• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:50
CEST 01:50
KST 08:50
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed14Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll8Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
Who will win EWC 2025? RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Server Blocker Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll
Tourneys
FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo)
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Soulkey Muta Micro Map? [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2025 ACS Season 2 Qualifier Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches CSL Xiamen International Invitational
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread We are Ready to Testify: Emergence Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Ping To Win? Pings And Their…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 590 users

Re-Use old HDD

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-28 12:17:48
November 28 2012 12:16 GMT
#1
Hey everyone,

I just got a new PC and to save money, I figured I could keep on using my old HDD alongside the new SSD

What I didn't know, thanks Dell, is that the old HDD actually is two HDDs, exhibit a:

[image loading]

Now, the new Tower is a MicroATX tower, but I had the option to get a second HDD, so I figure at least one of the HDDs have to fit in there, right?

Here's how it looks on the inside:

[image loading]

The HDDs in question always appeared as one HDD, even in the BIOS.

How do I get the HDDs in the new computer?
If I can only use one, I guess I'll have to format the one I'm using?
Can I somehow split the two and still have one of them working in the old machine that I'll give to my parents? Obviously I will want to format that one thoroughly...

Oh, the old HDDs are Seagate Barracuda 7200 250 gig.
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
TSBspartacus
Profile Joined October 2011
England1046 Posts
November 28 2012 13:02 GMT
#2
You will have to format both of them if you want to use them separately, yes.
In terms of fitting them into the tower they should just slot in right next to the new hard drive you have in there. You will need screws or other plastic things that come with the PC you just bought, I hope you have some provided with your new PC.
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
November 28 2012 13:11 GMT
#3
The new Hard Drive is an SSD and it's significantly smaller than the ones I have. They are far too large to fit in the same metal "cage".
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Rannasha
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Netherlands2398 Posts
November 28 2012 13:26 GMT
#4
On November 28 2012 22:11 kafkaesque wrote:
The new Hard Drive is an SSD and it's significantly smaller than the ones I have. They are far too large to fit in the same metal "cage".


There are typically 3 different sizes of computer-disks and drives with their associated slots. 5.25" is the largest, which fits CD/DVD players and writers. 3.5" is the standard desktop-harddisk size (as well as floppy disk drives) and 2.5" is the size for laptop disks and most SSDs. You can buy adapter-cases to fit a smaller class of drive in a larger slot. Your old harddisks should fit in a 3.5" slot without modifications and will fit in a 5.25" slot with an adapter. So just identify which type of slots you have available.

After installing the disk, you can boot Windows like you'd normally do. Then go to the control panel -> administrative tools -> computer management. In this screen open the item for disk management, identify your new disk, delete existing partitions (if any) and create a new partition (with NTFS as filesystem).

Since your old machine used the 2 disks as one entity, it most likely used some form of RAID to combine the 2 disks. This means that simply formatting the partition on the disk is probably not possible, so you'll have to create a new partition.
Such flammable little insects!
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-28 14:11:29
November 28 2012 13:58 GMT
#5
So I could put it in the slot below the DVD drive if I get an adapter?

The HDD is exactly 10 cm wide, which would be about 3.5".

Also, thanks for the advice!

I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the big block of metal (cooler?) that blocks the Slot...
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Boblhead
Profile Joined August 2010
United States2577 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-28 14:12:21
November 28 2012 14:12 GMT
#6
On November 28 2012 22:58 kafkaesque wrote:
So I could put it in the slot below the DVD drive if I get an adapter?

The HDD is exactly 10 cm wide, which would be about 3.5".

Also, thanks for the advice!

I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the big block of metal (cooler?) that blocks the Slot...

they have 3.5" and 2.5" adapters for 5.25 bays.
jacosajh
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
2919 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-28 14:18:44
November 28 2012 14:16 GMT
#7
If your old 2x HDDs are bigger than the SSD (which is expected), they are 3.5"

It looks like your new computer has one more 3.5" slot.

You can get an adapter like this to use one of your 5.25" CD/DVD bays.

You can also just tape your SSD somewhere on your case if you need more room. I'm not sure what your situation requires but I've done this when I didn't have enough HDD bays.
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-29 18:38:36
November 29 2012 18:35 GMT
#8
On November 28 2012 23:16 jacosajh wrote:
If your old 2x HDDs are bigger than the SSD (which is expected), they are 3.5"

It looks like your new computer has one more 3.5" slot.

You can get an adapter like this to use one of your 5.25" CD/DVD bays.

You can also just tape your SSD somewhere on your case if you need more room. I'm not sure what your situation requires but I've done this when I didn't have enough HDD bays.


I would do that, but I just realized that the power supply only has 2 of those Red / Orange / Yellow cables that connect to the HDD, which I assume are there for electricity.

So one of them is for the DVD drive and one of them for the SSD, which is a pitty.

I can't remember the last time I've used a CD and I think an external DVD drive is probably cheaper than another HDD, can I just use the electricity-cable from the DVD drive for the HDD?
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
November 29 2012 18:54 GMT
#9
All drives use the same SATA connector so yes you can unplug your DVD for your HDD if the power supply doesn't have sufficient amount of connectors. You can also use a molex to SATA connector if you wish to keep the DVD drive.
jacosajh
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
2919 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-29 19:03:13
November 29 2012 19:01 GMT
#10
All hdds and optical drives use either:

+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
MOLEX

OR
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
SATA


The latter is used more frequently. AFAIK every power supply comes with at least 2 of each.

If you don't have anymore of the SATA, you can get one these to transform one of your Molex to SATA.

TL:DR - what skyR said with pics and links
MutantGenepool
Profile Joined October 2011
Australia115 Posts
November 29 2012 20:27 GMT
#11
A really good free partition manager is EaseUS Partition Manager.
Web site here.
EGRevival (Zerg) has more marines than Polt. ROOTNathanias
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
November 30 2012 01:50 GMT
#12
You guys are amazing.

Now that the hardware is sorted out, how do I procede after "splitting up" the HDD?

Can I then just plug one of them into the new PC, format it and put it back into the old one?
I can't seem to format them in the old PC, as I get a blue-screen using my XP CD or a blackscreen using my Win7 CD when trying to boot from CD.
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
November 30 2012 01:53 GMT
#13
Yes, plug them in, go into disk management, format.

Though you won't be able to put them back into your old PC.. well you can.. but you won't have an operating system installed anymore.
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
November 30 2012 03:04 GMT
#14
On November 30 2012 10:53 skyR wrote:
Yes, plug them in, go into disk management, format.

Though you won't be able to put them back into your old PC.. well you can.. but you won't have an operating system installed anymore.


That's no problem, but will I be able to use one in the old PC without further alterations?
Will my PC "figure out" that suddenly there is only one instead of two HDDs?

If I get this figured out you guys have saved me like 150 bucks for building the computer myself instead of buying it pre-built, I'm very grateful!
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
November 30 2012 03:22 GMT
#15
Yes, you can use the HDD in whatever PC.
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-30 14:14:03
November 30 2012 13:37 GMT
#16
I've hooked it up, and it shows up in Bios, but once in Windows it doesn't:

[image loading]

In EPM it shows up twice as large and read only (write protected):

[image loading]

I'm really out of my element here, I've googled a couple of solutions, but one doesn't work because the HDD doesn't show up in "My computer", the other because it doesn't show up in the cmd.
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
jacosajh
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
2919 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-30 14:51:00
November 30 2012 14:46 GMT
#17
I'm not sure exactly what you're doing, but it appears that what you want to do is separate the 2x HDDs (that appeared as one) in your old system... 1 for use in your new system and 1 for use in your old system.

What you want to do is:
-On the new system, install Windows on the SSD and once finished, format the HDD to be used in your new computer (using Disk Management in Control Panel). Alternatively, you can use the Windows installation screen to format the HDD (pic below).
-On the old system, reinstall Windows on the HDD. I'm not sure what the specifics are, but I have a feeling that the way your 2x HDDs were setup before would mean compromising the operating system once they are separated.

You can reformat SSDs/HDDs in the Windows Installation screen, like this:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Alternatively, if you wanted to do it in Windows, once it's installed:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
Obviously, you can't do this to the 1 HDD going into the old system. This is for the new system once you have Windows installed on the SSD.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 10h 10m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 224
Nathanias 158
JuggernautJason68
CosmosSc2 63
Livibee 33
StarCraft: Brood War
ZZZero.O 87
Dota 2
monkeys_forever1005
NeuroSwarm128
canceldota22
League of Legends
Grubby4949
Trikslyr67
Counter-Strike
oskar252
Super Smash Bros
AZ_Axe122
Other Games
tarik_tv22843
summit1g12336
shahzam614
C9.Mang0230
ViBE160
Skadoodle135
PPMD45
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1716
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• RyuSc2 48
• Hupsaiya 48
• sitaska39
• musti20045 31
• davetesta27
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21166
Other Games
• imaqtpie1993
Upcoming Events
CranKy Ducklings
10h 10m
Epic.LAN
12h 10m
CSO Contender
17h 10m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 10h
Online Event
1d 16h
Esports World Cup
3 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Esports World Cup
4 days
Esports World Cup
5 days
Esports World Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

JPL Season 2
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25

Upcoming

2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate marketing links that support TLnet.

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.