moving a hdd

[buddha]

I'm going to build a new computer and I want to move my old HDD from my old computer to my new one.

Here are some questions I have...

Will I have to buy or install windows?
Will I be able to access my old files without any problems?

 

[turtile]

If you have 2000/XP, You'll need to do a repair or upgrade install.

 

[SYL\X/3K]

Will I have to buy or install windows?
Will I be able to access my old files without any problems?

- yes u do have to reinstall Windows on the old hardrive, but first u need to format it, its because ur new computer will be using different hardware and u have drivers that are installed on it which will confuse the new computer and will give u errors.Well if u dont have windows Cd i'd suggest buying one if u dont have one because ull need it to reintall windows on ur new pc.

-Yes/no
yes, most of the stuff u can access that are in ur old but when its set as a secondary Hd, because when u format it everything is deleted.
No, some stuff cant be accessed in ur hd that are in ur "Documents and Settings" because were stored on ur desktop from ur old pc. i'd suggest backing everything to a cd or a flash drive

 

[buddha]

Ok so I need to find my cd's or buy new ones and I should get a second HDD to use as primary so I can keep all of my files on my old HDD.

Anything else I need to know?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

If you have empty space on your HDD you can use a partition editor to shrink your partition and install Windows on it, but beware that some vendors provide "recovery" or "restore" discs that wipe the hard drive including partition table and make a complete factory image on your hard drive...just like it was fresh out of the store. I use 2 hard drives, an 80 and a 120, with Windows installed on the 80. However, if you want to use one hard drive you could attempt this ONLY if you know the risk of what you are doing. A good partition tool is GPartEd found on many Linux (Gnome) distros.