restart it all the icons were gone, and cant seem to get them back.

pls help