{"id":8172,"date":"2021-05-04T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/"},"modified":"2021-05-04T12:25:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T19:25:00","slug":"using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121","status":"publish","type":"support_article","link":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/","title":{"rendered":"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#Why_May_I_Need_this_Article\" >Why May I Need this Article?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#Here_are_some_things_that_can_happen_when_installing_an_old_Windows_boot_drive_in_a_new_Windows_system\" >Here are some things that can happen when installing an old Windows boot drive in a new Windows system:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#What_do_I_need_to_do_to_prepare\" >What do I need to do to prepare?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#This_will_format_your_old_drive\" >This will format your old drive!<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#Formatting_your_old_drive\" >Formatting your old drive<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#WARNING_%E2%80%93_THESE_NEXT_STEPS_WILL_DELETE_ALL_DATA_ON_ONE_OF_YOUR_DRIVES\" >WARNING &#8211; THESE NEXT STEPS WILL DELETE ALL DATA ON ONE OF YOUR DRIVES<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#Partitioning_your_drive\" >Partitioning your drive<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"WhyMayINeedthisArticle?\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_May_I_Need_this_Article\"><\/span>Why May I Need this Article?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It&#39;s not uncommon for folks to look at the hardware in their old system and want to use it in their new system; you spent good money on that hardware, so of course you want to take advantage of it! The problem is, specifically regarding old Windows boot drives, adding an old drive to a new system can create instability.<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"HerearesomethingsthatcanhappenwheninstallinganoldWindowsbootdriveinanewWindowssystem\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Here_are_some_things_that_can_happen_when_installing_an_old_Windows_boot_drive_in_a_new_Windows_system\"><\/span>Here are some things that can happen when installing an old Windows boot drive in a new Windows system:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"alert alert-warning border border-warning rounded puget-wp-alert\" role=\"alert\">\n\t<ul><li>Installing Windows on a drive when another drive has Windows installed already can result in it piggy-backing on the old drive&#039;s boot partition. This is ideal for dual-booting, but if that&#039;s not your intention it will result in being unable to boot into Windows once you format the old boot drive.<\/li><li>Windows updates can get mixed up and apply to the wrong drive or, even worse, can get corrupted and result in the need for a clean installation.<\/li><li>Booting a system with an old drive, especially one that&#039;s failing, can result in boot failures or BSOD errors.<\/li><li>Simply formatting a drive in Disk management isn&#039;t always thorough enough, causing your BIOS to view this drive as bootable and causing startup problems.<\/li><li>Having an older failing or corrupted drive can result in slowness or poor performance across the whole system, even when not reading\/writing to the old drive.<\/li><\/ul><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"WhatdoIneedtodotoprepare?\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_I_need_to_do_to_prepare\"><\/span>What do I need to do to prepare?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Before installing the old drive into your new system, we recommend purchasing and using a <strong>USB drive enclosure<\/strong> to connect it: this is a device that lets you use an <strong>internal SATA drive<\/strong> like you would an <strong>external USB drive<\/strong>. While it&#39;s possible to get through this by simply booting to your new drive and formatting the old one, the errors listed above can happen even if you only boot this way once! In addition, Windows will make an attempt to protect internal SATA drives that detect Windows created boot partitions to prohibit users from accidently deleting important Windows operating system files. There are other options, too, like using a SATA PCIe card or enabling SATA hot-swapping, but this way results in little unnecessary hardware and it makes the process very simple. For these reasons and more, it&#39;s <strong>highly<\/strong> recommended you use a USB drive enclosure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>One last recommendation is to disconnect all of your extra drives. While it&#39;s not necessary and there are steps in place to guarantee you&#39;re not erasing the wrong drive, the safest way to avoid accidentally erasing the data on a different secondary or tertiary drive is to simply unplug either the data or power cable from the extra drives. You can&#39;t accidentally erase a drive the computer doesn&#39;t see!<\/p>\r\n\n<div class=\"mod-img wp-block-image aligncenter\" data-target=\"single-image-modal-42607\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\">\n\t<!-- If image is not empty, print image, else, print from image URL -->\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68524\" alt=\"Drive enclosure\" ><\/img>\n\t<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Displays caption if entered -->\n    <div class=\"single-image-caption\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1rem;\"><p>Vantec NexStar-3 External 2.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosure<\/p><\/div>\n\n<!-- Displays modal upon click of an image -->\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\/\/Using unique random generated id\n\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\tjQuery('[data-target=\"single-image-modal-42607\"]').click(function(){\n            jQuery('#single-image-modal-42607Modal').modal('show');\n\t\t\t});\n        });\n<\/script>\n\n<div class=\"modal fade popup-image\" id=\"single-image-modal-42607Modal\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"dialog\"> \n\t<div class=\"modal-dialog modal-xl\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modal-content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-header\">\n\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"modal-title\">Image<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- \/modal-header -->\n\n            <div class=\"modal-body inner-modal\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68524\" alt=\"Drive enclosure\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-center full-res-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-light btn-lg full-res-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68524\" target=\"_blank\">Open Full Resolution <i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/modal-body -->\n    \t<\/div><!-- \/modal-content -->\n    <\/div><!-- \/modal-dialog -->\n<\/div><!-- \/modal fade --> \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Thiswillformatyourolddrive!\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"This_will_format_your_old_drive\"><\/span>This will format your old drive!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"alert alert-danger border border-danger rounded puget-wp-alert\" role=\"alert\">\n\t<p>What&#039;s most important, moreso than anything else, is if you&#039;ve got any data on your old C: drive that you want to retain, transfer it over before formatting your drive. With the USB enclosure, you can connect the drive after booting up your system and drag-and-drop any important files over.<\/p><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Formattingyourolddrive\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Formatting_your_old_drive\"><\/span>Formatting your old drive<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now that we&#39;re ready, let&#39;s go ahead and boot up your computer with the drive disconnected. Once you&#39;re in Windows, right-click on your Start menu and select either &quot;Windows Powershell (Admin)&quot; or &quot;Windows Command Prompt (Admin)&quot;. This process is the same for both of those shells. but for clarity I&#39;ll simply refer to it as &#39;Powershell&#39;.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Now, in Powershell type in the following command and press &#39;enter&#39;:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>diskpart<\/code><\/pre>\r\n<p>Doing so should take a moment to load, before listing your computer&#39;s name and a new command line starting with &#39;DISKPART&gt;&#39;<\/p>\r\n\n<div class=\"mod-img wp-block-image aligncenter\" data-target=\"single-image-modal-63474\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\">\n\t<!-- If image is not empty, print image, else, print from image URL -->\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68394\" alt=\"loading diskpart\" ><\/img>\n\t<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Displays caption if entered -->\n\n<!-- Displays modal upon click of an image -->\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\/\/Using unique random generated id\n\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\tjQuery('[data-target=\"single-image-modal-63474\"]').click(function(){\n            jQuery('#single-image-modal-63474Modal').modal('show');\n\t\t\t});\n        });\n<\/script>\n\n<div class=\"modal fade popup-image\" id=\"single-image-modal-63474Modal\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"dialog\"> \n\t<div class=\"modal-dialog modal-xl\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modal-content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-header\">\n\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"modal-title\">Image<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- \/modal-header -->\n\n            <div class=\"modal-body inner-modal\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68394\" alt=\"loading diskpart\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-center full-res-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-light btn-lg full-res-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68394\" target=\"_blank\">Open Full Resolution <i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/modal-body -->\n    \t<\/div><!-- \/modal-content -->\n    <\/div><!-- \/modal-dialog -->\n<\/div><!-- \/modal fade --> \n<p>Next, type in the following command and press &#39;enter&#39;:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>list disk<\/code><\/pre>\r\n<p>This will show you all of the drives currently installed in your system. Now, plug in your USB drive enclosure, go back to powershell and run &#39;list disk&#39; once more. The reason for this is now you can clearly see which of the listed drives is the new one by comparing the two lists. In the example below, you can see that the drive I added was listed as Disk 6:<\/p>\r\n\n<div class=\"mod-img wp-block-image aligncenter\" data-target=\"single-image-modal-59419\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\">\n\t<!-- If image is not empty, print image, else, print from image URL -->\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68395\" alt=\"list of drives in system\" ><\/img>\n\t<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Displays caption if entered -->\n\n<!-- Displays modal upon click of an image -->\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\/\/Using unique random generated id\n\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\tjQuery('[data-target=\"single-image-modal-59419\"]').click(function(){\n            jQuery('#single-image-modal-59419Modal').modal('show');\n\t\t\t});\n        });\n<\/script>\n\n<div class=\"modal fade popup-image\" id=\"single-image-modal-59419Modal\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"dialog\"> \n\t<div class=\"modal-dialog modal-xl\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modal-content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-header\">\n\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"modal-title\">Image<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- \/modal-header -->\n\n            <div class=\"modal-body inner-modal\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68395\" alt=\"list of drives in system\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-center full-res-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-light btn-lg full-res-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68395\" target=\"_blank\">Open Full Resolution <i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/modal-body -->\n    \t<\/div><!-- \/modal-content -->\n    <\/div><!-- \/modal-dialog -->\n<\/div><!-- \/modal fade --> \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"WARNING-THESENEXTSTEPSWILLDELETEALLDATAONONEOFYOURDRIVES\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"WARNING_%E2%80%93_THESE_NEXT_STEPS_WILL_DELETE_ALL_DATA_ON_ONE_OF_YOUR_DRIVES\"><\/span>WARNING &#8211; THESE NEXT STEPS WILL DELETE ALL DATA ON ONE OF YOUR DRIVES<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The next step is to select the appropriate drive. The syntax looks like the following, but replacing the # character with the actual number of the drive we&#39;re trying to wipe:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>select disk #<\/code><\/pre>\r\n<p>Now that the drive is selected, all there is to do is to clean it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>LAST WARNING! THIS WILL COMPLETELY ERASE ALL DATA ON THE DRIVE YOU&#39;VE SELECTED. MAKE 100% SURE YOU&#39;RE ON THE PROPER DRIVE BEFORE PRESSING ENTER!!!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>If you&#39;re certain it&#39;s the correct drive, type in the following command and press &#39;enter&#39;.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>clean<\/code><\/pre>\r\n<p>You&#39;ll know it worked because it will say &quot;DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\n<div class=\"mod-img wp-block-image aligncenter\" data-target=\"single-image-modal-84282\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\">\n\t<!-- If image is not empty, print image, else, print from image URL -->\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68396\" alt=\"Powershell after cleaning the drive\" ><\/img>\n\t<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Displays caption if entered -->\n\n<!-- Displays modal upon click of an image -->\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\/\/Using unique random generated id\n\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\tjQuery('[data-target=\"single-image-modal-84282\"]').click(function(){\n            jQuery('#single-image-modal-84282Modal').modal('show');\n\t\t\t});\n        });\n<\/script>\n\n<div class=\"modal fade popup-image\" id=\"single-image-modal-84282Modal\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"dialog\"> \n\t<div class=\"modal-dialog modal-xl\" role=\"document\">\n\t\t<div class=\"modal-content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"modal-header\">\n\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"modal-title\">Image<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- \/modal-header -->\n\n            <div class=\"modal-body inner-modal\">\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68396\" alt=\"Powershell after cleaning the drive\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-center full-res-image-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-light btn-lg full-res-image-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/pic_disp.php?id=68396\" target=\"_blank\">Open Full Resolution <i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- \/modal-body -->\n    \t<\/div><!-- \/modal-content -->\n    <\/div><!-- \/modal-dialog -->\n<\/div><!-- \/modal fade --> \n<p>Once it&#39;s done, you&#39;re ready to install the drive into your computer! You can choose to format the drive now, or after installing it into the chassis as a SATA drive. One thing to consider, though, is depending on the age of the drive, you may be better served using it as an external drive. To reiterate, having an older\/failing drive installed in your computer can cause serious performance issues, and using it as an external drive makes it easier to test as it nears the end of its days.<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Partitioningyourdrive\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Partitioning_your_drive\"><\/span>Partitioning your drive<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Regardless of whether you choose to use it as an external or internal drive, you&#39;ve still got to partition it. For a guide on partitioning this drive, check out our article, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/labs\/support-hardware\/Windows-10-Drive-Partitions-1192\/#HowtoPartitionaDrive\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>You&#39;ll know the drive was partitioned properly by checking it&#39;s listing in <strong>Disk Management<\/strong>. If the drive shows a volume, with a name and drive letter, you&#39;ve succeeded! If you get through this and the drive still doesn&#39;t appear in <strong>File Explorer<\/strong>, go back into <strong>Disk Management<\/strong> and make sure it&#39;s got a letter assigned;<em> closing Disk Management too early can result in the drive letter not getting assigned.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>If that happens, simply right-click on the drive and choose <strong>&quot;Change Drive Letter and Paths&#8230;&quot;<\/strong> and it will bring you to a Window showing the assigned drive letter and paths. From here, select <strong>&#39;Add&#8230;&#39;<\/strong>, pick the desired drive letter, and then click OK on both Windows.<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Conclusion\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Hopefully this helped with safely formatting an old OS drive and installing it into your new Windows system. If you are a Puget Systems customer and are in need of further assistance, feel free to reach out to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/index.php\">support team<\/a> with your order number and we&#39;ll be happy to help you!<\/p>\r\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-bootstrap-blocks-row row\">\n\t\n\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"\/support\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/08\/talking-icon.png\" alt=\"Talking Head Icon in Puget Systems Colors\" class=\"wp-image-12657\" style=\"width:113px\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"need-help-with-your-puget-systems-pc\">Need help with a Puget System?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">All Puget Systems computers come with lifetime technical support. Our support team is readily accessible and comes from a wide range of technological backgrounds to better assist you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"\/support\/\" style=\"background-color:#130c64\"><strong>Contact Puget Systems Support<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"\/support\/guides\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2025\/05\/repair.png\" alt=\"repair icon\" class=\"wp-image-36632\" style=\"width:113px\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"looking-for-more-support-guides\">Looking for self-guided help?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of whether your computer was built by Puget Systems or not, if you are experiencing a problem with your workstation or server we have a large library of public support articles that you may find helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"\/support\/guides\/\" style=\"color:#130c64;background-color:#08cc96\"><strong>Browse Online Help Guides<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":8171,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","classic-editor-remember":"block-editor","legacy_id":"2121","redirect_url":[],"expire_date":"","alert_message":"","alert_link":[],"configure_ids":"","system_grid_title":"","system_grid_ids":"","footnotes":""},"support_categories":[7689,7690,7937,7702],"support_tags":[7738,7526,7562,7570,7682,7922,7923,7927,7928],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8172","support_article","type-support_article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","support_category-booting","support_category-hard-drive","support_category-support-software","support_category-windows","support_tag-boot","support_tag-booting","support_tag-hard-drive","support_tag-how-to-guide","support_tag-windows-10","support_tag-windows-7","support_tag-windows-8","support_tag-windows-vista","support_tag-windows-xp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC | Puget Systems<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Puget Systems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PugetSystems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"326\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PugetSystems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Jebby\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/\",\"name\":\"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC | Puget Systems\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T19:25:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg\",\"width\":326,\"height\":334},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Support Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/\",\"name\":\"Puget Systems\",\"description\":\"Workstations for creators.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Puget Systems\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Puget-Systems-2020-logo-color-full.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Puget-Systems-2020-logo-color-full.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":363,\"caption\":\"Puget Systems\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PugetSystems\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PugetSystems\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pugetsystems\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/puget-systems\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/pugetsys\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Puget_Systems\"],\"telephone\":\"(425) 458-0273\",\"legalName\":\"Puget Sound Systems, Inc.\",\"foundingDate\":\"2000-12-01\",\"duns\":\"128267585\",\"naics\":\"334111\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC | Puget Systems","description":"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC","og_description":"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/","og_site_name":"Puget Systems","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PugetSystems","og_image":[{"width":326,"height":334,"url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@PugetSystems","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes","Written by":"Jebby"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/","name":"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC | Puget Systems","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T19:25:00+00:00","description":"This is a guide for safely formatting an old Windows boot drive and using it in a new Windows system as a secondary\/tirtiary drive.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-cdn.pugetsystems.com\/2022\/10\/drive-enclosure.jpg-68524.jpg","width":326,"height":334},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/using-an-old-boot-drive-as-a-storage-drive-in-your-new-pc-2121\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Support Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/support\/guides\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Using an Old Boot Drive as a Storage Drive in Your New PC"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/","name":"Puget Systems","description":"Workstations for creators.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#organization","name":"Puget Systems","url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Puget-Systems-2020-logo-color-full.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Puget-Systems-2020-logo-color-full.png","width":2560,"height":363,"caption":"Puget Systems"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PugetSystems","https:\/\/x.com\/PugetSystems","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pugetsystems\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/puget-systems","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/pugetsys","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Puget_Systems"],"telephone":"(425) 458-0273","legalName":"Puget Sound Systems, Inc.","foundingDate":"2000-12-01","duns":"128267585","naics":"334111"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_articles\/8172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/support_article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_articles\/8172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"support_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_categories?post=8172"},{"taxonomy":"support_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/support_tags?post=8172"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pugetsystems.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}