Old Hard Drive - New Computer?

[jimhannon]

Hi all,
I'm putting together a new computer with a new case, motherboard, cpu and memory. I plan on using existing parts from my current computer - Cdrom,CDRW,floppy drive,zip drive,video card,modem and the hard drive. I think I know the answer but here it is.
Can I just plug in my old hard drive with Win 2000 in the new system? More importantly, will it work? Or do I have to backup, fdisk, format and load up? My current Win 2000 is running just fine, it would sure save time if I didn't have to partition and format.... Oh, and the hard drive is an IBM 40 gig partitioned into 8 drives.
thanks

[DrZaius]

Hi Jim,

It can be done, just read this thread on how to do it.

I always just backup my data and format however so as to avoid any conflicts or problems from old drivers or junk.

[glc]

Removing the ENUM key is NOT recommended for a NT-based OS such as 2000 or XP. I would back up ALL your data, throw the drive in, and hope for the best. With luck, it will boot up and install the new hardware - if not, try booting with the CD and running a repair. Worst case, you will have to format the OS partition and reinstall - and reinstall all your apps over the top to rehook them into Windows.

[jimhannon]

Thanks GLC,
I've already started to backup up my drive onto CD's. My new parts should be here this week. One question though... I ordered the retail version of the AMD Athlon XP 1700. It comes (I believe) with it's own heatsink, fan and I think it's own cooling solution for the cpu... I think it is cooling "pads" or strips? I have no knowledge or experience with these. Will it be sufficient to keep the cpu cool enough? I would think that it would or AMD would not bundle it with thier chip. Any thoughts.
Jim

[glc]

I prefer to totally remove the thermal pad from the heatsink and use heatsink compound.