Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate.

Posts : 58 Join date : 2014-12-14 Location : United States

NOTE: I HAVE SOLVED MY PROBLEM. IF YOU ARE TRYING TO DO THE SAME THING, VIEW MY LAST POST FOR THE SOLUTION.

Uuughh. This is such a pain. I'm having a difficult time making my transition to my "new" computer. I've been trying to research an answer but either there is too much information to sort through (in my reddit search attempts) or getting relevant results is near impossible. (in my google search attempts)
In my exhaustion and desperation, I come to VGU hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction for a solid solution.

To save time, I'll leave a link to another topic I made which has all the background info on my "new" computer. http://vgunetwork.forumotion.net/t2643-gaming-computer-rig-hardware-for-christmas

Now I haven't installed any of the new hardware yet because all I'm concerned about right now is transferring my stuff from my old computer to my new computer which I knew long before that it was going to be the most problematic.

Alright, here's what I want to do in a nutshell. I want to turn on my new computer, log on, and continue where I left off as if it where my computer all along. Yes sounds very demanding, but I know there has got to be a way to do it. I will not settle for anything less just because it's easier. I will do whatever it takes.

I'm not trying to be an ass at all. I'm just being completely honest. DON'T TELL ME TO USE "WINDOWS EASY TRANSFER". IT'S A PIECE OF SHIT. Screw Microsoft. There I said it.

Here's what I already tried. I have made a backup and system image of both computers. I also made a Windows 7 repair disk with my current computer. I factory reseted the new computer and tried restoring the backup and image of my current computer on it. That was major fail. I screwed it up a couple times and had to factory reset it between each time. Then I finally did it right and the damn thing wouldn't even boot Windows anymore and I facepalmed bigtime. The startup repair didn't even work. Thank god I made a backup and image of it too. After restoring it with its own backup and image, I factory reset it again for the fourth time. I then decided for the heck of it to do "Windows Easy Transfer". (blehhk!) Of course, just as I thought, it was far from satisfactory. I was surprised that my desktop background was still there though. Most programs obviously don't work, and most of my system settings are not present. (even my custom sound scheme was turned off and set to default) And that's where I'm at now. (until I do the factory reset for the fifth time)

My hopes aren't very high, but I'd very much appreciate it if someone could at least point me to where my problem has been answered. Thank you.

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. Union-10

I'm just one of those big gun nuts

Spoiler:

Personally, I would have just moved the old stuff to the new computer. Copy everything from the old one (obviously delete all unnecessary windows related stuff, just keep docs and stuff) and put it on the new one. Then install all the drivers and other stuff yadda-yadda.

It's a new computer, and it's meant to function that way. It's like people, no two people have the same fingerprints. You're better off not trying to clone your old computer instead make the new one a successor image.

Hope you get what I mean. But good luck with it regardless Hello Hats Off

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. 6EwAHuj

Macrium Reflect, that can do almost exactly what you require. Almost, & I should mention there's a steep learning curve on the OS transfer. The downside is that the best version for doing so uses a linux environment, and it's not inexpensive (You'll need the Win PE version).

Guest

Personally I'd take the HDD of the old machine and make it the slave drive/secondary drive in the new one. That gives your new PC immediate access to anything on your old drive, and you can move any stuff in User/personal folders into a generic C:\backup stuff type folder beforehand.

Trying to use an OS install from one PC in a new one can cause all kinds of problems, like hardware/software conflicts. And yeah there's software to 'transfer' it, but that has its own set of risks and quirks... are you sure you want to trust that kind of program with all of your data?

Suggestion: I would recommend getting a second hard drive, which would be your primary from now on and addition to said hard drive, you could also install the original hard drive to the computer and have access to both at the same time- rather than going back and forth between computers to transfer data.

I do not recommend getting desperate and just running the original hard drive as is with the new setup; changes in motherboard and graphics cards will most likely cause you some problems as each are built differently compared to your original hardware and will have different drivers and USB paths. It is especially dangerous if you are going to a new motherboard with an AMD processor to an Intel processor as this has significant changes in your software and hardware.

Posts : 60 Join date : 2015-01-02

I suppose if you don't mind keeping the original HDD, you could use the Windows 7 Sysprep to move your HDD.

If done properly, Sysprep would let you keep your profile, your installed programs, and your files. You will lose your drivers because of the hardware changes, but you can always install a driver tool to quickly download/update those.

Several years ago, when I bought a new PC, I was able to use Sysprep to transfer my old HDD to the new setup without any issue.

This link has the tutorial I used.

Posts : 58 Join date : 2014-12-14 Location : United States

ZeroParticle I think you may have found the exact answer I was looking for!

THANK YOU!!!!! I'M GONNA GIVE THIS A GO!

I have a couple questions first though. Can I do this without keeping the same hard drive? My current hard drive is half the size of the one in the new computer and I only have 20 gigs left as it is. Also, how difficult is it to get all my drivers reinstalled? Won't there be some complications?

Oh, I DO have a hard drive adapter by the way so maybe that might help. It also comes with cloning software but I'm obviously not going to need to use that.

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. Union-10

I'm just one of those big gun nuts

Spoiler:

Posts : 60 Join date : 2015-01-02

I think in the link I gave you, Method 3 allow you to transfer your installation to a new HDD. Or you can always use your new HDD as a secondary drive and keep the old one as primary.

As for the drivers, Sysprep should resolve any complication. When you boot up your new PC with your old installation, some basic drivers will be installed. They will be outdated for sure, but your computer will run with the new hardware configuration.

When I did the transfer, I moved from AMD to Intel/Nvdia, and nothing bad happened.

After that, I recommend something like SlimDrivers, which manages your drivers and lets you update all outdated drivers in one go. It definitely beats trying to figure out which drivers you will need to update. I use it myself so I can vouch for its usefulness.

You can get that here.

Posts : 58 Join date : 2014-12-14 Location : United States

THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea how helpful you've been!

Tonight I'll factory reset the new computer for the last time and tomorrow I'll do the transfer for sure.

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. Union-10

I'm just one of those big gun nuts

Spoiler:

Posts : 58 Join date : 2014-12-14 Location : United States

Hey Zero I sent you a PM. I have a couple questions.

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. Union-10

I'm just one of those big gun nuts

Spoiler:

Posts : 58 Join date : 2014-12-14 Location : United States

YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I FINALLY DID IT! I knew it was possible. After at least a week of determination, I pulled it off.
PERSERVERENCE people! PERSERVERENCE! As a wise rabbit (or hare) once said, "Never give up, trust your instincts!"

I could have posted this a couple days ago, but I've been having too much fun testing my new rig. I now understand what people mean about that feeling you get when you first flip the power switch and watch your creation spring to life. Though I only replaced a few parts, it was a great experience and the success of my massive transfer endeavor made it just magical.

Now listen up. If you have just gotten a new computer or plan on getting one and you want to do a complete transfer like I did, I wish to save you a lot of time and late-night headaches. Here are the resources I used that allowed me to do a complete and almost seamless transfer of my computer.

IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING, MAKE A COMPLETE BACKUP AND SYSTEM IMAGE OF YOUR PC!

Spoiler:

The new computer still requires some fiddling and a few small things don't function properly, (weird screen resolution, no Windows aero peek, a few malfunctioning services, no biometric security feature Sad

ect.) but for the most part, it's a perfect clone of my laptop.
I am so happy.

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Help. Transitioning to my new computer. Getting desperate. Union-10

I'm just one of those big gun nuts

Spoiler: