Restoring from old PC to a new one, can it be done?

I'm sure I already know the answer to this one but promised a work colleague I would ask anyway. My colleague who is getting a new PC this weekend already uses Acronis for full image backups asked me if they will be able to restore a full image backup from their old PC onto the HD of their new one thus saving themselves all the hassle of installing lots of programmes all over again etc.

I said that as far as I know they wouldn't be able to do this as they would be installing onto new hardware so all the settings would be different from their old PC. Finally given I am right is there an easy way to achieve what they are trying to achieve?

 

Yes it can be done - there are two options, one will cost a few bucks.

1. Buy the latest True Image Workstation software together with the extra cost Universal Restore add-on. OR ...
2. Before making the Image of the old system, change the display adapter to Standard VGA. When this Image is restored to the new system, the OS will go through a whole slew of "Found New Hardware" pop up windows. Let it finish - it will take a few minutes. Afterwards look in Device Manager and see which drivers still need to be installed. One of them should be the Display Adapter for the new system.

When faced with this situation it may be better to start anew and install all the software as you will not be carrying over all the junk that is in the Registry of the old system. Yes, it takes longer, but you will have a "leaner meaner" system.

 

It also depends on what OS is on the old computer and on the new computer. Some of the newer hardware has no drivers for an older OS.

Imaging software is mainly for moving the OS from an old drive to a new hard drive on the same computer/hardware.

For moving programs you need migration software, pcmover/softrescue type of software. Usually the best (most time-comsuming) and least expensive option is a clean install of all the programs.

 

Whatever the approach, capturing a good image of the new computer as it is out-of-the-box is a good idea which you may be happy of later on.

 

If the original computer's OS is not an OEM install and the user has a valid OS installation disk there is a way to proceed to attempt the process.
1. Make a full image of the existing old system and data. This will only be used if any failure occurs later on.
2. Remove the hard drive in the new computer and replace it with the drive extracted from the old computer. Do not attempt to boot at this stage.
3. Insert the old OS installation disk and boot into the repair install mode. Run the repair adding in any new drivers that were not on the old system but will be required on the new. Only then reboot the new computer with the old repaired OS.
4. Be prepared to download and install the latest SP and update fixes for the new installation.
5. It will be necessary to validate the new installation with Microsoft as required.

Doing things this way keeps at least one foot on the ground. Should the process fail the old and new computers' drives could be replaced in the original positions and a restore be run from the TI image to recover the original computer to an as before state.

All the above assumes that the user is happy to keep with the old OS and not use the one ,if any, supplied with the new computer. There is also the probable invalidation of the new computer's warranty to be considered.

All things considered I believe that most users would only transfer data and some settings to a new computer thus starting with a clean slate.

Xpilot

 

He is using Vista on his old PC and will be using Vista on his new one - I did tell him to start afresh but said as he had to do this process less than nine months ago he was looking for any easy solution this time around.

I can see where he's coming from as it is a fag installing and setting up umpteen programmes and their settings. Anyway I will print off the solutions offered and leave it to him.

 

Hello Faust,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Products

Acronis Universal Restore is required to restore the image of Windows operating system to another hardware configuration. It the implementation of the unique technology developed inside Acronis that allows changing Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL.dll) and device drivers. Acronis Universal Restore automatically detects if the HAL should be changed and also allows adding drivers for new hardware devices. This feature was designed for Corporate products and can’t be used with Home products.

Please visit Acronis online store in order to purchase Acronis True Image Corporate products.

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

I think you should check out this link Dmitry -

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=241848