NEW PC + OLD HARD DRIVES

I am about to set up a new PC. It will have the OS installed on a new 500GB hard drive (SATA). I want to take my hard drives (SATA) from the old PC (which no longer functions) and add them to the new PC because all my data files are on them. Both of the old hard drives are already partitioned and contain various files in respective partitions. But one of the hard drives has the old PC's OS installed on it…..I can't identify which one. My intention is to recover my files to the new hard drive and then format the old hard drives, using them as second and third hard drives. (None RAID) What is the best way to deal with this? Would I be right in thinking that if I install them while the new PC is switched off and then switch on, the new PC might try to boot the old OS?…..It surely wouldn't give a dual OS option? Or will it simply look at both the old ones as spare hard drives which I can easliy wipe once the files are recovered? And will the partition path names of the old hard drives conflict with the partitions on the new hard drive? Thanks for any ideas that might be offered. AL.

just add the hard drives and boot into the bios first before letting the pc boot to any windows os, make sure the new hard drive is the first in the boot hard drive order and you shouldn't have any problems.



sorry never really answered any of your questions..

Would I be right in thinking that if I install them while the new PC is switched off and then switch on, the new PC might try to boot the old OS?…..It surely wouldn't give a dual OS option?

yes if the old drive was first in the bios boot order it would try to boot the old os,
no it would not give a dual os option,
at the beginning of a hard drive the installation of an os installs a master boot record(mbr) which is then read first to find out where the os is located on the hard drive, to get a dual boot option this mbr needs to be edited to add the location of any secondary os, either manually or usually automated by the installation of another os.

so the new hard drive has a mbr and the old hard drive has a mbr and the pc will try and boot whichever mbr and the os it points to, that it reads first, and is why the new hard drive needs to be first in the bios boot order.

And will the partition path names of the old hard drives conflict with the partitions on the new hard drive?

no even tho on the old hard drive the os was installed on partition/drive c when the new hard drive is booted that partition on the old hard drive will be read has partition/drive e for example, so you don't have to worry about having 2 c partition/drives when you boot into your os.

hope that makes sense and explains what you wanted to know.

Thanks Terry…. I suspected it might have needed me to enter the BIOS to set the BOOT priority and you have explained it well for me to understand. I think it makes sense for me to get the new PC up and running first so I can familiarise myself with the BIOS and see what options it gives me, then switch off and add the hard drives and go back into the BIOS again……… ……luckily the two old drives are Western Digital 250GB and the new one is a Samsung 500GB, so at least I can't get them muddled up in the boot order. I guess all I have to worry about now is when it comes to trying to format the old hard drive with the OS…. I wonder if it will be 'argumentative' when I try to do it. Thanks again, AL.

yes sounds like a good idea to get everything up and running first before trying to connect the old hard drives. the drives are seen in bios in the order of the ports they are actually connected to, the port numbering is shown in the motherboards manual, but when it comes to actual boot the drives you can specify which order you want the pc to read them in, regardless of the order they are connected in. no you shouldn't have any problems formatting the old drives after you've removed any data you want from them, but if you do just ask, someone here will know the best way to go about it, i think all you'll need to do is click on them from inside windows os and format them, but not 100% sure.

Thanks Terry, Yep, I have what was (might still be) a half decent PC here that has gone rogue and I did at one stage work out which port connected to which hard drive, but now I can't remember which colour it was that had the OS drive on it. Unfortunately this 'old' one (2005/6) started messing about after an upset in the BIOS by a bug……The CMOS was cleared and the BIOS was flashed with the latest version, but after a year of sort of running OK, it got to the point where it refused to boot…….I would have to swicth off mains supply several times before it would even think about going to boot…..then having got it running, if I switched off for overnight it would do it again, until it eventually stopped altogether. I could hear the hard drives prior to boot, so even when I stopped hearing them, I tried booting via the CD, but no such luck. I changed the CMOS battery, tested the system with another PSU (although probably not big enough) but with no luck…….I concluded it must be a mobo problem, which is a shame because it is sitting here with an Athlon64 X2 4600+ CPU, 4GB DDR2 Corsair RAM, a GeForce 7600 graphics card and an eSATA mobo, all in a black Silverstone Temjin case. Rather than spend time trying to fix it at the moment it seemed quicker to get another on order….and try fixing it later……….Trouble is my old steam powered 10 year old emachines 2.3 Celeron PC has also started to play up…….Lost all sound except a beep, all USBs refuse to work or upgrade drivers, so I reckon another mobo is on its way out…………. The two PCs weren't networked, so the only connection between the two was to the same router…..so I now wonder if the router itself was infected…..how the h*ll does that get cleared if it is. Thanks again AL. I'll let you know how the hard drive installation and formatting goes.

Hi d486,
A quick way of checking out your old machines (to see if the hardware is Ok,) is to boot it or them from a live Linux disc. This will enable (hopefully) your machine to boot into Linux, which will run happily, entirely within RAM and allow you to check if it's working OK.

The Live Linux disc will be entirely independent of Windows, and is issued on a free licence (open source) so you will not have any worries about activation or 25 character alpha numeric serial keys!

There are a number of different distros of Linux from which you can choose, but for a small download (around 100MB) and an easy interface that folks who are more used to Windows will find it pretty easy to navigate their way around…..I suggest Linux Puppy,
(although Terry might have other thoughts!
Post back here if you need help on how to download and burn the iso as an image.
here's a link for the details:
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%…g%20Started.htm

Linux Puppy will allow you access to a hard drive that may be present on your computer but does not rely on it being in good shape or even present!….its completely self contained in that respect, and that's why it makes for a quick and fairly effective tool…its also good fun and will enable you to browse the web send emails etc.
Most technicians will have a few live linux distros in their repair bag and will often use one to copy off data from a corrupted or damaged Windows machine and or to test/fix common problems.

You will of course need access to a working machine to download it and burn the iso and when you have made the disc, set the machine on which you are going to use it…to boot from CD/DVD as boot priority 1
Let us know how you get on
Regards
paws

Thanks Paws….. Unfortunately the PC that refuses to boot………well, that says it all……no beeps, nothing, won't go to POST (I forgot to mention that), so it won't boot from a Linux disc either…..all that occurs is that all the fans (CPU, PSU, case x 2) all run as does the graphics card fan…..this runs fast then should slow down as it always did, but now it stays running fast. I knew when it was eventually going to boot………..it would flash the three lights on the keyboard just as it went to POST, but it doesn't even do that now. Oddly, the older one has just started to do the same thing when first switching on…….no lights, no POST, no boot………..try again and away it goes. As I mentioned earlier, I reckon its a mobo problem with both…..maybe the CMOS / BIOS chip is b*ggered…..all I hope is that it is coincidence rather than a bug which transferred somehow via the router. The safest thing to do I guess is not to connect either of the two dodgy PCs to the router when the new PC is installed. Thanks again AL.

Thanks all, for the advice so far…. May I add to this thread with another question? The new PC arrived today and I have an issue that is stopping me from connecting it up. Because I will want to run three monitors (not for gaming), I specifically requested a graphics card that has two DVI connections (as with my previous PC). I was assured that I wouldn't need a second card because the ATI card would have two DVI and a Displayport connection (for which I could use an active Displayport to VGA or DVI adaptor depending on cost) to give me three monitors. However, the card is a Sapphire HD5750 1GB card with a DVI, and HDMI and a Displayport connection. I am told by the PC builder this will give me three monitors with the appropriate adaptors. ……….but……..I am using XP Pro 32 bit OS……….now don't laugh, but as far as I am concerned Windows 7 may be new, but it doesn't mean it is best……………..and besides, all my programs / software is 32bit and getting on apart from Office 2003, that is! As far as I can ascertain, the card will not work with XP to give me three monitors, only two….plus Windows 7 is a bit hit and miss with XP compatibility / program issues. So wil I get three monitors working all independantly so that I can have three processes running, one on each one while stretching a window (say a jpg) across the three monitors into a panoramic view? (You know, similar to what I could do with two monitors in XP and a single Nvidia card? Sorry for the daft questions, AL.

no idea, don't have that card and never run anything more than a dual monitor setup, but from everything i can find with a quick google search, that card will run 3 monitors just fine on xp.