Will a new install of Win 7 on a primary drive see existing files on other drives?

[doctordoctor]

Here's my problem:

1. I have a 64 GB SSD on which I loaded Windows 7 as well as other programs I use frequently and which benefit from the drive's speed (e.g. Premier, etc).

2. I have three other hard drives, two of which are 1 Terabyte and one of which is 500 GB that I use for other programs as well as for storage.

3. I have a new 256 GB SSD onto which I want to install Windows 7. Can I take the 64 GB SSD out, replace it with the 256GB SSD, install Windows 7, and let the rest take care of itself? Will the new installation recognize the files that are already in place on the other drives?

Apologies if this doesn't belong in OS but I figured the question is whether the newly installed OS will recognize the existing hardware (less of a concern) and the files stored there (more of a concern).

 

[Berryracer]

yes it will

one tip of advice though.

I would reinstall the OS with ONLY the SSD installed first, then after Windows boots up for the first time, you can connect your other drives.

Reason is, if you install Windows while the other HDDs were there or if you have done so on your previous Windows install, Windows will place some of the boot files on the HDD which which you obviously don't want, you want everything related to the OS to be on the SSD (main storage device) and not split between other storage devices.

Google this topic and you'll see that what I say is very true

 

[Matt1970]

yes it will

one tip of advice though.

I would reinstall the OS with ONLY the SSD installed first, then after Windows boots up for the first time, you can connect your other drives.

Reason is, if you install Windows while the other HDDs were there or if you have done so on your previous Windows install, Windows will place some of the boot files on the HDD which which you obviously don't want, you want everything related to the OS to be on the SSD (main storage device) and not split between other storage devices.

Google this topic and you'll see that what I say is very true

Very good advice. Windows also has a tendency to format other drives on it's own, rare but it does happen. It could also inadvertently label the drive you are installing to as D or E causing you all kinds of headaches down the road.

 

[Berryracer]

Very good advice. Windows also has a tendency to format other drives on it's own, rare but it does happen. It could also inadvertently label the drive you are installing to as D or E causing you all kinds of headaches down the road.

spot on, you have to watch the drive letters. what I usually do is after Windows installs the drives and reboots, I make sure to set the labeling right through computer management / disk management

first HDD I put C: then D:. second HDD is E: and so forth

I keep the DVD-Rom drive the last one

 

[Ketchup]

If you have programs installed on the other drives, they will need to be reinstalled from the new drive.

 

[SimMike2]

You should be able to image your 64GB to the new 256GB and not need a clean install. This isn't considered a major hardware change, and most of the time doesn't even require reactivation. With this method, your OS drive will be identical to your old OS drive, except bigger and probably faster.