Solved Installing old primary drive in new computer as secondary drive

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Archquark

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My wife has bought a new Dell XPS 8300 as her HP is four years old. The new machine has Windows 7 Professional already installed.
Is it possible to remove the original primary disk from her old machine and install as a second drive on the new one? Will we have to remove Windows 7 Professional on the old drive before installing in the new computer as a second drive? Will the new machine recognize her programs and data files on the second drive?

Thanks
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Servi...Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz with ...16.00 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600 Mhz - 4 DimmsAMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
DELL XPS 8500
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz with Turbo Boost
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0YJPT1
Memory
16.00 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600 Mhz - 4 Dimms
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5
Sound Card
Integrated 7.1 with WAVE MAAXAudio 4
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell ST2320L
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
Hard Drives
Seagate ST2000DM001-9YN164 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0 Gb/s
PSU
460W PFC
Case
Mini Tower Extreme Performance
Cooling
120 MM Case Fan
Keyboard
Dell KB213 Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse
Dell Laser Mouse 6BTN
Internet Speed
DSL Download 6Mbps Upload 1Mbps
Antivirus
Bitdefender Total Security 2013
Browser
Internet Explorer 10
Other Info
Blu-Ray combo Drive
Yes, you can install the old drive in the new PC.

No, you will not have to remove Windows 7 from the old drive.

The new PC will recognize the data on the old hard drive, but not the programs. You will have to reinstall the programs onto the new hard drive in the new PC.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bitIntel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
Hello and welcome to SevenForums,

As Ignatz said its easily doable.

Just one point to consider, and I'm not familiar with Dell's position on this, but make sure you don't void any warranty on the new PC by opening it and installing additional hardware. Its just something to be mindful of. Hopefully someone with knowledge of Dell's warranty position can provide a definitive answer.

Regards,
Golden
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64Intel i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz O/C'ed to 4.0GHz16GB Corsair Vengance DDR3 @ 661 MHz Dual Cha...EVGA NVidia GTX 560 1024MB
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Golden Mk. I.4
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
CPU
Intel i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz O/C'ed to 4.0GHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte P55A-UD3R Rev.1. Award BIOS F13
Memory
16GB Corsair Vengance DDR3 @ 661 MHz Dual Channel (9-9-9-24)
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA NVidia GTX 560 1024MB
Sound Card
Realtek Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual Samsung SyncMaster 2494HS
Screen Resolution
1920*1080 and 1920*1080
Hard Drives
1*Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD;
1*OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD;
2*Samsung F3 SpinPoint 1TB in RAID0;
1*Samsung F1 SpinPoint 1TB;
2*Western Digital 1TB External USB 3.0
1*Western Digital 500GB External USB 3.0
1*Seagate 500GB External USB 2.0
PSU
Thermaltake ToughPower QFan 750W
Case
Thermaltake Element S VK60001W2Z
Cooling
Corsair H60 Water Cooling, 2*230mm and 2*80mm case fans
Keyboard
Logitech G110
Mouse
Logitech MX518
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