Apologies in advance if this is addressed elsewhere, but I couldn't find it.
My 5-year old PC (Windows 7 Pro) has become unstable and it appears to be associated with the motherboard. It will run for several minutes and then freeze, requiring a hard re-boot and everything associated with that. The system includes a 156 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD along with 8 MB Memory. It's a 90% work computer and 0% gaming.
After weeks of fussing with it and wasting money on new memory, a new video card (and almost a new CPU cooler), I decided to cut my losses and purchase a new PC: 256 GB SSD + 16 MB memory...on-board graphics and sound. Windows 10 Professional (even though I still have the original Windows 7 OS disks)
The final glitch is none of the new HDD's I've looked at (Seagate and WD) come with cables or mounting screws, so I suppose I'll need to go out and purchase both a 7-pin data and 15-pin power cable and hope the screws in my old HDD mount work in the new one. (Aside - should I assume I'll be able to scavenge the old connectors out of the old computer and they'll work?)
Sorry for the length of this. It would be simple if the old PC worked reliably. It would be simple if the answer was simply:
Set up programs on the new SSD
Install the old HDD into the new computer
Win.
That somehow seems too good to be true, and perhaps a shortcut that will transfer an old mess to a new system. Also, I assume there's plenty of on-line instruction on how to set up a new D: Drive on a Windows 10 PC.
Thanks in advance. I know I'll get good advise here. BTW - expecting delivery tomorrow, so I hope to have all my ducks in a row for screwing things up over the weekend)
My 5-year old PC (Windows 7 Pro) has become unstable and it appears to be associated with the motherboard. It will run for several minutes and then freeze, requiring a hard re-boot and everything associated with that. The system includes a 156 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD along with 8 MB Memory. It's a 90% work computer and 0% gaming.
After weeks of fussing with it and wasting money on new memory, a new video card (and almost a new CPU cooler), I decided to cut my losses and purchase a new PC: 256 GB SSD + 16 MB memory...on-board graphics and sound. Windows 10 Professional (even though I still have the original Windows 7 OS disks)
- I've made the decision to manually re-install every program I use in order to ensure good work practice. This includes a new purchase of Office 365. I know this will take time, but I assume it's a healthy way of doing things. Right?
- Remove the old HDD and install it in the new computer as a D: drive. Then clean it up as much as possible. I assume the last step is ensuring all programs point to the drive as the source of data.
- Use purpose-made software to move files (I assume settings are all on the original SSD?). I this is too risky because the old PC will probably freeze up during the process.
- Buy a new 1 TB HDD and install it in the new computer (say, a WD10EZEX Blue 7200 RPM 3.5" at around $45). Remove the old HDD and do one of the following:
- Put it into a external HDD enclosure, plug it into the new computer, and start copying all files over to the new HDD. Use that as a backup drive (I have no idea why).
- Buy a cable adapter, plug it into the new PC and start copying
The final glitch is none of the new HDD's I've looked at (Seagate and WD) come with cables or mounting screws, so I suppose I'll need to go out and purchase both a 7-pin data and 15-pin power cable and hope the screws in my old HDD mount work in the new one. (Aside - should I assume I'll be able to scavenge the old connectors out of the old computer and they'll work?)
Sorry for the length of this. It would be simple if the old PC worked reliably. It would be simple if the answer was simply:
Set up programs on the new SSD
Install the old HDD into the new computer
Win.
That somehow seems too good to be true, and perhaps a shortcut that will transfer an old mess to a new system. Also, I assume there's plenty of on-line instruction on how to set up a new D: Drive on a Windows 10 PC.
Thanks in advance. I know I'll get good advise here. BTW - expecting delivery tomorrow, so I hope to have all my ducks in a row for screwing things up over the weekend)