Addding an older HDD into a new system

[africapc]

Hi there,

I am new to this...

The motherboard of my PC died and I had to buy an entire new machine... my question is can I install the old HDD into the new machine and choose wich one to boot from? Both run win7 , the newer runs 64 bit the older 32? Any insturctions on how to do it you could point to?

Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

First make sure the new motherboard has the right connections. Then it is just plug and play, here is a guide to allocate it http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/265764-14-guide-installed-disk-system
To use the old 32bit OS install you would have to reinstall with min repair install so it is configured for your new hardware.

 

[africapc]

Hi rolli59,

Thanks a lot for your help! What do you mean with reinstall with "min repair"? Will the installed software on the old HD not run right out of the box?

 

[HEXiT]

it will actualy cause stability issues. win 7 needs a specific instruction set to be setup in bios for win 7 and vista... its called the high precision event timer (hpet for short). and it must match your o.s bit rate. ie be set to 64 for 64bit and 32 for 32bit.
if its not set wrong the system will randomly restart and lock up... so the best thing you can do is save the files you want on the old hdd, then format it and use it as storage only without any o.s on it.

 

[rolli59]

Hi rolli59,

Thanks a lot for your help! What do you mean with reinstall with "min repair"? Will the installed software on the old HD not run right out of the box?

Minimum repair install but in all reality HEXiT is right about using it as storage drive and only have one Win install since you gain nothing with having two!

 

[africapc]

it will actualy cause stability issues. win 7 needs a specific instruction set to be setup in bios for win 7 and vista... its called the high precision event timer (hpet for short). and it must match your o.s bit rate. ie be set to 64 for 64bit and 32 for 32bit.
if its not set wrong the system will randomly restart and lock up... so the best thing you can do is save the files you want on the old hdd, then format it and use it as storage only without any o.s on it.

Thanks HEXiT,

That make it clear. The main reason I want to still use the old HD is because I need to use some of the software on it to finish some urgent work projects... do you think it would be somehow possible through the bios set up to still run the old 32 OS system at least for a while to conclude these proects before whiping it out and dedicting the machine entirely to the new system? Thanks again!

Best regards

 

[africapc]

Best answer selected by africapc.

 

[HEXiT]

best thing you can do is install your apps on the new o.s and copy your saved data over to the new o.s. the chances are you apps will work on the 64 bit o.s. and maybe work a little better because of it...
so i guess you wont need to run a 32bit o.s. just because its 32bit app.
win 7 has a separate x86 folder for compatibility.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey