Also realize they won't do much but get you up and running. THen you have work to do with drivers, settings etc. I've tested it, and it works, is cute, but in the long run you are better off with a clean install of everything.
It has its place. The motherboard in my main computer failed (the MB was on warranty fortunately) and because of the holiday period the repair took a month. I restored a recent image to my test computer (test computer has hard drives, not SSDs) and got it working. It didn't take long as I had the hardware drivers. The result was impressive. The test computer was just like my main computer but a tad slower. All apps worked.
Hi Brian I agree. But you have to understand what is needed which no doubt you do. It just isn't magic like some hope. Pete
In this aspect Windows 8/8.1 is excellent, when it comes to recovering an image to a different computer. However, I would rather do a clean install of everything on a new computer, or when the MB was replaced.
I'm with you guys regarding clean installs. An advantage of multi-booting and restores to different hardware is you can keep old OS that have a particular feature you would like to preserve. I have a WinXP OS that was originally on a Dell computer, then another Dell, then my main (home built, Asus MB) computer and recently my test computer (ASRock MB). It's rarely used but I have used it to read Outlook Express email from years ago that suddenly became of interest.
Thanks for the answers. I know, that a clean install is the best solution for a longer time. But it should only be a interim solution.
Hi Brian. That XP need described above, these days, is best handled by virtual systems. I keep one of each (W95, Win2000, XP, Vista, & W811) laying around just for that reason. They're more for support than anything else.
TRF, I'm sure you are correct. I just find using real OS easier and faster as I'm already set up for multi-booting with BIBM. I have stacks of storage space. Edit... When I did restore physical images to virtual machines I used TBOSDT to do the "different hardware" adjustments. Which app do you use?
Maybe Acronis, because of the reason "restore to smaller hard drive". Of course it can restore to different hardware too.
If not TBOSDT, maybe Paragon or Acronis as they provide standalone feature of dissimilar hardware restore