Help with new pc

[ImNotThere]

So i have a build coming, not too important, just note its a b350 tomohawk mobo for the bios i guess

I haven't bought a hard drive as i already have a 10 tb one with everything on it, can i simply plug this in and select it as a boot drive or will i lose everything on it?

 

I have a 256gb ssd coming, should i copy over os to that on old pc first then use that? What is easiest here?

[TrigrH]

If you change motherboards, windows will not boot.

 

Your files will still be on the drive though.

 

Install windows into the SSD, then plug the HDD in afterwards.

[ImNotThere]

Just now, TrigrH said:

If you change motherboards, windows will not boot.

 

Your files will still be on the drive though.

 

Install windows into the SSD, then plug the HDD in afterwards.

Okay cool, thank you

[SPARTAN VI]

I'd like TrigrH to clarify what he means by changing motherboards wont allow Windows to boot. 

 

The largest issue I'd expect when transplanting (and booting) an old HDD to a brand new build is if your old HDD used the MBR (Master Boot Record) partititioning structure. Most (or all) of the latest UEFI motherboards have a compatibility mode (aka CSM) that will allow you to boot from a drive that's uses the MBR partition structure, but generally at the cost of a slower boot time. IME, if this option is specifically disabled and you're attempting to boot from a drive using MBR, then it will fail to boot. Granted you have your UEFI boot options configured for compatibility mode, Windows should boot just fine, but you may see an activation prompt when Windows doesn't recognize the new hardware configuration. Admittedly, I've zero experience with AM4 boards, so I'm not 100% certain if this feature is available there, but I can't imagine why not. 

 

Personally, I'd recommend you load your OS on the SSD when that comes in and make sure you use the GPT (GUID Partition Table) when installing the OS. On top of the huge performance gains granted by the SSD, this also allows you to take advantage of your motherboard's fast boot options, which vastly reduce boot times. In my personal experience, my SSD went from 30 second boot times to about <5 seconds when I switched to GPT and enabled fast boot.

[ImNotThere]

3 hours ago, spartanvi said:

I'd like TrigrH to clarify what he means by changing motherboards wont allow Windows to boot. 

 

The largest issue I'd expect when transplanting (and booting) an old HDD to a brand new build is if your old HDD used the MBR (Master Boot Record) partititioning structure. Most (or all) of the latest UEFI motherboards have a compatibility mode (aka CSM) that will allow you to boot from a drive that's uses the MBR partition structure, but generally at the cost of a slower boot time. IME, if this option is specifically disabled and you're attempting to boot from a drive using MBR, then it will fail to boot. Granted you have your UEFI configured for compatibility mode, Windows should boot just fine, but you may see an activation prompt when Windows doesn't recognize the new hardware configuration. Admittedly, I've zero experience with AM4 boards, so I'm not 100% certain if this feature is available there, but I can't imagine why not. 

 

Personally, I'd recommend you load your OS on the SSD when that comes in and make sure you use the GPT (GUID Partition Table) when installing the OS. On top of the huge performance gains granted by the SSD, this also allows you to take advantage of your motherboard's fast boot options, which vastly reduce boot times. In my personal experience, my SSD went from 30 second boot times to about <5 seconds when I switched to GPT and enabled fast boot.

Thank you for clarifying, i see it to be safer to install windows on to ssd and then activate it when booted in to windows

[SPARTAN VI]

1 hour ago, ImNotThere said:

Thank you for clarifying, i see it to be safer to install windows on to ssd and then activate it when booted in to windows

Whether you use GPT or MBR has no bearing on the activation method.