New Pc, Old Hardrive?

im thinking of buying a new pc but if I put my old hardrives in it will it still have all the software and files etc working fine?
cos I have alot of downloaded software and dont want to re-donload them and install etc

thanks

As long as you use the old hard drive as the primary hdd for the new pc everything will be the same. If your getting a new hdd make the new one a secondary drive.

If it's a SATA harddrive then you may have to enable SATA in the BIOS. Or make sure the jumper settings are correct if you're making one a secondary.

But yeah the files will be on there. Are you wanting to keep the same OS too?

yeah im on XP now and wanna keep it if possible.

Yeah just plug the hard drive up with the new components then.

I would suggest having two hard drives though, have one for files and one for programs, that way you can store .zips of all programs on say C:, and install all programs and windows on E:, then when/ if you need to reinstall you dont have to move all your shit about.

like ME.

well everythings installed and dont have the orginal install files so if I lose them im bit fucked lol

You really should clean install windows with a new motherboard.....

Keep it as a slave drive. All your programs and etc will work the same, but you'll be still losing space due to the shitty windows files. That's the price you pay for your programs to work.

racist mother fucker

check your old hdd if it is pata (40 pin large connector) or sata (small connector). If it is pata, then check if the new computer still have pata... some of the newest PCs don't have it. And buy a computer with the same processor and chipset manufacturer, if you had Intel before, have Intel again, or the same with AMD.

You can't swap Windows drives and expect it to work, it will throw up a BSOD in the new hardware. If you do want to do this however, you will have to uninstall certain chipset drivers from Windows before putting the drive in the new PC, you can then proceed to install the appropriate drivers for the new hardware. I have done this a couple of times with success, I can write a guide for you if you like.

G

thanks G that would be awesome
I sent Circa what I got in my PC at the moment ( http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=22161635sg2.jpg )
and he found upgrades for my

Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139890

Ram
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429

Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144803

Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148212

If I just upgrade this stuff will it all work fine with the Sata harddrives I got atm? or will I need to do your process or uninstalling some files etc

If you dont wanna wipe your hard drive the whole process is going to be a lot more complicated.

do tell Mr.Guru

format

Would be easier just because there would be no issue with components and chipsets matching if you just started a fresh.