upgrading, can I use the same hard drive?

Kharnastus

So I just got my new AM3 motherboard and AMD X4 3.2 ghz processor and I was planning on using the old hard drive from the previous desktop. Here's the question, can I just plug it into the new motherboard without reformating?
The reason I am trying to avoid the reformat is to preserve the girlfriends sims games that she has misplaced the CDs.

Foomy

not really, windows freaks out if you try and just run it when you install new motherboard/cpu.

you can try it, and than run a repair of windows, but 90% of the time you end up with driver errors and other annoying bugs that just doesnt make the hassle of trying to fix everything worth it.

elliotw2

You can totally do this, but backup your registry keys first. You will have to reinstall windows, but that doesn't include reformatting, assuming that this is a System drive. Personally, I have been using the same 200GB ATA drive for random data for 13 years and 4 systems.

Tofystedeth

If you do a repair install, it should mostly work. You will most likely need to download drivers for the chipset, and possibly built in stuff like if the network card is integrated on the mobo. Other than that it should be fine. There's ways to do it without the repair install, but it's a little hairier and not really worth it.

You'll also have to reapply all service packs and windows updates after a repair install, so having as much of that on a CD or USB drive would be a timesaver.