Using Universal Restore to Move to a New Computer
perhaps you just need a cmos battery? Can't hurt and might be a simple fix. In the process, while the battery is out and the AC power unplugged, short the CMOS jumpers for 20 seconds for good measure (after disipating residual power from teh machine with the power button while AC is unplugged). When you pop in the new CMOS battery, you might get lucky if it isn't something more "physical" on the board itself. Do the fans or anything happen when you power up?
Yes, the fans all run, including the CPU fan.
You are my forever friend. It was the CMOS battery. I should have my old computer up and running soon. I had disconneced and everything and removed one stick of memory.
Nice! Hope all is well from this point forward! Those batteries can be sneaky because they don't die right away and start making things wonky when they struggle to provide enough power.
Thanks for confirming the CMOS battery as the cause - I have seen some strange problems but never had a battery that completely stopped the system from booting like this, so one to store away in case of future problems!
I'm about ready to try the procedure you suggested in >>this post.
But you say, "perform the steps outlined here on the old machine and switch to AHCI and immediately power off (shutdown) without booting to the OS."
The procedure says after changing to AHCI to boot and it will go into safe mode, then you must execute an instruction and reboot to complete the process. Is there some reason not to go into safe mode and then reboot like it says?
Jim, I believe that the reason Bobbo said to do the immediate power off / shutdown was so that you can create a new image of the old machine with the changed setting of AHCI so that this is what you will be restoring to the new system rather than worrying about getting this working in AHCI mode on the old machine.
For the old machine, once you have the new backup image, you could revert back to IDE mode again as you know this is working for that system.
i just completed the procedure described on the triplescomputer page and made the image file but > > > things are not working right afer booting back into windows. THUNDERBIRD mail reader only checks some accounts> the keybord is doing wierd stuff> thats the reason there are no caps and no periods in this message> when i click on on an item in a windows list it becomes the anchor point all intervining items are selected when another item is selected>> also in text if i try to move back to make a correction all intervening characters are selected>
Jim, is this all on the old computer or on the new one where you are trying to move the old computer OS to by restoring it then running Universal Restore?
If it is on the old computer, the advice was not to try booting it with the change to AHCI - that was just so that it was changed in the new backup image. You should try resetting the SATA mode back to IDE again on that old computer and see what happens?
It is the old computer. The new one arrives today.
I made the image file before going back into Windows. I did not try to change back to ATA because it would require the same boot to safe mode, etc. and the new computer was to arrive in a day.
Thanks for your interest. By sometime saturday hopfully I can have the new one up and running. I'll report how it went.
Something ujnexpected happened. I moved the SSD or the C: drive from my old computer to the new one, and when I booted, my Windows10 system came up, and seems to work. This is without using the Acronis recovery or universal restore disk at all.
What does this mean??
Jim, if your moved OS drive from the old computer boots correctly and works OK in the new computer, then you have been very fortunate! I would suspect that this is due in part to the greater flexibility in Windows 10 to work with a wider range of hardware. Check that Windows 10 on the new system is still showing as Activated and not reverted to being a 30-day trial copy.
Other than the above, make a full backup of the working system in the new computer and keep it aside in the event of needing to get back to this point in the future.
It's a 7 day trial peiod. A message finally came up.
I've spent most of yesterday and today getting drives moved and peripheriphals setup. Right now it seems like it's all working except the LAN. I'm no longer able to reach my wife's computer and she can't reach mine. Making the local network work is alway the hardest thing for me. In the old days, once it was connected everything just worked. Now days, even on Home versions, they make the security like the network was in General Electric or the Pentagon, and almost impossible to get working to another computer in the same room.
Correction: I can reach hers.
Jim, if the version of Windows 10 is the same as the one that was originally installed and activated, then you should be able to activate the new one too, either by using a COA license key (if you have one - lots of users, myself included, do not!) or simply because the hardware signature is recognised as being the same as where Windows 10 was previously activated. This assumes of course that the repair did not involve replacing the motherboard which would give rise to a new hardware signature!
It isn't a repair. I've moved to an entirely new computer.
Jim, if your new computer came with an activated copy of Windows 10 then your old OS should also activate provided both licenses are for the same OS version, i.e. Windows 10 Home
My latest computer is a new build and had no operating system on it.
Jim, unless you have a full retail version of Windows 10 then you will need a new license key in order to activate your restored OS on the new computer hardware.
I'm not sure about full retail, but I have an OEM version I got on Amazon
Jim, OEM versions are normally not transferable but limited to the original hardware where they are activated. All you can do is see what happens when you run Windows and whether it shows as being activated or not?
If your new computer came with no OS and you previously installed the oem license on another computer already, chances are it won't license. If it doesn't, you can call Microsoft and try to convince them you received a replacement motherboard for a failed one that was RMA'd but typically won't work unless you can show that it really is for a direct motherboard replacement.
this spells out Microsoft license transfers for retail and oem versions pretty well.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_in…
This is an unused OEM installation code
You should have no issue licensing it on your new hardware then.
However, I would recommend doing a vanilla (new) windows install on the new hardware first, licensing the OEM key with it and verifying that it shows active. After that, the license for the motherboard should be registgred with Microsfot and as long as your OEM license and your old OEM license are the same (home and home or Pro and Pro), you should be able to license the old OS when restored on the new hardware without issue. The key is getting the new OEM key licensed on the new hardware with Microsoft - FIRST.