hello, i have ordered my new PC components and they should be here in a few days. I would like to know how i prepare my current hard drive? which i'll be using in it.

do i have to delete everything from it? do i have to format it? or can i just plug it in?

Thank You

If your running windows xp, you will have to format it... It can only handle a number of harware changes at once (to stop you putting it in a new pc...) other OS's, plug it in, and let it detect the new parts, unless you have your old system, and plug one new part in at a time... I think it can do 3 changes at any one reboot...

Just to add to dxmedia's comments - how are you intending to use the new hard drive - as additional storage or as the system drive?

If it is out of a manufactured pre-installed pc, it will almost certainly need to be re-installed from scratch for legal reasons as well as functional ones. XP can format the drive during installation so you don't need to do anything in advance.

If it was a home installed pc, you might only need to do a repair install and/or re-activate the pc at boot. We successfully lifted the XP system drive of a AMD K6/SDRAM pc onto a new motherboard P4/DDR and that was all it took.

the hard drive is gonna come out of my current PC. The PC is about 6years old but the hard drive is new, only a couple of months old.

At the moment its not a system drive, its a second drive for additional storage.

42fta, what are these legal reason's? i'm not familiar with any hard drive, legal reasons

the hard drive is gonna come out of my current PC. The PC is about 6years old but the hard drive is new, only a couple of months old.

At the moment its not a system drive, its a second drive for additional storage.

42fta, what are these legal reason's? i'm not familiar with any hard drive, legal reasons
I guess that if it was a preinstalled machine, the OEM license for Windows is often only valid for that particular hardware... I guess that won't be a problem in your case though.

OEM licences do cover upgrades, it's like the axe with seven shafts and three heads. M$ aren't gonig to be knocking on your door because you've swapped a drive... Any way, don't you have a back up copy of windows?

yes a have a back up of windows.

so if this hard drive that i will be using, had windows installed on it, would i need to reinstall it for the new build? or could i just plug it in and it should boot up? even thought its the first time all the other components will be used (apart from the hard drive obviously)

yes a have a back up of windows.

so if this hard drive that i will be using, had windows installed on it, would i need to reinstall it for the new build? or could i just plug it in and it should boot up? even thought its the first time all the other components will be used (apart from the hard drive obviously)
Firstly, is it Windows XP? That might affect the upgrade in the sense of you're only allowed to change a certain amount of hardware at once.

Then you've got the practicalities. In my experience, sometimes you can just put the drive in new hardware and sometimes it doesn't like it at all. Staying with the same motherboard chipset manufacturer (eg Via) helps. Be prepared for *lots* of "found new hardware" and rebooting if it does work out :)

If you have the time, it might be worth reinstalling Windows anyway - doing this every so often really helps things run smoothly, although it can be a drag getting everything set up again. It always makes a computer feel much faster! (although I guess yours will anyway, with the new hardware)

my current motherboard is Biostar (i think), the new one is a DFI motherboard.
so i guess it is best to reinstall it all together, all i have to do now is back up the 70GB of files. by the way Rich, do u know whether DFI is a good, reliable make or not?

yea it is prob best to reinstall it all together