Using old hdd with a new system

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Hi Guys,

I assembled a new system few months back, all thanks to the wonderful members of this forum. I am using a 2tb wd blue hdd. Now my friend is selling parts of his computer. He has a 4-5 years old 1tb wd blue hdd. Is it advisable to get the same from him? Please keep in mind that his hdd would have been gone through read and write procedures for x number of times, then will this hdd slow down the entire system? His OS is installed in the hdd and he told me to remove the same before installing it in my pc.

Thanks

My 2 cents...

Well in my own observation, HDD is the most unpredictable component in the entire PC system. A brand new HDD may fail the very next day and a 3 Year old HDD may live for another 3 years! I bought a 120 GB used Fujitsu HDD a few years ago from quiker or olx and it still works flawlessly.

You should do certain inspections before making a buying choice

Check for following SMART parameters
Power On hours - Avoid if it's more than 10000. A value below 5000 may be good. It means HDD has not been subjected to extreme usage in last 4 years. These values may not be a standard but my general inclination.
Reallocated sector count should be 0
Current pending sector count should be 0
Uncorrectable sector count must be 0
There should be no ambiguity in Normalized value and actual value e.g. even if actual is 0 for the above, normalized should not have fallen below Max (usually 100) if so.
Overall SMART health should be GOOD considering all parameters
Other things to consider
SATA Version - What is SATA version and what interface your mobo supports.
Get the exact model of the HDD and look for detailed specs on WD website
If it's a Desktop HDD and has little bit of circuitry exposed on back panel, there should be no visible signs of any metal corrosion on circuit board.
The sticker seal on 'Warranty Void' screws should be intact even if it's out of warranty. No visible tampering marks on it.

What price your friend is quoting and if that's worth, needs to be evaluated.

W

Do you need extra space?If not then what price are you getting it at.If you have to spend money on hdd then it is better to spend it on getting a ssd(120gb WD green ssd is going for ~3.3-3.5k) which will significantly improve your overall system performance.

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whitestar_999 said:
Do you need extra space?If not then what price are you getting it at.If you have to spend money on hdd then it is better to spend it on getting a ssd(120gb WD green ssd is going for ~3.3-3.5k) which will significantly improve your overall system performance.

He is giving the hdd to me for free, but when I said I won't take it for free so he said to give anything as the same is junk for him. I am planning to give him 1.5k as I checked on olx, 4-5 years hdd's are getting around the same price. I am really not in favor of SSD's as we get less space in high price. My system is not slow currently, it runs fine as per my usage but I wanted to be sure about its performance before adding an old hdd.

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patkim said:
My 2 cents...

Well in my own observation, HDD is the most unpredictable component in the entire PC system. A brand new HDD may fail the very next day and a 3 Year old HDD may live for another 3 years! I bought a 120 GB used Fujitsu HDD a few years ago from quiker or olx and it still works flawlessly.

You should do certain inspections before making a buying choice

Check for following SMART parameters
Power On hours - Avoid if it's more than 10000. A value below 5000 may be good. It means HDD has not been subjected to extreme usage in last 4 years. These values may not be a standard but my general inclination.
Reallocated sector count should be 0
Current pending sector count should be 0
Uncorrectable sector count must be 0
There should be no ambiguity in Normalized value and actual value e.g. even if actual is 0 for the above, normalized should not have fallen below Max (usually 100) if so.
Overall SMART health should be GOOD considering all parameters
Other things to consider
SATA Version - What is SATA version and what interface your mobo supports.
Get the exact model of the HDD and look for detailed specs on WD website
If it's a Desktop HDD and has little bit of circuitry exposed on back panel, there should be no visible signs of any metal corrosion on circuit board.
The sticker seal on 'Warranty Void' screws should be intact even if it's out of warranty. No visible tampering marks on it.

What price your friend is quoting and if that's worth, needs to be evaluated.

As I have replied above he isn't charging anything, but I will give him 1.5k. Before buying, I will get the hdd from him and will post the photos here. Regarding tests/parameters from CrystalDiskInfo, how to format the same and then set the partitions before testing as it will be having an OS installed. I fully agree with your other points though.

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Just attach the hdd as secondary hdd in sysyem & then use windows disk management option to format & repartition.Use full format instead of quick format as that will also check for any bad sectors.

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whitestar_999 said:
Just attach the hdd as secondary hdd in sysyem & then use windows disk management option to format & repartition.Use full format instead of quick format as that will also check for any bad sectors.

Please explain the bold part, how to connect it as secondary hdd+how to format/repartition?

billubakra said:
Regarding tests/parameters from CrystalDiskInfo, how to format the same and then set the partitions before testing as it will be having an OS installed.

Crystaldisk info has nothing to do with the formatting status of the HDD. Regardless if it has partitions or not, it will show relevant current SMART parameters. So if you are on Windows, when you attach the disk as secondary drive and it's detected, just run Crystal Disk Info and get SMART status. Remember to set Function-->Advanced Features--> Raw Values --> 10 Dec 2 bytes for a more meaningful decimal data display.

W

Just install hdd in cabinet's empty hdd tray/slot,connect power connector & sata connector & turn on the pc.

Open disk management,select the partition,right click & you will get the option to format.Or you can simply right click drive icon in my computer & select format(just like for pendrive).

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Thanks Guys. Let me get the hdd photos and then we will proceed further.

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@whitestar_999 @patkim
His brother in law took the 1tb hdd. I got this 500gb one-
*i.imgur.com/pTW2zd6.jpg

*i.imgur.com/zycF99a.jpg

Since this hdd has xp installed, if I connect this to my cpu then is there any chance that the pc will boot from this hdd? How to connect it as a secondary hdd? After once I have booted in then how to format and give partition to this hdd as it already has many drives. I didn't get the replies posted above, sorry.
My only concern is that this hdd should not slow down or mess up with the current config. My psu is Antec vp550p. I hope that's okay.

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As long as boot order in your mobo UEFI/BIOS is set correctly,there should not be any issues.e.g.if boot order is set as 1.Sata port 1 2.stata port 2 etc then PC will try to boot from hdd connected to sata port 1 then sata port 2 etc.

Once it is connected on any other sata port,you should simply be able to format the drives in it in My Computer just like you do with pen drives.After formatting all drives in it,you can use windows disk management to delete all partitions in it & then create new partitions in unallocated ~463GB space.
How to manage partitions with the Disk Management tool, in Windows | Digital Citizen

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whitestar_999 said:
As long as boot order in your mobo UEFI/BIOS is set correctly,there should not be any issues.e.g.if boot order is set as 1.Sata port 1 2.stata port 2 etc then PC will try to boot from hdd connected to sata port 1 then sata port 2 etc.

Once it is connected on any other sata port,you should simply be able to format the drives in it in My Computer just like you do with pen drives.After formatting all drives in it,you can use windows disk management to delete all partitions in it & then create new partitions in unallocated ~463GB space.
How to manage partitions with the Disk Management tool, in Windows | Digital Citizen

Thanks. Of the little what I remember my hdd is connected in the last Sata port which I think is 7. I checked this for the first and only time I entered into BIOS after assembling. How to double check this?

First of all as already mentioned by whitestar_999 if you have set your HDD boot order correctly, you need not worry. So check your HDD boot order in your firmware.
As far as SATA Port numbers are concerned, in case they are not labeled on the mobo , you can simply verify the same from the motherboard manual.

e.g. my board's manual clearly shows the layout and orientation of the SATA ports on the board and their numbering, so I know what I have connected where.

W

Go into UEFI/BIOS,go to boot order & there the 1st entry should be your primary/current hdd.As long as you don't change the sata port of your current hdd or boot priority,you should be fine for any future addition of hdd.

@billubakra BTW I was just wondering what OS you have and do you have any idea if your current config is UEFI with GPT partition scheme or BIOS with MBR partition scheme?

If it's UEFI with GPT partition scheme, you may like to convert the newly added HDD to ideally GPT and create GPT partitions rather than old MBR style. Only caveat would be that if you ever install it as secondary HDD to any old Windows XP 32 bit PC, it won't be read.

Ignore this post if you are following the traditional BIOS based booting with MBR partition scheme.

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patkim said:
@billubakra BTW I was just wondering what OS you have and do you have any idea if your current config is UEFI with GPT partition scheme or BIOS with MBR partition scheme?

If it's UEFI with GPT partition scheme, you may like to convert the newly added HDD to ideally GPT and create GPT partitions rather than old MBR style. Only caveat would be that if you ever install it as secondary HDD to any old Windows XP 32 bit PC, it won't be read.

Ignore this post if you are following the traditional BIOS based booting with MBR partition scheme.

OS is 10, rest went above my head.
Thanks for replying guys I will get back to you once I get the time to set it up.

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How to Check if a Disk Uses GPT or MBR, and Convert Between the Two