Skip to main content

Migrating to new computer

Thread needs solution

Hi 

 

sorry if this is a really obvious question. 

I currently have a surface pro 4 and am upgrading to a Pro 5. 

Whats the best way to clone the SP4 SSD to the new SP5. 

Thanks

 

0 Users found this helpful

Paul, welcome to these public User Forums.

The process of migrating your installed Windows OS from your Surface Pro 4 to a new Surface Pro 5 can be fairly complex and there are a number of considerations involved.

Will both computers run the exact same edition of Windows OS, i.e. both run Home, or both Pro?

What size of internal SSD drive is used in each computer - these need to be of sufficient size to allow the migration of all the data from the SP4 to the new SP5 with room to spare for new data and for caching etc?

What type of internal SSD drives are used - are these the same type, i.e. both NVMe M.2 SSD's, and if this type of drive, what SATA controller mode is used for the drives, i.e. are they both using the same SATA controller mode, such as RAID or AHCI?

How do both computers boot from the BIOS into Windows, and is this the same for both computers, i.e. both use UEFI (with or without Secure Boot enabled)?

All of the above considerations are important to understand before embarking on any attempt to clone or migrate between computers using different hardware.

Windows activation when migrating to new hardware will rely on the same edition having been activated on both computers or else a new license will be needed.

A full disk backup should be made of both computers before making any changes or cloning etc.  This should be stored on an external backup drive and is your safety net should anything go awry during any later actions.