Quick Questions Before I Install New Pc!

Okay I'm just about to get to work installing what might as well be an entirely new PC.

I've got a new Mobo, CPU & a little 120GB SSD purely for my new OS install & programs. Now I've done PC building before a few times over the years and I'm comfortable putting it all together (I understand theres not TOO many things you can do wrong unless you've never done this before) but heres where my confusion comes in:-

Just incase this all goes wrong, I want to give myself a safety net by leaving Win7 installed on my old current HDD but simply disabling it so Windows just ignores it and only 'sees' the Win7 installation on the new SSD. I want to make sure I don't get the 'Dual boot' options at startup since I'll ONLY ever want to use the old installation of Win7 if all goes to cop. If I take ownership of the Windows folder in the old HDD then delete, sods law dictates that things will go wrong and now I can never go back to my old setup without formatting the entire drive (a nightmare I'm not interested in having TBH).

So basically: How do you install an entire new PC setup (as in new Mobo & CPU) with a new OS installation on a new drive, WHILE keeping the OLD OS still installed but completely disabled on the OLD HDD? This IS possible I assume? Again, I really don't want the 'dual boot' screen. I also want to retain all the old hardware drivers on the old OS so that I can simply plug my old stuff back in if needed and be done with it.

Hours of Googling should've made this an easy conundrum to solve, but I guess not!

Thanks all!

 

It seems like you are WAY overthinking this.

What you want is automatically going to happen.

Your new SSD will be your first or primary drive (Drive 0) and will be Drive C - the boot drive. Your old hard drive will be your secondary drive (Drive 1) and be Drive D. As long as you have the SSD set as the first drive in the boot order in the BIOS Setup Menu, it will automatically boot to the SSD only. Should you want to go back, you change the boot order in the BIOS.

 

*sigh of relief*... Thanks for setting my mind at ease, and so quickly too! I just didn't want to leave anything to chance so I was seeing everything as a potential problem.

Anyway now I can get to work. Thanks again mate!

 

Take your time, double check your connections, and make sure you only install a motherboard standoff in the case where there is a corresponding motherboard mounting hole. Since cases are designed to support 1000s of different boards, a common mistake is to put in more standoffs than you need.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'm up n running now with the new gear (i5-6500 / Z170 K4/D3 / Evo-850 SSD) but these 'standoffs' you mentioned, are those the little screw like raisers that support the mobo along with the actual screws? If so, the Asrock mobo didn't even come with any!! So basically there's room for the mobo to bend (very worrying) near the bottom so I had to wedge a thin rubber under the PCB while fitting the GFX card.

I'm not sure what to do about this. Is there anyway to remove the standoffs from the other board (they felt permanently attached)? I just couldn't budge them and felt like I'd break something if I applied more force.

I'll see if I can find some pliers and have another go. Hopefully nothing will be effected if I take the mobo out again!

Thanks again!

 

Yes, those are what I am talking about and no, they wouldn't come with the motherboard. They typically come with cases.

Bend??? Motherboards should never, as in NEVER EVER bend. They should sit perfectly flat on top of the standoffs.

Just to make sure we are on the same page, these are standoffs.

 

Sorry what I meant to say was: without those standoffs there was no support under the bottom of the mobo, so it could bend (the horror!), but I managed to get the pesky old standoffs out of the 10 year old mobo and onto the Z170, now I'm putting it all back together. Fingers crossed n all that!

Could've been an absolute disaster in the making LOL, I KNEW something didn't feel right. It's been way too long since I've had to do any of this, I'm all over the place...

 

That's what scares me. There should be no need to get any standoff out of any motherboard. They are screwed into the case, the not the motherboard.

The standoffs are screwed into the case. The motherboard sits on top of the standoffs. And the motherboard mounting screws secure the motherboard to the standoffs.

 

I can't remember doing this, but the 2 bottom screws were actually standoffs, screwed into other standoffs (what!?) rather than screws screwed into standoffs!

I've got it all back together now anyway, (with screws in standoffs this time!) so the new problem is the wierd, almost random behaviour of the power button but I'll make another thread, its too unrelated. Must be something to do with the headers...

Thanks for sticking with me man!