When reconnecting HDDs, do i need to use same SATA ports?

[poohbear]

Hey all, have to take apart my computer cause i'm moving cities (all parts are being taken apart from mobo to HDDs to PSU, the computer case can't fit in flight luggage). Now, i have 3 SSDs and 2 HDDs, when putting my computer back together do i have to connect each drive to the exact same port (ie SATA0, SATA1, SATA2 etc) for Windows 8.1 to recognize the system? or can i just connect them to random ports and Windows will still recognize my setup? Thanks in advance for any clarification!

 

[Essence_of_War]

Allegedly windows 8.1 uses UUID's, not sata port numbers, to track drive letters, so it should be fine. If you have a single SSD that your OS is installed to, you might try connecting that one first by itself, booting it, and then connecting up the rest.

 

[poohbear]

Thanks Essence. You said "allegedly", so this isnt confirmed?

Also, since I'm just taking apart my system for the move & putting it back together, there's no need to reinstall windows 8.1 or anything, right? It should boot up fine?

 

[fuzzymath10]

Thanks Essence. You said "allegedly", so this isnt confirmed?

Also, since I'm just taking apart my system for the move & putting it back together, there's no need to reinstall windows 8.1 or anything, right? It should boot up fine?

I don't recall ever having a problem. It might get redetected when you login, but drive letters etc. won't be impacted.

The only thing you should check is that your BIOS still knows which drive to choose first. If it tied order to the port, it might try to boot off the wrong drive and get stuck.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I only said allegedly because I didn't have any documentation in front of me, but here's a reference:

http://www.multibooters.com/articles/windows-drive-letters.html

You should be fine taking it apart and re-assembling. The only thing that usually causes issues with windows is if you change the motherboard.

 

[Viper GTS]

NTFS has identified drives long before Windows 8:

http://windowsitpro.com/storage/mini-treatise-storage-device-identifiers-ntfs

Things can get strange around booting and RAID sets, but for simple volumes Windows is good about putting things back where they belong.

Viper GTS

 

[poohbear]

OK so to avoid booting problems it's best to just install my OS SSD first, get windows up & running, then later connect the other drives to any port yea? Thanks guys!

 

[Mighty_Miro_WD]

Hey all, have to take apart my computer cause i'm moving cities (all parts are being taken apart from mobo to HDDs to PSU, the computer case can't fit in flight luggage). Now, i have 3 SSDs and 2 HDDs, when putting my computer back together do i have to connect each drive to the exact same port (ie SATA0, SATA1, SATA2 etc) for Windows 8.1 to recognize the system? or can i just connect them to random ports and Windows will still recognize my setup? Thanks in advance for any clarification!

Hi there.

No, you don't have to use the same SATA ports of the motherboard when you reconnect the drives.

The only thing I will recommend is to go in BIOS and make sure that the boot order is right and the PC will start from the OS drive.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

 

[inf1nity]

I unplugged and replugged my hard drive multiple times while cleaning my computer and have never had a problem. I even alternated my drive between Master and slave, no problems ever.

 

[AlienTech]

There is no master slave in SATA.. The problem comes in when you have multiple operating systems on different drives and with UEFI especially, the boot order will change,so you have to manually select which one you want to use to boot. If you only have a single OS drive this does not matter and windows will figure out where to boot from. XP had problems if you changed ports but I have not found windows 7 to have any problems like that.