You can try. Don't be surprised if it give errors or "looks" empty or
invalid, etc...

Look and see if the OLD computer is using a DDO (dymnamic disk
overlay or drive management program) to fool the OLD system BIOS
into thinking it can support the size of drive. There are various things
you might see during a normal boot that will tell you this.
Things about hitting certain keys to boot from a floppy, references to
DiskManager or EZBios and others...
(There are many I am sure I have never seen, and can not list them all...)

If the old computer is using one of those, it becomes much more of a
challenge, and you need VERY specific instructions to continue.
(Unless the "new" computer is using the EXACT same thing, which is
very unlikely...)
This is one of the reasons "techs" frown on them...
When they work, they work --- but later..............

No matter "where" the old drive is connected, (MB, add-in controller
card, etc.), you "still" may or may not have trouble if the LBA
translation is not entirely the same "flavor" (or version) from one
computer to another.
This is "shown/explained" most easily on the WEB site instructions
of the Ultra ATA controller card makers when they warn you to setup
the/a drive while"CONNECTED to" their card -- If you want the best
possible results, (also spelled best compatibility...)

I do what you are asking all the time, but I have seldon have any of the
above, and all my BIOSs on my motherboards were/(are) almost the
exact same version from the same manufacturer.

Many people (myself included) will have no problems at all.
But like most things computer related, given certain combinations of random
"stuff", there a lots of ways to get into trouble.

                        Rick Glazier
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: William Closure 
  Can I put most any hard drive on a newer computer to achieve this?  I have an
  HP Pavilion 8380, Pentium II, 400 Mhz.  Would be pulling a hard drive from an
  old Magitronic Pentium, 100 or 133 Mhz.  Can't remember what kind of hard
  drive, but it's one of the majors.  Can I just change the jumpers, plug it
  in, and make it fly?

  William Closure

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