Will Universal Restore to dissimilar hardware work in my case?
I have a weird case and I hope you can tell me if this will work. I have a 32 bit Windows 7 machine on an MSI motherboard with a 64 GB SSD and I want to move the SSD and programs to a new machine that I bought from Dell.
I could care less about what software the Dell machine comes with, as I have all the software I need already on my SSD. What I would love to do is not reinstall all my software for the new Dell machine.
So, I was wondering if this would work:
1) I backup my old MSI's SSD, as I do every week
2) then wipe it (or not) - you tell me
3) install ATH 2012 with plus on the new dell machine
4) Remove the SSD from the MSI computer and place it in the new Dell computer
5) restore my SSD image (C drive) from my old msi computer to the SDD that I have now placed into my new Dell computer, with the drivers ready (if needed)
Would the restore work. I know it would wipe out whatever Dell (in its infinite wisdom) deemed life fulfilling for me on their C drive. I could care less! I would be happy to stay with 32 bit as I could care less with 64 bit for what I do. What would make me ecstatic is to have a new computer with my old programs and without the hassle of reinstalling them all. If this will work, I will upgrade today to the plus pack. If not, I will backup my drive and bit by bit reinstall the apps.
Please tell me if the universal restore will work for me!
Thanks,
David
[quote=David Raccah
1) I backup my old MSI's SSD, as I do every week
[/quote]
Make sure you include all the partitions on your SSD. In doubt, check Windows Disk Management as some partitions might be hidden to WIndows Explorere. They would not be hidden in ATI but since ATI doesn't necessarily select everything by default, you'd better check.
2) then wipe it (or not) - you tell me
If you have used your SSD for more than a year, consider a "ATA secure erase". Note this is not a drive cleaning/wiping process. ATA secure erase will restore your SSD to manufacturing state.
3) install ATH 2012 with plus on the new dell machine
You don't have to to restore, since you will restore from the Acronis recovery CD.
4) Remove the SSD from the MSI computer and place it in the new Dell computer
Why? If you have your backup on some USB disk, you don't need to disconnect your SSD from the MSI machine.
Leave your old SSD in its machine.
Consider backing up your new Dell SSD, just in case...
5) Restore my SSD image (C drive) from my old msi computer to the SDD that I have now placed into my new Dell computer, with the drivers ready (if needed)
You'd be very lucky not to need Universal Restore...
Would the restore work. I know it would wipe out whatever Dell (in its infinite wisdom) deemed life fulfilling for me on their C drive. I could care less! I would be happy to stay with 32 bit as I could care less with 64 bit for what I do. What would make me ecstatic is to have a new computer with my old programs and without the hassle of reinstalling them all. If this will work, I will upgrade today to the plus pack. If not, I will backup my drive and bit by bit reinstall the apps.
Please tell me if the universal restore will work for me!
It should work. Will it work? You will have to try. Universal Restore does it best to identify which drivers are needed for Windows to boot on the new computer, update the registry in the image on the fly during restore. This is not an error-proof process, notwithstanding the risk around not having all the drivers you need.
But, UR is often the best alternative to having to reinstall everything.
Awesome info - thanks guys! The new dell does not come with an SSD, just a 500 GB drive, which I will use for storage. I want to take my SSD and put it in my new Dell computer. Sorry, I did not say that the new Dell was very stock, with no cool things like an SSD.
Anyway, it sounds like this is the plan:
1) Either way do a full backup on the MSI SSD (which I do weekly) and a full backup of the new Dell drive, who knows - why not, but I cannot imagine ever wanting to use that drive. Though there is a perfectly good Windows license that I am throwing away - who cares, far less time than reinstalling all those programs
2) Power it up and see what happens. If it works - YEAY!. If not....
3) Secure erase the drive, as I have been using this SSD for longer than 1 year
4) Boot using the ATIH - Plus and do a universal recover and see if it works....
5) If all else fails, and I cannot still boot, then transfer the backed up DELL C drive partition to my SSD and then - painfully start installing program by program.
Is that about it....
Awesome info - thanks guys! The new dell does not come with an SSD, just a 500 GB drive, which I will use for storage. I want to take my SSD and put it in my new Dell computer. Sorry, I did not say that the new Dell was very stock, with no cool things like an SSD.
Anyway, it sounds like this is the plan:
1) Either way do a full backup on the MSI SSD (which I do weekly) and a full backup of the new Dell drive, who knows - why not, but I cannot imagine ever wanting to use that drive. Though there is a perfectly good Windows license that I am throwing away - who cares, far less time than reinstalling all those programs
2) Power it up and see what happens. If it works - YEAY!. If not....
3) Secure erase the drive, as I have been using this SSD for longer than 1 year
4) Boot using the ATIH - Plus and do a universal recover and see if it works....
5) If all else fails, and I cannot still boot, then transfer the backed up DELL C drive partition to my SSD and then - painfully start installing program by program.
Is that about it....
Sorry - seems I double posted somehow - my apologies. I cannot see how to delete the second post.
Yes, that's about it.
Remember:
- the ATA secure erase is optional. Google ATA secure erase or lookup the corresponding utility from your SSD manufacturer.
- don't hold your breath: the new computer will most likely not boot on the SSD of the other machine.
- you need to produce the Acronis recovery CD after having installed the Plus Pack, or download the ATIPusPack ISO available from our account after you have purchased the Plus Pack,
- test your newly produced recovery CD on both computers. On the old one, try to restore a couple of files to your SSD. This iwll make sure your backup is valid, and that you have a way to come back to your current situation. On the new one, make sure it detects the SSD, it can access your backup, etc.
- restoring to SSD (if you want to reuse your Dell image):
===============================================================
- Put your SSD at the same spot at your current disk. Remove your current disk from the computer for the time being.
- Boot your computer on the Acronis recovery CD
- Restore each partition at a time in the same order they were laid out (use your screen shot). This will allow to control resizing and offset to align the disk
- Leave a 1MB space before the first partition (maybe system reserved?)
- Mark the correct partition active (maybe system reserved?)
- Leave the drive letter change option alone
- Do not resize any partition except the C:\system partition or any partition you created and want on the SSD
- Make sure that each partition has a size that is a whole number of MB (doesn't matter for the last partition)
- No need to reboot inbetween partition restores
- After the last partition, restore the MBR+track0 and the disk signature
That's it.
Reboot on your new SSD. Then, if you want to use your old disk, put it back in the computer, reboot. Delete whatever you want, etc.
You have some tweaks to optimize your SSD:
- disable automatic defragmentation of that disk,
- disable superfetch service
- leave the page file on the SSD
- verify that TRIM is activated http://www.ghacks.net/2010/09/14/verify-that-trim-is-enabled-in-windows…