Win 7 with XP on 2nd drive

[miztrniceguy]

I have a desktop with Windows 7 on it. I am going to give it to a family member that has a decrepit desktop with XP on it. I was thinking that if I pulled the HDD from her desktop she would have access to the programs and pictures etc that are on it without having to move them. But would there be a conflict with that drive having XP on it? She would not need to boot to XP if she can access the files and folders.

Alternatively I could move the files to the drive with 7 on it and wipe the 2nd drive, then set it as a second drive just for storage to make room on the Primary drive. Obviously a bit more work. Both drives are 160GB but the one with 7 is much newer.

Of course I know I could get a new drive cheap and clone the 7 drive to it and move the files from the XP drive to a separate partition on it, too. But trying to save her from having to spend any money. May still do it just for 7 anyway, but my main question is about the files on the XP drive.

Suggestions?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I doubt you could do anything with the programs on the old drive or the os "xp" once out of the old machine legally anyway
Your alternative is viable Personal files and storage after cleaning it and 7 on the newer drive
Cheers.

 

[miztrniceguy]

Thanks for the reply. It isn't the programs I or she cares about anyway except a genealogy one. Office I can reinstall without a problem, plus I get it for only $10 anyway. It's the files and folders and associated data. I should be able to access them and copy to a new drive afterwards. I decided to go ahead and get her a new 1TB drive and put 7 on it then copy her data to it, make an image of her XP drive and then save the physical drive for later.

 

[gregrocker]

You can install the XP hard drive into your WIn7 PC if it has a port for it, then access the data by assigning a drive letter in Disk Mgmt if required.

It might even boot - triggered by the BIOS Boot Menu key - if you don't have an EFI BIOS and there are not too many conflicts between drivers, SID and HID. You can adjust it to boot on different hardware by running an XP Repair Install from the XP disk.

If you want to copy all the files off and optimize it for storage, I'd wipe it with Diskpart Clean Command to clear all boot code and partition table, then repartition in Disk Mgmt.

 

[miztrniceguy]

Thanks for the tip. I will see how it goes tomorrow after I install 7 on a fresh drive.

 

[whs]

Check whether the old drive is actually a Sata drive - else you will have problems.

 

[miztrniceguy]

Surprisingly it's SATA-I according to the Speccy report.

 

[whs]

Sounds OK then. Must be a late XP system.

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks for the tip. I will see how it goes tomorrow after I install 7 on a fresh drive.

Look over these steps to get and keep a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7 which compile everything that's worked best in thousands of installs we've helped with here since beta, and which has been used by over a million consumers without a single complaint or return here with problems.

 

[miztrniceguy]

It's an old Asus with a 0nx1114RE101AMBEM00 Motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 3700+ CPU and 1 GB ram DDR 200...which is why I'm giving her my old system with an Intel board and Dual Core 3.2 Ghz cpu and 4 GB ram and Win 7, going on a 1 TB WD Green.

I'll pull the existing drive, put the new drive, with clean install of Windows 7 and then add the drive with XP and go from there.

 

[whs]

Rather than spending the money on the 1TB drive, I would buy a 120GB SSD for $53 to run the OS and use the old HDD for the data.

Amazon.com: Kingston Digital 120GB SSDNow V300 SATA 3 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive with Adapter (SV300S37A/120G): Computers & Accessories

 

[gregrocker]

+1. An SSD is lightning-fast, the best upgrade you can have, better than buying a new high-end PC without one!

 

[miztrniceguy]

The storage will benefit her more. The 1TB was only $50. My wife's aunt won't notice the speed increase the SSD would give. Not a power user. Genealogy is primary use.

 

[miztrniceguy]

My personal desktop and my ROG G750 both have Samsung 840 EVO 128 GB SSD and 1 TB HDD.

 

[Layback Bear]

I have never known anybody that goes from a hard drive to a SSD that didn't notice the speed increase.

SSD's are very fast and reliable. As Wolfgang has posted they are also priced right.

The only problem I have experience with SSD's is they are habit forming.
Once you use one you will want more of them.

 

[miztrniceguy]

Lol, yeah, but my point is that it isn't an issue. She will love the speed increase she will be getting just by moving from the older computer to the newer one. Her original query of me was about putting a bigger hard drive in it, as she was running out of space. I was going to sell this rig, and decided to give it to her instead. She will be pleased.

 

[ThrashZone]

What's not to like,
Newer machine and a larger hdd
Although a 1tb hdd for 25.us hope it holds up :/

 

[miztrniceguy]

1TB for $25? Where's that deal? I paid $50