Aller au contenu principal

cloning or backing up to new operating system

Thread needs solution

Hi,
I have recently purchased Acronis True Image Home 11 so I do not have a great deal of experience with the programme. I currently run xp pro and want to instal windows 7 on a new hard disk then reinstall my documents and settings etc from the old hard disk to the new. I am assuming that Acronis can handle this so Is there a simple tutorial that can guide me through this process or anyone who can advise me of the steps to take? Grateful any help.

0 Users found this helpful

Documents can be copied over or restored but not settings, etc. You will need to install your programs and email program, etc as a fresh install to Win 7.

There is a 3rd party purchased program available which advertises it can do what you want but whether it is worth the purchase price you will have to investigate further.

Thanks for that. What is the name of the third party program as I would like to take a look at it.
Cheers

Windows Easy Transfer is a good bet.
Also, this process is not complex if you know where you key apps settings are (eg: outlook, iTunes) and your key folders (documents, pictures, etc.). If you are comfortable you know this, doing a simple file copy to a USB disk and then copy back on your folders in Win 7 is a piece of cake.

Yes I have windows easy transfer. As far as reinstalling programs is concerned where I do not have installation disks, I have been copying .exe program files to a disk in the hope that this might enable me to reinstal them onto my new Windows 7 hard disk. I suspect this won't work though!

For many software programs, copying program files will not work, as they require other settings and bindings to be declared and registered at installation time.
Programs that run only from a single .exe are not uncommon though.
You don't risk anything trying.

If you don't have the installation files and/or your programs are known not to work very well on more recent versions of Windows, you can consider:
- setting up a dual boot computer if you can have 2 disks in the machine all the time. When you start it, you can choose to start XP or win 7, OR
- a virtual machine on Windows 7 to run your older computer as a virtual computer and these programs. You could then start your older XP programs from within 7 almost seamlessly. There are some hardware requirements (memory, CPU, for example) and depending on your version of Windows, you may need to purchase additional software to set it up.

At any rate, make sure you have full disk image of the older computer ready and validated before you start your transfer...