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So I have a single SSD in my computer right now, it has windows and all of my normal files and some games.

If I added and plugged in my old hard drive, would it just show up like a usb drive does (but as like D: drive) , or would it reformat/erase the data? or what would happen?

I dont know if it changes anything that the hard drive had windows on it already previously, or that its really old, but it still works on my old pc.

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Does it currently have Windows on it?

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1 minute ago, RookieAtPcBuilding said:

So I have a single SSD in my computer right now, it has windows and all of my normal files and some games.

If I added and plugged in my old hard drive, would it just show up like a usb drive does (but as like D: drive) , or would it reformat/erase the data? or what would happen?

I dont know if it changes anything that the hard drive had windows on it already previously, or that its really old, but it still works on my old pc.

Your old drive will show up as another drive. Make sure your SSD is either plugged into SATA port 1 or 0 on the motherboard (check the manual) or set it as first boot device in bios. You may have to take ownership to make changes in windows and or delete files. 

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2 minutes ago, TheJ said:

So I have a single SSD in my computer right now, it has windows and all of my normal files and some games.

If I added and plugged in my old hard drive, would it just show up like a usb drive does (but as like D: drive) , or would it reformat/erase the data? or what would happen?

I dont know if it changes anything that the hard drive had windows on it already previously, or that its really old, but it still works on my old pc.

IF it has a boot partition (often shown as EFI in windows), it might cause your motherboard to boot to it instead. you will want go to your BIOS and set the boot order to ensure you boot from your main drive

 

once you're in windows, one of two things will happen (well maybe 3):

- the drive is empty, and you'll be prompted to format it. then it'll be like a new empty drive with a letter

- it will be pre-partitioned with filesystems. you will have access to your old data, and can choose to keep it as-is, or reformat/wipe it with disk management

- it will be corrupted data, and you will NEED to reformat/repartition it with disk management

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I don't have a problem...

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If there’s nothing wrong, it will just show up with new mounting letter, or you will gave to go to disk management and add a mounting point letter manually.

it it ask to initiate it in MBR or GPT, or to format it, then something's wrong ( don't do it ).

 

Also as @Applefreak mention, make sure you boot off your SSD.

   
 
 
 
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CPU : Intel 14gen i7-14700K
COOLER :  Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 White + Thermaltake toughfan 12 white + Thermal Grizzly - CPU Contact Frame Intel 13./14. +  Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
GPU : MSI RTX 2070 Armor @GPU 2050MHz Mem 8200MHz -> USB C 10Gb/s cable 2m -> Unitek 4x USB HUB 10 Gb/s (Y-HB08003)
MOBO : MSI MEG Z690 UNIFY
RAM :  Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 RAM 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) 6400 MHz CL32 (CMK64GX5M2B6400C32)
SSD : Intel Optane 905P 960GB U.2 (OS) + 2 x WD SN850X 4TB + 2 x PNY CS3140 2TB + PLX88024 PCIe switch (PCIE 4.0 x8 -> 4 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4) -> 4 x Plextor M8PeG 1TB + flexiDOCK MB014SP-B -> Crucial MX500 2TB + GoodRam Iridium PRO 960GB + Samsung 850 Pro 512GB
HDD : WD White 18TB WD180EDFZ + SATA port multiplier adp6st0-j05 (JMB575) ->  WD Gold 8TB WD8002FRYZ + WD Gold 4TB WD4002FYYZ + WD Red PRO 4TB WD4001FFSX + WD Green 2TB WD20EARS
EXTERNAL
HDD/SSD : 
XT-XINTE LM906 (JMS583) -> Plextor M8PeG 1TB + WD My Passport slim 1TB + LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 1TB USB-C + Zalman ZM-VE350 -> Goodram IRDM PRO 240GB
PSU :  Super Flower leadex platinum 750 W biały -> Bitfenix alchemy extensions białe/białe + AsiaHorse 16AWG White 
UPS :  CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD -> Brennenstuhl primera-line 8 -> Brennenstuhl primera-line 10
LCD : LG 32UD59-B + LG flatron IPS236 -> Silverstone SST-ARM11BC
CASE :  Fractal R5 Biały + Lian Li BZ-H06A srebrny + flexiDOCK MB014SP-B + 6 x Thermaltake toughfan 14 white + Thermalright TL-B8W
SPEAKERS :  PC -> TOSLINK 2m -> Linkfor ULK073 1x4 Digital SPDIF Splitter (B07MJ4TLWQ) -> TOSLINK 0.5m -> Aiyima A80 ( or Aune S6 Pro -> RCA ->  Aiyima A80 ) -> Polk S20e black -> Monoprice stand 16250
HEADPHONES : PC -> TOSLINK 2m -> Linkfor ULK073 1x4 Digital SPDIF Splitter (B07MJ4TLWQ) -> TOSLINK 0.5m -> Aune S6 Pro -> 2 x Monoprice Premier 1.8m 16AWG 3-pin XLR -> Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887 -> 4-pin XLR na 2 x 3.5mm 16 cores OCC 2m Cable -> HiFiMAN Edition XS -> sheepskin pads + 4-pin XLR na 2 x 2.5mm ABLET silver 2m  Cable -> Monoprice Monolith M1060 + Brainwavz HM100 -> Brainwavz sheepskin oval pads + Wooden double Ɪ Stand + Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7BK -> sheepskin pads + Multibrackets MB1893 + Sennheiser Momentum 3 +  Philips Fidelio X2HR/00 + JBL J88 White
MIC :  Tonor TC30 -> Mozos SB38
KEYBOARD : Corsair STRAFE RGB Cherry MX Silent (EU) + Glorious PC Gaming Race Stealth Slim - Full Size Black + Kensington VeriMark / PQI MyLockey
MOUSE :  Logitech MX ERGO + 2 x Logitech MX Performance + Logitech G Pro wireless + Logitech G Pro Gaming -> Hotline Games 2.0 Plus + Corsair MM500 3xl + Corsair MM300 Extended + Razer goliathus control
CONTROLLERS :  Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition 8K PC (B0F94C9C43) -> brainwavz audio Controller Holder UGC2 + Microsoft xbox series x controller pc (1VA-00002) + Ravcore Javelin
NET :  Intel E810-XXVDA2 2 x 25GbE SFP28 (PCIE 4.0 x8) -> 2 x FTLX8571D3BCV-IT -> 2 x Digitus (DK-HD2533-05/3) -> Qnap TS-932X-2G + 2 x ASUS ZenWiFi Pro XT12
NAS :  Qnap TS-932X-2G -> Kingston 16GB 2400Mhz CL14 (HX424S14IB/16) -> 9 x Crucial MX500 2TB -> 2 x FTLX8571D3BCV-IT -> Noctua NF-P14s redux 1200 PWM -> QNAP TR-004
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It just mean it's harder to accidentally boot out of it, as it's MBR (if CSM is disabled in UEFI/BIOS), but it doesn't matter for the access to the data.

   
 
 
 
Spoiler
CPU : Intel 14gen i7-14700K
COOLER :  Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 White + Thermaltake toughfan 12 white + Thermal Grizzly - CPU Contact Frame Intel 13./14. +  Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra
GPU : MSI RTX 2070 Armor @GPU 2050MHz Mem 8200MHz -> USB C 10Gb/s cable 2m -> Unitek 4x USB HUB 10 Gb/s (Y-HB08003)
MOBO : MSI MEG Z690 UNIFY
RAM :  Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 RAM 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) 6400 MHz CL32 (CMK64GX5M2B6400C32)
SSD : Intel Optane 905P 960GB U.2 (OS) + 2 x WD SN850X 4TB + 2 x PNY CS3140 2TB + PLX88024 PCIe switch (PCIE 4.0 x8 -> 4 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4) -> 4 x Plextor M8PeG 1TB + flexiDOCK MB014SP-B -> Crucial MX500 2TB + GoodRam Iridium PRO 960GB + Samsung 850 Pro 512GB
HDD : WD White 18TB WD180EDFZ + SATA port multiplier adp6st0-j05 (JMB575) ->  WD Gold 8TB WD8002FRYZ + WD Gold 4TB WD4002FYYZ + WD Red PRO 4TB WD4001FFSX + WD Green 2TB WD20EARS
EXTERNAL
HDD/SSD : 
XT-XINTE LM906 (JMS583) -> Plextor M8PeG 1TB + WD My Passport slim 1TB + LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 1TB USB-C + Zalman ZM-VE350 -> Goodram IRDM PRO 240GB
PSU :  Super Flower leadex platinum 750 W biały -> Bitfenix alchemy extensions białe/białe + AsiaHorse 16AWG White 
UPS :  CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD -> Brennenstuhl primera-line 8 -> Brennenstuhl primera-line 10
LCD : LG 32UD59-B + LG flatron IPS236 -> Silverstone SST-ARM11BC
CASE :  Fractal R5 Biały + Lian Li BZ-H06A srebrny + flexiDOCK MB014SP-B + 6 x Thermaltake toughfan 14 white + Thermalright TL-B8W
SPEAKERS :  PC -> TOSLINK 2m -> Linkfor ULK073 1x4 Digital SPDIF Splitter (B07MJ4TLWQ) -> TOSLINK 0.5m -> Aiyima A80 ( or Aune S6 Pro -> RCA ->  Aiyima A80 ) -> Polk S20e black -> Monoprice stand 16250
HEADPHONES : PC -> TOSLINK 2m -> Linkfor ULK073 1x4 Digital SPDIF Splitter (B07MJ4TLWQ) -> TOSLINK 0.5m -> Aune S6 Pro -> 2 x Monoprice Premier 1.8m 16AWG 3-pin XLR -> Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887 -> 4-pin XLR na 2 x 3.5mm 16 cores OCC 2m Cable -> HiFiMAN Edition XS -> sheepskin pads + 4-pin XLR na 2 x 2.5mm ABLET silver 2m  Cable -> Monoprice Monolith M1060 + Brainwavz HM100 -> Brainwavz sheepskin oval pads + Wooden double Ɪ Stand + Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7BK -> sheepskin pads + Multibrackets MB1893 + Sennheiser Momentum 3 +  Philips Fidelio X2HR/00 + JBL J88 White
MIC :  Tonor TC30 -> Mozos SB38
KEYBOARD : Corsair STRAFE RGB Cherry MX Silent (EU) + Glorious PC Gaming Race Stealth Slim - Full Size Black + Kensington VeriMark / PQI MyLockey
MOUSE :  Logitech MX ERGO + 2 x Logitech MX Performance + Logitech G Pro wireless + Logitech G Pro Gaming -> Hotline Games 2.0 Plus + Corsair MM500 3xl + Corsair MM300 Extended + Razer goliathus control
CONTROLLERS :  Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition 8K PC (B0F94C9C43) -> brainwavz audio Controller Holder UGC2 + Microsoft xbox series x controller pc (1VA-00002) + Ravcore Javelin
NET :  Intel E810-XXVDA2 2 x 25GbE SFP28 (PCIE 4.0 x8) -> 2 x FTLX8571D3BCV-IT -> 2 x Digitus (DK-HD2533-05/3) -> Qnap TS-932X-2G + 2 x ASUS ZenWiFi Pro XT12
NAS :  Qnap TS-932X-2G -> Kingston 16GB 2400Mhz CL14 (HX424S14IB/16) -> 9 x Crucial MX500 2TB -> 2 x FTLX8571D3BCV-IT -> Noctua NF-P14s redux 1200 PWM -> QNAP TR-004
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