How Can I Move "everything" From An Old To A New Computer? A Windows XP Issue

[Numenokh 0]

Hello everyone,

 

 

I'm planning to buy a new laptop soon. But having had my current laptop for so long now, I've got it configured exactly the way I want it. I'd like to find a way to basically transfer everything on my C drive, i.e. Windows XP root partition, from this laptop to the new one, including all my software and configurations.

 

My first impulse was to do a complete backup of this partition and then do a restore on the new laptop's hard-disk. But the more I read about this, the more I get the impression that this doesn't actually work. I mean, I remember when I used to take my PC's hard-disk -- which had Windows XP installed on it -- and try to boot another PC with it. I almost always faced the notorious Blue Screen of Death, telling me that Windows had encountered a fatal error. I suppose these two situations are essentially the same, right?

 

Another option, I suppose, is to take an image of the partition, using software like Acronis or Norton Ghost. But even after I searched around for information about this, I couldn't be sure that I could mount my image to a new computer.

 

So basically my question is this: is there a way to transfer an entire system -- Windows XP and all the other software, files, and configurations -- from one computer to another?

 

 

Thank you in advance.

[turbopowerdmaxsteel 0]

When an operating system installs, certain files (drivers) specific to your hardware configuration are loaded. Standard devices such as the keyboard, mouse and monitor can be run by fairly the same set of driver files. But, the core components which are a part of the motherboard require various different files owing to the difference in the architectures.If the computer you are porting to has a different motherboard (which in your case most certainly is), Windows will fail to run if you try to use the same installation. That explains the inevitability of installing a fresh copy of Windows. You can always use the "Files and settings transfer wizard" from Microsoft to take care of your documents and stuff.Simple softwares can be ported by basic copy-paste. But those like Microsoft Office, Visual Studio require numerous registry changes, type library registrations and what not. I am afraid you will have to take the pain of setting up your machine once again. But look on the bright side, a clean installation will re-deem the once lost performance.

[Numenokh 0]

Thanks, turbopowerdmaxsteel.

 

But look on the bright side, a clean installation will re-deem the once lost performance.

That IS what's bugging me! I've kept this installation running with very minimal performance loss ... Oh well, I suppose I can always content myself by saying that new hardware deserves new software. lol.

 

Thanks again, turbopowerdmaxsteel. Have a good day/night.

[Grafitti 0]

Although, if you're set on keeping your existing windows exactly as it was when you first installed it (provided you have the same install cd and haven't done major system file changes to your system), what you can do is mirror or clone the hard drive over to the new one. Simply cloning a single partition hasn't always worked in my experience. But using proper drive cloning software, you get the new hard disk exactly the same as the old one, and then pop it in the new computer. If it all boots up, then you're fine. But if not, boot off of your install cd and perform a repair. This reinstalls the hardware-specific drivers without changing any settings, login info, or software installations. Be aware though that if you've patched the uxtheme.dll or similar stuff for customizing purposes, the reinstall will overwrite these patched system files with original windows ones. But it hasn't failed me yet. --it's worth a try.

[turbopowerdmaxsteel 0]

I was not aware of such a technique; perhaps because in none of the countless re-installs, I trusted that the Repair mode would work. Thanks for letting us know.

[ethergeek 0]

Also if you intend to keep both machines on a LAN together, make sure your cloning software supports new SID generation (or sysprep it) for the new box so that you don't have authentication collisions.

[.:Brian:. 0]

I believe that windows xp has a files and settings transfer wizard of some sort, have you looked into that? I haven't ever used it so I am not sure exactly how it works, or if it works well, etc, but it is at least worth looking into it i would think....Usually what I do, is simply transfer all my files, and then worry about getting the settings set up, and re-install any software on the new computer....so that takes a lot of time, but it is an incentive to get your documents all cleaned up so that you can easily transfer them.

[Numenokh 0]

Hi Grafitti,

 

 

... what you can do is mirror or clone the hard drive over to the new one.

I've never heard about cloning before. I'll look into it and come back if I have questions -- which is really probable

 

Simply cloning a single partition hasn't always worked in my experience. But using proper drive cloning software, you get the new hard disk exactly the same as the old one, and then pop it in the new computer.

But wouldn't that require the two hard-disks being exactly the same size? In all likelihood, the new hard-disk will be much larger than the old one; in this case, wouldn't that waste a lot of disk space?

 

Of course, if the cloning isn't permanent, perhaps I could use a partition resizing tool, such as PartitionMagic for example, to fix this problem.

 

Be aware though that if you've patched the uxtheme.dll or similar stuff for customizing purposes, the reinstall will overwrite these patched system files with original windows ones.

Well, I wouldn't mind patching things up again if it means I get to preserve the rest of the system as it is. Heck, I'm actually thinking now about exporting whatever I can to an external drive, installing the new system from scratch, then importing back again. It might be time-wasting but at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing exactly what I have and what I have not.

 

But it hasn't failed me yet. --it's worth a try.

Oh absolutely! Thanks a lot, Grafitti, I really appreciate this

 

 

 

 

 

Also if you intend to keep both machines on a LAN together, make sure your cloning software supports new SID generation (or sysprep it) for the new box so that you don't have authentication collisions.

Yup, that's definitely a great point! I had run into almost every networking problem a home user may run into, so I've become extra-careful

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that windows xp has a files and settings transfer wizard of some sort, have you looked into that?

Yup, .:Brian:., I'm keeping this as a last resort -- although I'm thinking more and more about it now. It's somewhat basic, and I'll have to reinstall everything on the new computer before I could actually benefit from the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, but the truth is: I don't really mind! In fact, like I said above, I'm growing to like the idea

 

 

 

Thanks, everyone, for all your great advice and tips. It's all truly appreciated.

[Grafitti 0]

Hi Grafitti,

I've never heard about cloning before. I'll look into it and come back if I have questions -- which is really probable

But wouldn't that require the two hard-disks being exactly the same size? In all likelihood, the new hard-disk will be much larger than the old one; in this case, wouldn't that waste a lot of disk space?

It depends on what you count as wasted space. Generally in cloning to a larger hard disk size, you have two options. Either keep the partitions the same size, or resize them proportionately. Say you have a 40GB disk and you're upgrading to a 200GB. If your 40GB disk had a C: partition of 10GB and D: of 30GB, then your ratio is 1:4

If you choose to clone the partitions exactly then you'll have 160GB free space to create more partitions. If you do proportional resizing, you'll end up with C: being 50GB and D: will be 150GB. If you're into keeping your C partition as small as possible, then yes, it's a waste of space. Otherwise not.

There are several freeware programs that can do this... of course the paid ones are more powerful and with less limitations. But in the UltimateBootCD, found here it has quite a few freeware cloning tools.

For paidware, I've always used Paragon Drive Copy -- price around $25. check it out here:

http://http://www.vista-files.org/

[Numenokh 0]

Alright, I poked around a bit and I found this somewhat detailed article addressing my problem:

 

Beginners Guides: Cloning WindowsXP -- Part 1B: Cloning for a new computer

 

It's a series of articles, actually, but this is the one most relevant. The technique described is basically the same one Grafitti beautifully explained earlier. However, the article points out, this procedure may constitute a violation of the End-User License Agreement (EULA) of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) versions of Windows XP.

 

Again, thanks everyone, especially Grafitti, for the great advice

[Sten 0]

i saw something at harvey norman once called a file bridge. i think its a USB thing or something that you plug in to 2 computers to transfer files over to it.additionally, you can just plug the hard drive into the new computer and just copy everything off it on to the new one?

[yordan 10]

Alright, I poked around a bit and I found this somewhat detailed article addressing my problem:

 

Beginners Guides: Cloning WindowsXP -- Part 1B: Cloning for a new computer

 

It's a series of articles, actually, but this is the one most relevant. The technique described is basically the same one Grafitti beautifully explained earlier. However, the article points out, this procedure may constitute a violation of the End-User License Agreement (EULA) of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) versions of Windows XP.

 

Again, thanks everyone, especially Grafitti, for the great advice

Thanks for the link. I didn't know this "repair installation" trick.

I am very familiar with disk cloning. I do this when I have several systems of the same kind. So, I will try this method next time I will have systems which are not the same kind.

However, I can proudly claim that I have something more.

The pcstats.com article is based on the most efficient method, where you physically unmount the disk from the source machine and you insert it in the target machine. And the author warns you that opening the box in a brand new computer may raise warranty problems. Besides the fact that a disk inside a tower system can probably not be inserted inside a laptop box.

What I do is slightly different, but far less dangerous.

Of course, the laptop you just brought from the market is probably already installed. And most of these pre-installed systems have a menu allowing you to create a "rescue CD" or a "rescue DVD" which is a bootable device able to re-install your system exactly as when you purchased it. i strongly recommend that you create this rescue disc, it will be very useful if you happen to fail into a virus problem when surfint on the network, or if you are angry because of everyday slower surfing capabilities.

Now, once you ave a rescue disk able to re-create your laptop operating system, everything you will do now is with no risk.

Because, I can proudly announce that I don't need to open the computer box.

What I will do is, slightly re-arrange your source computer. I'm pretty sure you already have several partitions on your old computer, let's say the C disk for the operating system and the D disk for the data.

If not, you will need to use a tool like Parition Magic in order to create a second partition with free room enough.

And, of course, if your personal files are on the C: disk, for instance your Crosoft Word or Excel documents, it's time to move them to the D: disk. And also move all your movies and pictures, move them to the D: disk so you will not need to back them up as part of the operating system. And also remember to empty the recycle bin and the internet temporary files and move all your downloaded file to the D: disk too.

Now, you have only the operating system on you D: disk, verify that you have room enough (typicall one third of the space used on the c: disk).

Now, use any backup software from the market, for instance PowerQuest Drive Image or Norton Ghost (10 or 12) in order to backup your system to a file on the D: disk.

After the backup is finished, you can put it on a DVD. If you are lucky, you can even add your files to the bootable pqdi or Ghost 10 rescue CD !

So, you go to your laptop, you boot on the CD, you ask the restore software to remove your laptop initial partition and restore to the hard disk the backup files from the DVD.

And that's all, you have cloned the old desktop computer system disk to the laptop computer system disk.

And everything until now has been harmful, you used no screwdriver, you dismounted nothing, you did not open the box of your brand new computer, you just created a CD (or a DVD) and read it on your new computer. And if you did a mistake you can easily go back with the rescue disk you first created.

Now comes the second part as esplained in the article in http://www.pcstats.com/articles.cfm :

You simply have to insert the official Windows XP CD into the laptop reader, power off the laptop, and :

boot up the new computer with the windows XP CD in the CD drive. You will need to ensure that the system is set to boot from the CD drive first. If it is not, this can be easily changed in the BIOS.

 

Press any key when prompted to boot from the XP CD.

 

You now need to perform a "Windows XP repair install," which redetects all hardware and reinstalls system files without touching the registry or user data present on the system. This process adapts your Windows XP install to the new hardware it is running on.

To do this first choose the "press enter to set up Windows XP now" option when prompted. Then, press F8 to skip through the EULA (though if you haven't read it before, you should now), and when the option presents itself, pres "R" to begin the repair installation.

As I already mentionned, the cloning methodology using a bootable CD or DVD I do very frequently, it works very well and is harmless. I did it only on identical hardware, and I am really impatient to test the extra "repair install" to include the new hardware drivers.

Regards

Yordan

[Grafitti 0]

Sounds interesting, yordan.. I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for the tip.

[yordan 10]

Sounds interesting, yordan.. I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for the tip.

You're welcome, Grafitti. Please keep us informed. I would be really proud if you could perform your migration using my harmless method.Yordan