Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: titanic3 on May 18, 2012, 07:57:57 AM

Title: Used Hard Drives
Post by: titanic3 on May 18, 2012, 07:57:57 AM

I have an old eMachines sitting around and was wondering if I could use the HD in that one and plug it into my current one (which only has 20GB free space left). I figured I could just plug it in, turn on the PC, then wipe whatever is on the eMachines HD.

Will that work?

Title: Re: Used Hard Drives
Post by: Bizman on May 18, 2012, 08:22:20 AM

Yes, in case the connectors fit.

Since it has been in a Windows machine before, you don't even have to use Disk Management to format it like you'd have to do with an empty disk. Formatting wouldn't hurt, though.

Title: Re: Used Hard Drives
Post by: titanic3 on May 18, 2012, 09:23:42 AM

Ah cool, what is formatting anyway? To make it compatible with the current PC?

Title: Re: Used Hard Drives
Post by: gyrene81 on May 18, 2012, 09:55:48 AM

Quote from: titanic3 on May 18, 2012, 09:23:42 AM

Ah cool, what is formatting anyway? To make it compatible with the current PC?

erasing the existing data and basically coding the drive in manner that it can be read and written to by the operating system...

Title: Re: Used Hard Drives
Post by: Bizman on May 18, 2012, 10:09:13 AM

Actually, formatting is more like deleting the index, making the disk look like empty and thus make it reusable. Nothing is totally deleted until you save something new over the old one. If you're old enough to remember how to reuse C-cassettes by putting a piece of adhesive tape over the gap in the bottom, the idea is pretty much the same.

And yes, as Gyrene said, it makes the disk compatible with the current system. Formatting for compatibility is not necessary, though, when moved from one Windows-machine to another. Think about removable disks, formatting them every time they are connected in a new computer would destroy the whole idea of using them.