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Lost Motherboard

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Suppose I lost the motherboard on my present computer. Running Win 7. Then I purchased new computer that has Win 8 as the operating sys. If I took the hard drive that my Acronis backup is on from my old computer, could I install it on the new computer with Win 8? Or do I need to buy a computer with Win7?

Thanks,

AJ

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Putting the disk of Computer A into COmputer B will not work, most likely, because the disk controller will be different. Windows will bluscreen at bootup, if bootup works at all, since Windows 8 machines are not mostly UEFI/GPT enabled while Windows 7 typically are not (unless you install it).

Supposing you have the same boot configuration, UEFI, let's say, you could in theory do a backup of your Windows 7 computer then restore it on the Windows 8 computer. You would have to use Universal Restore to do that, a feature that comes with Acronis True Image Premium. Universal Restore is not easy to use. You need the right drivers, in the right format, etc. etc.

Even if you have successfully used Universal Restore, you end up with a Windows 7 machine... If this is OK, no problem.

To be honest, if the boot configuration is not the same, with a bit of patience and skills, you can get around the issue.

Lots of things have to happen right for this operation to succeed, but it is doable.

So, if I understand this right, the only good the backup does is if I have a hard drive failure on my main hard drive or lose a file?

If the computer fails for some other reason I can't install the backup hard drive on a new computer, even if it is a Win 7 operating sys.
Is that correct?

And thank you for your help in this mater.

AJ

To be more accurate, if you have to change the motherboard, you would need the Universal Restore feature to restore your backup to the new motherboard. Although trying Universal Restore is the best alternative short of reinstalling everything, it can be hard to manage succesfully. Your mileage will vary depending on your motherboard, disk controllers (SATA, USB, etc.).

How about this. Suppose I bought a new computer with Win 7. Could I install the backup hard drive on it and then transfer everything to the new hard drive?

Thanks again.

AJ

Yes, if you bought a new computer with Win 7, it will be most likely a legacy BIOS + MBR system disk set up and Universal restore will be easier to use. You would start the computer and set it up, then you would copy the folders from the new Win7 (Windows/System32/Drivers, and /SystemWOW64/Drivers, just in case) to a USB drive distinct from the drive where you store your backup.