Hard drive and windows

TheFlanksterGuy · March 22, 2017

I am building a new computer and deciding if I want to get a new hard drive and windows or to reuse my old hard drive with windows install. Is it possible to reuse the hard drive with the os system in it on a new build?

ProjectBox153 · March 22, 2017

Sometimes it is possible to reuse the same Windows installation, but is never recommended. You'll experience all sorts of stuff like driver errors, general slowness, etc. And that's if it will boot at all. Just get a new drive (or reuse the old one, but backup data first) and reinstall Windows.

TetraSky · March 22, 2017

While it is possible, windows will deactivate itself due to hardware change. It will also cause drivers issue since you will have drivers from the old PC loading up instead of the new drivers of the new PC.

If you want to reuse an old drive, you should format it and reinstall windows.

Though it really depends on how old this drive is. If it's a couple years old(like 5+), you might be better off served buying a new drive/SSD and use the current one as a second drive for things like your games.