Restoring to a Different Computer?

There are a number of scenarios in which the orginal computer may not be available. In some cases, power surges have destroyed systems, making them unavailable for restoration. In another instance, a computer was stolen from an office, and hence was unavailable.

Consequently, I would like to be able to restore to a different computer if any of these contingencies arise. Evidently the process is different for a restore to a different computer -- I attempted to use the trial version of ATI to test this scenario, but failed thus far.

Can anyone provide a pointer to the section of the manual or an FAQ that describes how to use ATI to do this? Or was ATI even designed for restoration if the original computer is not available?

Thanks much ...

 

To restore to different hardware, i.e. another system, before making the Image you have to use SysPrep. Search the forums or even the FAQ for how to go about with this.

 

Thanks - after reviewing some of the discussion regarding sysprep, etc. in the TI forum, the consensus appears to be that it is a bad idea to restore to a different computer unless the hardware is identical; i.e., even if the restore appears to succeed, the resulting system may be unstable. Also, sysprep appears to be designed for professionals rather than novices or home users. For example:

"Please be aware that we do not guarantee the successful transferring of your operating system to a different hardware. Actually, no one can guarantee this." Tatyana Tsyngaeva

So, if I understand this advice, perhaps it is a better idea to do a clean install of Windows & all applications if a catastrophic event occurs that makes the original hardware unavailable. Am I interpreting this recommendation correctly?

 

Don't do this.
i was using Windows with RAID. then i change my mind and delete RAID. when i restore my image, i got mr.Bil blue screen. so, i remake my RAID again.
this is in one pc, how about another one.

 

Actually, yes, a clean install is better because you don't carry over all the junk that accumulates in the Registry over time. Just burn your data/documents to cd/dvd or copy to another hard drive.

 

Based on this advice, I would use TI to back up the entire hard disk to an external USB hard drive, with the following restore scenarios in mind:

1. If the internal hard drive fails, I may be able to replace it with a new one installed in the same computer, and do a complete restore from the TI back-up on the external drive.

2. If the original computer is unavailable (because it has been destroyed or stolen), I could do a clean install of Windows and applications on a new computer, and then mount the external USB drive with the TI back-up to access the data files or copy them to the internal drive.

Does that seem like the best strategy? Are there other variables or factors that a novice TI user should consider?

 

Actually, I prefer to backup my data/documents separately using Windows Explorer to simply copy them to an external drive. I see no reason for complicating the scenario by using TI for this. But I do make whole disk Images with TI.

 

Does not 9.1 restore to a different computer? I know Ver. 9.0 cannot.

 

Hello Gbull,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are very sorry for the delay with the response.

Besides of the recommendations posted above, I would also like to mention that even in case of using Microsoft System Preparation tool (sysprep) we cannot guarantee the successful transferring of the operating system to a computer with the hardware configuration different from that of the original machine. The point is that sysprep allows replacing drivers only for Plug-and-Play devices (sound cards, network adapters, video cards etc.). As for system HAL and boot device driver, they must be identical in the source and target computers (see Microsoft Knowledge Base articles 302577 and 216915).

If you want to be completely sure that the restored operating system will boot and function normally then we recommend that you use Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation, Acronis True Image 9.1 Server for Windows or Acronis True Image 9.1 Enterprise Server for Windows in conjunction with Acronis Universal Restore for your purposes (depending on which operating system you use). Acronis Universal Restore technology provides an efficient solution for hardware-independent system restoration by replacing the crucial HAL and hard disk controller drivers. Please read more information on how to use Acronis Universal Restore in corresponding Acronis True Image version User's Guide.

We also recommend that you download and install the free trial version(s) of the product(s) you are interested in to see how the software works on your particular software\hardware configuration.

If you want to obtain the free trial version of Acronis Universal Restore then please submit a request for technical support using Ask a question before you purchase Acronis software link. Explain your wish to obtain the free trial version of Acronis Universal and provide the link to this thread in your request.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov