Best Free Backup/Restore for Dissimilar Hardware

Need to clone a dying XP drive with OS, programs and data to a new internal empty drive on a Windows 7 Pro system so I can use it for legacy programs (instead of Win 7 XP mode).

Are there any free solutions to clone that drive from an XP system to a Win7 system?

 

Chamlin,

CopyWipe for DOS is free and reliable. Use the DOS version, not the Windows version.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/copywipe.php

XOSL is a good free Boot Manager but difficult to set up. The first time at least.

http://www.ranish.com/part/

Edit... I missed this is dissimilar hardware. I don't know a free solution but TBOSDT for $15 will allow the copied WinXP to boot on the new computer.

 

Thanks, Brian. DOS... What's DOS? Just kidding. I know what DOS is...my nightmare from a lifetime ago.

I'll take a look at it, but wish I could find something free and easy, and, I get that the whole "dissimilar hardware" aspect is a more advanced function which may require a more extensive program.

 

You can use CopyWipe for Windows but it must be run from a PE and not in Windows.

CopyWipe for DOS is really easy. Create a CD by running makedisk.exe

Have both HDs installed in the computer for the copy and remove the old HD before the first boot from the new HD. The new HD can be blank prior to the copy.

Boot from the CD
Copy a Hard Drive
Source Hard Drive.... Choose BIOS HD
Hard Drive 0 press F6 to confirm it really is your source HD
Esc to get back to the menu
Target Hard Drive.... Choose BIOS HD
Hard Drive 1 press F6 to confirm it really is your target HD
Esc to get back to the menu
Scale Size
etc

 

Thanks, Brian, I might just give it a whirl!

 

Perform the copy in the WinXP computer and then remove the old HD. Shift the new HD data plug to the HD0 position on the MB and boot the new WinXP. Get back to us about installing this HD in the Win7 computer.

 

Farstone DriveClone 10 is being given away for free today. Might be worth looking at.
It's at Glarysoft http://giveaway.glarysoft.com/

 

Thanks! Has anyone used this? Is it reliable? I have found some posts about different products but none about this.

 

If the problem is already solved, then disregard this post.

From the discussions above, what I understood is, you need a dual boot, W7 and XP. In the XP boot you need all of the applications, which were installed in your previous XP machine. Because, applications in XP will not work in W7.

The step by step solution is:
1. Get CyberLink PowerBackup, the older version is free from Cnet
2. Take complete backup of XP, along with system files, on an external HDD
3. Do not forget to write down the drive letter of the external HDD
4. Install XP on the dual boot computer from installation CD
5. Take out the dual boot HDD from the computer
6. Get a second computer with XP and PowerBackup installed, if the old one did not die yet, that one will work
7. Connect the external HDD and map the drive letter as it was, when taken backup, you can do it from Control Panel
8. Connect the dual boot HDD with a USB converter
9. Restore from the backup with
9.a) “Original Location”
9.b) “Always overwrite files” options selected
10. Install the HDD to the dual boot machine, it should work fine

I spent money on Acronis, spent months on communicating with them without any luck. Then I figured out how to do it for free. By the way, I already had all the USB, SATA, IDE converters.

 

How to move Windows XP hard disk to a different computer or motherboard without BSOD

 

Hi guys, thanks for all the assistance. Back when I was attempting to do this, everything I tried failed, needed yet another workaround. Just became too much.

So I tried XP Mode, and that was problematic (a core program wasn't able to install), but all the software worked in the virtual machine VMware. It's functional, no need to dual boot.

Very grateful for all the guidance and contributions!