Windows 10: Broken computer wanting to know if I can transfer the system / hard drive to a new computer

Help Microsoft! I have a computer that is old but running Windows 10 upgraded from XP to Win 7 to Win 10 over the years. Need the ability to to type in the Windows 10 key from that system to determine if it is a retail or oem key.

:)

 

new system old hard drive...

I have an old hard drive that has those old ribbon connections to transfer data to the mother board.

I have a new computer that mostly uses those cool little ATA (I think that is what they are called) connections.

The new computer has a Vista OS.

I opened up the case and I was supprised to see on the motherboard a wide ribbon connection and so I connected the old hard drive and a free power connection.

When I turned on the computer, the system started up like usual and did not notice the new hard drive.

I went to the Control Pannel and did an automatic add hard drive call and it did not find the old hard drive.

Any suggestions?

 

Transferring old Hard Drive to New Computer?

Yes you'll be able to access your files no problem (from within the OS on the new hard drive). However dont count on it booting from that hard drive. The driver issues will most likely be too much, and it will just blue screen. Theres always a chance it will boot, so try it out, but its going to be a mess uninstalling all the drivers from the previous computer then installing the new ones. It wont be clean, thats for sure. Better to put the old hard drive in the new machine, back up your files to the new hard drive, then reinstall xp on the old hard drive from scratch, if you are able to do that. Ive tried transferring hard drives between computers several times, and most of the time (unless the computers are very similar hardware-wise, i.e. two dells of the same series) they just blue screen. A handful of times though, it has worked, so try it out and see.

As for the external, no it will still have the same effect, as the drivers will kill it (once again, most likely)

 

Transferring old Hard Drive to New Computer?

I just bought a new computer, and was wondering if I could simply transfer my old hard drive to the new PC. FYI, my old computer was a Dell Dimension 8300, Windows XP, with an 80GB HD. My new computer is a custom Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition, Vista Home Premium 64, with a 1TB HD. Basically:

(1) If I physically remove the old Dell HD and put it in the new computer, will I be able to access my files?

(2) Will I be able to boot from the Windows XP operating system installed on the old HD? (And not compromise my ability to alternatively boot from Vista 64 on the new HD)?

(3) Can I copy the contents of the old HD to an external HD and achieve the result in #2?

Any advice would be appreciated!