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Setting up 2 identical Alienware Alpha PCs - Can I just set up one and clone to the 2nd?

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For my kids, I ordered 2 identical model Dell Alienware Alpha machines.  I spent hours on the first one (upgrading from Win 8 to Win 10, updated all the drivers, settings, installed Steam and etc.).  Both machines of course will have logins for each of them as well.  

I was wondering if after backing up the first one with Acronis True Image, can I restore that image to the 2nd machine (again, all same exact hardware config) without any issues?  The only sticking point I'm concerned about is the Windows activation.  I don't see a sticker on the bottom of the machine like they used to have with the product key and heard they somehow have it serialized to the BIOS or somehow.  Or are there any other issues that I should be aware of that would prevent a "clone" of the first box?  If it works, it will save me hours of setup to make an identical machine.  Thanks!

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You haven't told us what version of ATIH you are using here?

I will assume that you are doing the backup activity on the first Windows 10 system using bootable Acronis Rescue Media, and that you have taken an entire disk backup that includes all partitions (hidden, system etc).

Further assuming that your statement that both systems are physically identical in all respects, then what you propose should be possible, but if there are any hidden hardware changes, then you may need to use the Acronis Universal Restore boot media to resolve those differences.

Windows 10 activation is based on the hardware signature of the system where it was first activated, so if both systems have already been activated with Windows 10 there is no problem.  However, if only the first system that you upgraded from 8.1 to 10 has been activated, then your second system would fail validation if it is still on 8.1.

In the latter case, you need to do the Windows 10 upgrade on the second system, get it activated, then restore the backup from the first to it, as then you can re-activate it based on its own validated hardware signature.

Note: Only ATIH 2015 or later are supported for use with Windows 10 by Acronis.

Sorry I missed that...we have the 2014 3 user family pack.  Still seems to work great on Win8 and Win10 machines. 

For these 2 in particular, I do have both upgraded to Windows 10 (each originally came with Win8). 

I will give it a shot later.  Thanks!

Thanks again, the process worked!  For machine #2, I had to go through all of the Win8 updating first and then the Win10 upgrade.  Once that was set, I was able to apply the image from #1 to #2 without issues.

Always glad to hear of a successful outcome - thanks for feeding back!