Migration advice requested

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and have a question for all of you. I believe that one of the Paragon softwares is the one for the task I want to accomplish, but I would like some advice as to which one and how to get the job done as smoothly as possible.

I would like to migrate my existing XP SP3 install from a 7 yr old Dell (OEM install) to a new machine and hard drive that I either purchase or build. I will upgrade to 7 or dual boot at sometime after I get my XP install up and running.

I realize that my Dell OEM license will not be valid for the transfer, so I have purchased a new RETAIL XP license to use to activate the migrated system.

In your opinion(s) which software should I choose?

What problems may I run into, (if the migration is possible at all; as I have read that what I want to do is fraught with problems and issues and may be impossible)?

Will the retail XP license work for this transfer?

Would I be better off using a virtual enviroment? I really don't know much about that, anyway.

I really appreciate all your help in advance, as I want to accomplish this over the next couple of months and want to plan the potential move properly!


EDIT- One last question, please. If I install one of the programs on the pc that I want to migrate and then succesfully migrate to the new machine, do I need to purchase another copy to install on the new machine? Or could it be uninstalled from the old machine and reinstalled on the new?

 

To migrate to another PC you need to use P2P Adjust OS wizard.

P2PAdjust is available in:
Drive Backup 10 Professional (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-professional/)
Backup & Recovery Suite (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/brs/)
Drive Copy 10 Personal (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/dc-personal/)
Hard Disk Manager 2010 Suite (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-personal/)
Hard Disk Manager 2010 Professional (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-professional/)
Partition Manager 11 Professional (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-professional/)

The migration scenario will be as follows:

1) Copy WinXP to new HDD:
* Connect New HDD to old PC with WinXP
* Run Paragon program
* Run Copy Hard Disk wizard
- Select source WinXP HDD
- Select new HDD as destination
- If you plan to have free space on the new HDD for future Win7 installation, disable "Resize proportionally" option and keep all other defauls settings intact.
- Wait until operation will be completed
2) Find appropriate WinXP drivers for new hardware (new PC). Unpack them if needed (drivers should be *.inf + *.cab or something, not *.exe) and save to external drive
3) Download and burn WinPE Recovery CD (RCD) from My Account. Run saved *.exe and follow the wizard to create bootable disk
3) Connect new HDD to new PC and boot from WinPE RCD. Then adjust WinXP to boot on new hardware
* Run P2P Adjust OS wizard
* Select founded Windows XP OS
* Choose option "Set parameters".
* And navigate to the path where drivers are saved
* Apply changes
* Once completed, restart your PC and check if WinXP boots (note: maybe you will need to change BIOS settings to switch SATA HDD to IDE mode) If it works, go to next step

Please have a look at https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1787862&postcount=7.


To install Windows 7 as a second OS on new PC:

4) Boot from WinPE RCD and prepare new HDD for other OSes:
* Run Paragon program
* Create 1 new Primary partition
* Create Extended partitions group to cover all unallocated space
* Create desired number of logical partitions.
* Apply changes
5) Right-click all partitions, except second blank Primary and select 'Hide' . Apply changes Please make sure that all other partitions are hidden before next step.
6) Eject WinPE RCD and insert Windows 7 Installation DVD (for example) In the installer wizard set blank Primary partition as destination and follow it as usually.

Once completed, and Windows 7 boots correctly, go to next step:

7) Once completed, Install Boot Manager from WinPE RCD and unhide all:
* Go to Tools - Boot Manager setup
* Complete the wizard
* Right-click all partitions one-by-one and select 'unhide'
* Apply changes
Restart your PC and check if Boot Manager menu contains all Win versions

Check if all Win versions are bootable.

 

Note: Most programs will stay workable after migration and doesn't require re-install or re-activation.

 

Thanks for a great and informative post! It sounds like I should have no problems. When you say the above quote, you don't mean that that XP won't require reactivation, do you?

And as far as my last question on my post, will any of the Paragon programs require repurchase once I migrate to a new pc?

 

Windows re-activation required when there are manyb drivers which should be installed after the migration. Please refer to the http://kb.paragon-software.com/para...atId=2124&objId=6818&statId=1563557&foLang=en for more info.

You can continue using installed Paragon programs after migration if it will not be used in old PC.
So, you can perform migration and after getting confirmation that it was successful uninstall programs from old PC.

 

Thanks Mech An!

After looking at many threads on this forum, it seems that some users had recomended running Sysprep when attempting to migrate from OEM. Is that something that applies to my situation, and if so, how do you do that?

Thanks.

 

Sysprep is useful only if you plan to migrate using Windows native tools. Have a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577.

Migration with Paragon doesn't require additional preparations.