User profile on previous HDD

I want to find out if I change out my data HDD that previously had my user profile on it, will the SSD that windows is installed on be able to recognize it.

A few months ago I was off work preparing to have surgery, and I took the opportunity to take my computer apart to install a liquid cooler. My recovery took longer than I had planned, and the PC sat idle for quite a while. A few days ago I put everything back together, but the conventional (spinning) HDD would not start up. The computer would boot up, but when I tried to log in I got the error message "unable to load user profile". I tried again with the side cover off, and carefully reached in to see if the HDD was vibrating or making any other sign of life. I took it out and tested it in a docking station on another machine, but it failed to recognize it, and I didn't see or feel any sounds or motion.

I have another smaller HDD that I had been previously using in the original machine, and had actually only replaced it a couple of months before that. For both of them I followed the tutorial on changing the location where the user folders are and where the user profiles are created, so that the OS and programs are on an SSD, and the user accounts are on a conventional HDD.

If I put the older HDD back in the machine will it recognize the previous user profile, or will I need to change the default location back to the SSD to get it started, and then switch it back again afterwards to the HDD?

If you have reinstalled Windows since using that HDD then your permissions will be wrong as the user SID will be different. Similarly if you have added more users they will exist in the registry (on the SSD) but not on the drive with the users folder.

If you've not re-installed Windows or added any new users since you used the old HDD then (assuming it gets the same drive letter) it should work.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my problem seems to be more severe. I put the HDD with the original user profile back in the machine and when I tried to start it up, the system didn't recognize it. I took it back out, and tested it in the docking station and its not spinning or showing up in disk management. Seems like I have two expensive paperweights now, and I will have to troubleshoot the hardware in the machine I am working on. The power supply is brand new, so I doubt that is it, but something is damaging the HDD when I mount it.