My old computer has died, and I'm nearly finished building its replacement. Both systems use Windows 11. I'd like to move the old computer's secondary hard drive into the new machine as a secondary, non-boot drive. It doesn't contain an operating system. Can I simply remove it, mount it in the new case, connect the SATA and power cables, and start using it? Do I need to configure anything in the BIOS, such as registering the drive or changing the boot order? Is there anything else I should check before doing this?
3 Answers
The main thing to verify is that the new case has a suitable mounting position and that you have a SATA data cable. Use a power cable from the new power supply rather than reusing a modular PSU cable from the old system. You probably won’t need to enter the BIOS, but if the computer ever tries to boot from the old drive, just correct the boot order.
For a drive that only contains data, it should be essentially plug and play. Windows will normally detect it without requiring any BIOS changes.
Your files should be accessible normally, but applications installed on that drive may not work correctly because their registry entries and other components are still associated with the old Windows installation. Also, Windows may assign the drive a different letter, and encrypted or specially formatted drives could require additional steps.
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