Restore to Dissimilar Hardware
Hi
I want to restore to dissimilar hardware. The backup was done with 2019 and the original computer had 2 disks, but the new one only has one. Will this be a problem? Do I need to add a second disk before trying to restore the backup?
Thank you!
Hi Steve!
Thank you so much for helping. :-)
Both machines were/are running Win 10.
The original computer had 2 drives. What I am typing below is from the Recovery Wizard
Disk1
NTFS (DATA) (D): 1.819 TB and says 1.07 TB used space.
Track 0
(Can this be right? Is my new computer with a total space of 1 TB not big enough?)
Disk2
NTFS (OS) (C): 224.9 GB 189.9 GB used
Track 0
EFI System Partition
Recovery Partition
Recovery Partition
I no longer have access to the old computer.
Jeri, thank you for the information.
Some comments:
- Make a full disk backup of the new computer before attempting anything! This is your insurance in the event of problems getting your old computer backup to restore and work correctly on the new computer.
- Create the ATI 2019 Rescue Media on the new computer using the default options - this will create WinPE media (on a USB stick or CD/DVD) based on the Windows 10 Recovery Environment (WinRE).
Test booting from this rescue media and verify that you can see the backup drive where your backup file(s) from the old computer are stored. You should be booting the rescue media in UEFI mode given your Disk 2 information shows an EFI System Partition on the old computer.
- Try to remember which edition of Windows 10 you had on the old computer and check if this is the same edition you now have on your new computer, i.e. both Home, or both Pro? If you have different editions on the old & new computer, then you will have Windows activation issues. Windows 10 activation is based on the computer hardware signature where it was first activated, so migrating your OS from the old computer to the new one will only work if both have been activated for the same edition of Windows 10.
Note: You should not need to use the Acronis Universal Restore utility when migrating Windows 10 to different hardware as this can handle such changes far better than prior versions of Windows could.
- Focus on migrating your Disk 2 backup to the new computer only at this time. This is the critical drive as it contains the Windows OS, and the size of this drive will fit just fine on the new computer 1TB drive.
Once you have Disk 2 migrated, you can then consider how to approach migrating your larger Disk 1 drive.
See KB 59877: Acronis True Image: how to distinguish between UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot modes of Acronis Bootable Media - for more details of booting the rescue media correctly!
Thank you so much for all your help!
I do not know the edition of the original Windows 10 computer, but I would be happy to pay for a new license if that will make it work?
I think I have followed your advice but I am stuck on the screen where I need to choose the destination disk. I do not see my 1T HDD as a choice. All I see is the 5T backup drive that is attached, and that is grayed out.
Jeri, what is your new computer and what type of drive is the 1TB HDD in this computer?
Did you make a full backup of the new computer as per step 1 in my earlier reply?
Did you make the Acronis Rescue Media as per step 2, and then test booting from this on the new computer, booting in UEFI boot mode?
What drives were shown when just booting from the Acronis Rescue Media, i.e. if you click on the Backup option - do you see the 1TB HDD drive as an option to backup?
It is possible that extra device drivers may be needed by the rescue media to be able to see the 1TB HDD depending on the type of drive and how it connects internally / what SATA BIOS controller mode is used?
I did make a full backup of the new computer first. Thank you for recommending that. :-)
This is my new computer: https://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-Tower-27%22-Monitor-Bundle---Intel-Core-i5%2b---Windows-10-Home.product.100466484.html
Assuming that I understand you correctly, I did create the Acronis Rescue Media and I am able to boot it by hitting f12 when I see the Dell logo. This allows me to select: “UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GU90N” to boot from. I then select: “2. Acronis True Image (64-bit)”.
If I click on the Backup option, I do not see my internal 1T HDD. :-(
I did copy the INF folder from my internal HDD to the external 5T Seagate backup drive.
Having trouble posting, apologies if this is posted several times. I tried to include a link to the computer I purchased – perhaps this is not allowed. Trying for a 3rd time without the link.
~~~
I did make a full backup of the new computer first. Thank you for recommending that. :-)
My new computer was purchased from CostCo. It is a Dell Inspiron Tower I3670 with i5 + 8400 processor and 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive and a 27” monitor. Under System Information, it says:
Drive C
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 917.03 GB
Free Space 873.59 GB
Volume Name OS
Volume Serial Nbr 9CB36804
Assuming that I understand you correctly, I did create the Acronis Rescue Media and I am able to boot it by hitting f12 when I see the Dell logo. This allows me to select: “UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GU90N” to boot from. I then select: “2. Acronis True Image (64-bit)”.
If I click on the Backup option, I do not see my internal 1T HDD. :-(
I did copy the INF folder from my internal HDD to the external 5T Seagate backup drive.
Jeri, the next thing here will be to identify what the internal 1TB HDD is?
Please run the command: msinfo32 in Windows, then use the File > Save option to save a copy of the output report and attach this after zipping it, using the File > Upload button below your post.
Hope I did this right! :)
Jeri, your new computer internal disk drive is an Intel Optane+932GBHDD which will require device drivers that don't appear to be present in your current Acronis Rescue media.
Please download and use the MVP Custom ATIPE Builder tool to create an updated version of your rescue media, and use the option within the tool to inject custom device drivers which includes the latest Intel RST support needed for your Optane RAID device.
See forum topic: MVP Rescue media - where another user raised a similar issue with an Optane drive.
Nothing's easy. :-) I'm off to do these things! Wish me luck! :-)
The good news is I got much further and was able to migrate my Disk 2 backup to the new computer. The bad news is that I received the blue screen of death when I first tried to boot the new computer.
Now when I boot I get
>>Checking Media Presence……..
>>Media Present…..
>>Start PXE over IPv4 on MAC: 8C-EC-4B-A0-E9-79.
Jeri, please check your BIOS Boot settings are still set to Windows Boot Manager for the primary boot device option.
Beyond this, this may be a case where what you are migrating from would require to have had additional device drivers installed to support the Intel Optane architecture used for the new drive - which is a catch22 situation if you no longer have the original older computer.
It may be possible to use the Acronis Universal Restore media to identify and install device drivers for this situation.
Steve – you have been so kind and patient - I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your time and advice.
While waiting for your reply, I restored the new computer from the backup you had me make - Thanks again for that! It worked fine. :-)
I’m not clear on what you would like me to do next…
I'm going to run through everything again, just in case I missed a step...
Jeri,
The restore may have worked initially. However, the bios may have changed the boot order in the process. It appeared to be trying to boot from the Ethernet adapter which suggests it didn't detect the hard drive as the first boot priority after the attempted restore.
2 things...
1. When you boot the rescue media to restore your backup, use f12 and make sure you're booting the media in uefi mode.
2. Then restore the image as you've done previously. After it's done and restarts, press f2 and go into the bios first. Make sure the primary boot option is "windows boot manager".
Then try to boot. Hopefully you're up and running then.
If it fails, try to boot 3 more times. On the 4th attempt, if it keeps failing, you should see an option for F8 safe boot. Select it and see if safe boot allows it to boot.
I felt I had probably missed a step yesterday, so I started from scratch this morning and really watched each step. Still BSoD. With stop code: INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE.
I verified that I am booting in UEFI mode and that Windows Boot Manager is the primary (and only) boot option. I rebooted several times but never saw an F8 option. It keeps booting into Dell SupportAssist and going no further. (edited to add it finished with "No bootable devices found".
Perhaps it is time to explore other options…
I need some of the data on the backup (not all) and the programs to access that data. At this point, I’m not 100% sure of everything I will need until I can start to explore the contents.
Options
1) Get a different computer for this?
2) Try restoring files and see if I can get what I need without a full install?
3) ???
Jeri, I suspect that the core issue here is that your old Windows OS does not understand how to boot from the new Intel Optane RAID drive you have in the new computer.
Personally, I would restore back the backup of the original Windows OS that came with the new computer, and would make a fresh start on that computer, just restoring your user data / documents etc that you want to bring forward from the old one. You will obviously need to reinstall any applications you had on the old system that are not present on the new one, but you will be starting from a solid, working Windows OS base which was setup to work correctly with the hardware in the new system, rather than trying to make the OS from your old computer fit, and potentially bringing forward any issues already present on the old system from years of prior use.
I’m in the process of recovering the data now. I don’t have the original programs, but hopefully it will not be too difficult to acquire them.
Thank you again for all your help and support. We were not successful, but it was a fun learning experience none the less.
Cross your fingers you don’t hear from me again! :-)
Well, as long as you can recover the original, you can keep practicing if you want.
Did you make sure windows boot manager was the top boot priority after the restore?
Also, can you disable optane in the bios? If so, that might be key for the old OS. Or, on the old PC, install the most current IRST with optane support driver from Intel (linked below in my signature). Then reboot to complete and shutdown and take a new backup of it and try restoring again.
Last, as an alternative, you can try adding in the IRST driver with optane from winre rescue media. I'll get the link how to do this that MVP Mustang has provided for others which worked recently.
EDIT - here's that post. Read it and the next few responses in the thread
Jeri,
I do not think your issue is driver related. The Intel Optane drive is an arrangement where a small fast M.2 form factor SSD of usually 16GB is used as a cache for a larger HDD. The SSD itself will store frequently used apps and files so that the user has more enjoyable, faster experience.
In the past such Hybrid drives based on this technology was not supported by True Image and to the best of my knowledge such hardware was never supported so I am of the opinion that is still the case.
If the standard catches on then it is possible the True Image may build in support but that is probably not going to be anytime soon.
In the mean time those user having these drive arrangements should follow Steve's advice and start fresh with t new system.
It is possible to disable the Optane Cache and should be a feature of the bios. Doing so will allow you to backup and restore the HDD if you choose. After backup or restore functions the Optane Cache can be re-enabled but the SSD will need to relearn what apps and files the user uses to perform as intended.