Safe to install existing Windows system HDD as slave drive?

[WAZ]

So I am upgrading my computer... new motherboard, processor, hard drive, the whole works. But I'd like to keep my current hard drive (with my current Windows 10 installation) intact as a slave drive, at least for now, just to be able to access the files off of it.

Is it safe to build the new PC, install Windows fresh on the new hard drive, then come back in and plug in my old (current) hard drive as a slave? It's SATA so I think I can set it to slave in the BIOS... but will there be any issues with that slave SATA drive having a Windows system installation on it?

Thanks!

 

[WAZ]

I suppose I should say, I just have so much stuff on my current system in various folders... My Docs/user/pictures folders, my Desktop, all sorts of Adobe plugins and extensions and much more. The "HOPE" was to be able to plug this in as a slave drive, and then just copy and paste all that stuff over as needed. Like I'd still have easy access to all the files in my old (current) User/Desktop folder, I could go into the Adobe subdirectories and pull out what I need when I need them, etc.

I know the long way is to comb through ALL of that stuff now, copy it all to a backup drive, and use the slave drive as data/storage only with NO previous Windows system install. One issue is time -- this is for work and they're really pressing me to get it done, so I was hoping I could just swap it out and be done with it -- and the other is, if I forget anything, can I still plug the drive in as a slave without screwing anything up with my new Windows install on my new hard drive. Sorry, hope that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

You won't be able to boot Windows off of the slave drive, or run programs directly off of it (most likely), but you should be able to "Take ownership" of directories on it, and copy files off of it to your new OS / boot drive.

 

[OakIris]

I am pretty sure that SATA drives don't use the old IDE/ATA HDD master/slave designations, they don't even have the jumpers. Assuming you want just the files on the drive - document and pictures files - as opposed to actually using the programs that are on it, as long as you don't set it as the main boot drive in the BIOS, I would think that it should be fine.

Holly

 

[WAZ]

You won't be able to boot Windows off of the slave drive, or run programs directly off of it (most likely), but you should be able to "Take ownership" of directories on it, and copy files off of it to your new OS / boot drive.

Yeah, that's totally fine. I'm treating the build as a totally new Windows install on a new hard drive, reinstalling all software fresh, etc. The old drive would JUST be needed to access files. So I'm okay with that.

A friend of mine had an issue many years ago where he used a Windows system drive as a slave and it jacked up his whole system... some boot file had become corrupt because I think Windows found two system installations on two drives, got confused, had system conflicts, etc. But those were the IDE days, and who knows with the master/slave relationship then. Remembering that was enough to give me pause, but hopefully with SATA it would not be an issue.

 

[vailr]

Detailed information on the old vs. new motherboard and chipset would be needed, to say for sure whether the old HD would still be bootable when plugged in to the new motherboard.
Example: going from an Intel H81 system to an Intel Z170 system, should be okay. There would be an extended time of several minutes for the initial boot-up on the new motherboard, but should be fine afterwards. That's provided that AHCI bios settings stay the same in the new as it was for the old.
Preferably, you'd also want to change the SATA controller driver to the "Standard" Microsoft driver before doing the switchover.

 

[Paperdoc]

What you propose - installing AFTER the new HDD has Windows installed and working - should work just fine. That's the right way. Windows should recognize the drive immediately and assign it a letter name.
Three small points:
1. As OakIris said, there are NO jumpers to set for SATA drives. Do NOT change or install any jumpers on such a drive. In some cases, altering jumper settings can render the drive inoperative temporarily.
2. Once Windows assigns this old HDD a letter name, IF you don't like that and want to change it, go into Disk Management. There you can change a letter for a drive to something else not in use by right-clicking on the unit. You can even temporarily change a unit to a drive like "R:", then change another to make a "space" in the sequence like leaving "E:" open, then go back and change the "R:" one to "E:".
3. Although you will have access to all your old files, you will NOT be able to run executable files (applications software) from it. When you Install a software app, Windows makes entries into its Registry files about where to find it, what resources it needs, etc. Your new Windows install on the new HDD has NO entries for stuff on the old drive, so it cannot use them. If you need to use old applications installed previously on the old HDD, you will need to re-Install them to the new drive so Windows can make those entries in its new Registry.

 

[WAZ]

Detailed information on the old vs. new motherboard and chipset would be needed, to say for sure whether the old HD would still be bootable when plugged in to the new motherboard.
Example: going from an Intel H81 system to an Intel Z170 system, should be okay. There would be an extended time of several minutes for the initial boot-up on the new motherboard, but should be fine afterwards. That's provided that AHCI bios settings stay the same in the new as it was for the old.
Preferably, you'd also want to change the SATA controller driver to the "Standard" Microsoft driver before doing the switchover.

The old system is an Intel H55 -- this socket 1156 motherboard with an i7-870.

The new one is an Intel H110 -- this socket 1151 motherboard with an i5-6500.

Sounds like I should be okay.

 

[vailr]

The old system is an Intel H55 -- this socket 1156 motherboard with an i7-870.

The new one is an Intel H110 -- this socket 1151 motherboard with an i5-6500.

Sounds like I should be okay.

With a Skylake system, you may find that a USB connected mouse & keyboard won't work (initially).
Use of a PS/2 mouse may be required to get past that.
Note: the PS/2 port "dislikes" (may be damaged) being connected/disconnected while the PC is powered up.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Sure, install Windows on a new drive WITHOUT your current drive plugged in. after your install i's complete, shutdown and plug in the old drive.

Power up, enter bios to check and see if all drives are there, make sure you're configured to boot to new drive only, then boot to os.

Files should be reachable on the original drive