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I recently installed Windows 7 on a new SSD. I was planning to format my old HD, which still had Windows XP and all my data on it, but everything seemed to be working just fine, so laziness (and fear of losing data I may have forgotten to back up) prevailed. But my computer just did the Blue Screen of Death, so now I'm worried.

Is the old OS on the old HD likely to interfere with the new OS? Do I need to format that drive?

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  • It depends. Are you plugging this second hdd into the right SATA port? Its been awhile since I had multiple drives, I don't think you have to worry about jumpers anymore, jumpers those are some ugly plastic thingies.
    – Ramhound
    Sep 8, 2011 at 18:20
  • If I were you, I would just unplug the second HDD if you were worried about that interfering with anything. It shouldn't interfere though... I used to have my old PATA HDD hooked up and my new SATA HDD plugged into my computer at the same time with no BSODs... Please tell us what the BSOD is saying if it is a reoccurring BSOD. This will help us figure out what the problem is.
    – David
    Sep 8, 2011 at 18:26
  • The actual plugging in was done by a friend, because I'm not that great with the hardware, so I'm actually not sure, and I don't know how to check. If it matters, I can find out.
    – Cass
    Sep 8, 2011 at 18:28
  • @David: I need the HDD for storage, there's not that much space on the SSD, so I'd rather format than unplug. I'll look at the BSOD more carefully if it shows up again, it wasn't there for long before the computer restarted and I was too surprised to read carefully. Haven't seen one of those in years.
    – Cass
    Sep 8, 2011 at 18:30
  • Sounds like the BIOS has got the boot order wrong. It's looking at the old HDD 1st rather than the SSD.
    – ChrisF
    Sep 8, 2011 at 19:32

2 Answers 2

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Your second drive should not interfere with your primary. BSoD is likely caused by another piece of hardware (e.g memory) or software (e.g. drivers). Since you are using a SSD drive, make sure all drivers and BIOS are updated. You you should have them updated, anyways. I would also search forums, looking for posts about issues with your SSD and motherboard combination, or just your SSD in general.

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If you simply left the full OS install on your old drive but are not using it except as storage, the answer is no.

OS info on a drive being used for storage will not generally cause any issues with an OS running on a different drive, and usually won't cause problems with an OS installed on that same drive so long as the OS directory names are sorted out.

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