Moving old HDD into new PC - problems?

[Psychopathetic]

I'm getting a new PC with a SATA III HDD.

Couple of questions - can I move my old SATA II drive into the new box for use as extra multimedia storage? I won't slow down the new one or anything I hope.

Also, the old drive is the C: on the old machine so it has Windows on it right now. I can't erase it properly as the old PC's mobo is kaput and it won't boot.
Would that cause me untold grief? Would it be better to get a case for it and use it as a USB external instead?

I could just toss it, but it has 400Gb or so of data on it I would prefer not to lose.

[lostintransit]

sata 2 will work on sata 3 no problems. i would recommend buying a usb hdd dock and using that if you dont need the hd permanently in your computer. then store the hdd in a anti static bag in a different location (if it will contain backups)

[SecretSauce]

Also, the old drive is the C: on the old machine so it has Windows on it right now. I can't erase it properly as the old PC's mobo is kaput and it won't boot.
Would that cause me untold grief? Would it be better to get a case for it and use it as a USB external instead?

I could just toss it, but it has 400Gb or so of data on it I would prefer not to lose.

It doesn't matter that it was the "C:" drive in the old computer. The drive letters are just logically assigned designations for people to be able to identify the drives more easily. When you put it in the new computer, it will dynamically assign, or you can choose a drive letter manually once the partition is mounted in Windows. Once mounted, you can either temporarily copy the data to the new drive, wipe the old one and copy it back, or selectively delete the files you don't want, up to you.

[DiceMan]

It wont be a problem whatsoever. To make sure it boots off the new drive, just don't connect the SATA cable to the old drive until Windows boots. Then connect the old drive and and use Disk Management to delete its partitions and create new ones.

[george__]

Use the old drive as a external backup device... Using a case that supports e-sata or usb 3.0 (whichever one you have) :D then after backing up your primary drive, put it somewhere safe and away from your computer!

[xalex0]

You can connect the old drive alone, boot a live CD, remove the old system (keep the data files that you need), shut down, connect the new drive with the OS, power up. Now, even if the BIOS tries to use your old drive it won't find the OS, so it will skip to the next drive.

[george__]

Couldn't the OP change the hard drive priorities in the BIOS to boot the newer drive and not the old one?

[Psychopathetic]

Thanks all - I believe the answer is it won't be trouble. I like the backup ideas