Switching Hard Drives

[Barryj61]

There have been numerous posts on this topic before, but I have one additional question I can't find the answer to. I am building a new machine (Athlon 1.2, ECS K7S5A MB) and am taking the Hard Drive from my old machine (WD 40gig 7200...only 3 months old). I have a ton of programs and data on this drive now....moving it will be rather painful.

Now, some of you say you can move the drive with your programs and data intact by simply removing the Windows file containing all the hardware settings (can't find which specific file this is, though....help me out folks!....Win98). Others on this forum will tell you to ALWAYS reformat the drive, particularly with a change in hardware as radical as mine (going from a PII-300, BX motherboard to the above mentioned 1.2 T-bird). If performance and stability will suffer, I will bite the bullet and start from scratch...will just take a bit longer.

My question is about a 3rd possible alternative; leave the data and other programs intact, BUT reinstall Win98 when I move the drive to the new machine. Is this even possible? Just wordering if this is a viable alternative, or am I creating massive headaches by trying this? Let me know...I'm ready to build!!

 

[RickH]

Just move the drive and try it. I have done it many times with no problems. The guys that reinstall everything every time have too much time on their hands. Good luck. R.

 

[Agent004]

The third alternative is really really messy, as I have done it many time. When you reinstall windows on the top of an existing one with apps and other stuff, the installation will overwrite almost all the registry entries. Without the necessary entries, the apps are mostly like to cease function, or function with minimal useability.

Best to install refresh and back up before doing anything, I am speaking from experience as I just done the same, upgraded the motherboard.

You can 'gut' out windows and install a new one, but majority (if not all) of the system utilities(like Norton antivirus, system suite,etc) won't work. Also the old motherboard drivers are like to cause problems.