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can't use Universal Restore from Win7 to PC that only runs Win8?

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It seems that I can't use Universal Restore from Win7 to PC that only runs Win8, but I'd like to see if there are any suggested alternatives. I think I just have to use Windows Transfer.

We have two HP dv8t's running Win7. HP does not recommend upgrading to Win8 for dv8t's purchased before 2011 -- probably some changes in hardware then. Also HP had designated end-of-life for these great 18.4" PCs and they have no parts to fix one of them -- offering me a new different PC, an Envy! We will instead sell the new PC from HP on EBay, along with the other used dv8t.

We are getting two Lenovo Yoga 13 PCs within a week or so, and we have to transfer our stuff to the new PCs. We have Acronis 11.5 UR backups for both HP's, but I'll have to transfer one PC at a time, switching out hard drives for the 2nd PC transfer, etc.

Acronis support recommended the easiest path is to download the Lenovo drivers for Win7, and use my Acronis UR backups to put our stuff onto the new PCs, then upgrade the Yoga's to Win8. I still have an MS Technet subscription so I have the Win8 iso file.

However, when I go to
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/default.page?
and drill down to Laptops -> Yoga 13
and choose Win7, I see
"There are no matching documents found for your selected product. Please refine your product selection."
Therefore, I have no Win7 drivers to put into the Yoga's during an Acronis UR restore.

If instead I choose Win8, the drivers are in .exe. format. 7z uncompresses most -- not all -- of them; it hangs on some. They do not leave the uncompressed files in the formats specified by Acronis UR. Therefore, I do not see how this will work well at all for a UR restore, even if I could use the Win8 drivers during a restore of my HP Win7 system to the new Yoga PCs.

It seems I will have to simply use the Yoga PCs with their installed Win8 and Lenovo drivers, and use Windows Transfer to bring over all the stuff from our HP Win7 PCs. I've done something similar from XP to Win7 PCs awhile ago, and it works OK with a modest amount of fixup work afterwards.

Any alternatives?

Thanks.

Lester

0 Users found this helpful

The possible way to preserve the installed applications is to upgrade the Win7 system to Windows8, and then move it using UR to the new system. You still need to have the proper drivers - at least the most critical ones like disk controller and motherboard.

I attach my log of 7z extracting all the drivers for Yoga 13 from Lenovo. You can see that the uncompressed files are not in the form required by UR.

Attachment Size
137768-109294.zip 3.53 KB

Do any Acronis Support people read these postings? The email support is really bad; the fellow just keeps telling me to get the manufacturer's drivers and uncompress them, without addressing this issue.

I contacted support via phone, and the fellow took the time to go to the Lenovo page to see what drivers are available for the Yoga 13. We verified that there do not seem to be explicit drivers for the SSD and I will have to contact Lenovo to see if those are available and in the format required by UR. Otherwise, I'll do a Windows Transfer and reinstall my old software on the new PC.

I see similar problems on:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/20017