Re-Imaging Taking Too Long, Computer Upgrade


  1. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    Re-Imaging Taking Too Long, Computer Upgrade


    Hi, I'm new to these forums. :)

    There is a long story before I get to how the re-imaging part takes too long, so please bare with me.

    I recently upgraded my computer with a new motherboard, processor, RAM, and video card. Before I did this, I installed a second fully functional 1 TB internal hard drive just to hold the system image and my important documents. I made a system image using the native software that was available on Windows 7.

    To be clear, I made a 143 GB system image from my first 1 TB internal hard drive and put it on the second 1 TB internal hard drive. I also moved my important documents over to the second hard drive. (The second drive was completely formatted and turned into a Basic drive beforehand.)

    After installing the new components, I wiped my first hard drive, deleting all partitions on it, but I forgot that I had one more set of folders that I forgot to move over to the second hard drive. However, since I had the system image on the second hard drive, I figured that I could use that to re-image the first hard drive, pull the files, and wipe it again.

    Now, since the old motherboard and CPU drivers were saved on the system image, I figured Windows wouldn't be able to load, but as long as the first hard drive contained my files, I thought it wouldn't matter since I could just install the hard drive on the family computer, pull the files, put it back into my computer, and start the installation process all over again.

    However, when I tried to re-image my first hard drive with the image I had on the second hard drive, I got an error saying that the recovery tools were not compatible, or something to that extent.

    At this point, I figured that since the system image was SP1, if I installed Win 7 on my first hard drive and upgrade to SP1, then it would be compatible, so that's exactly what I did.

    After upgrading to SP1, I tried to re-image the first hard drive, but this time, I used the Win 7 disk in order to do so. I booted from the Win 7 CD, got to the system image restore, and got an image similar to this:



    Where it says "Intel Raid 0 Volume," I had my C: drive. I assumed that the C: drive was my first hard drive, so I didn't check anything.

    In the next window, I was told that my first hard drive would be formatted and re-partitioned, so I said yes. When the system was preparing for the re-imaging, I got an error saying that re-imaging failed, and the system would restart.

    Of course, since my first hard drive was formatted, Windows didn't load, so I tried the re-image again. I didn't get the error, and it showed that the system was "Restoring disk (C: )."

    However, it was taking WAY too long. 12 hours into the restore, it didn't even go halfway. I left it running while I was at work, and I just came home now and saw that my system was completely frozen. The mouse pointer didn't move, and I left it like that for a few minutes. After half an hour, I held the power button down to turn it off, and tried the re-imaging again.

    It was going as slowly as it did the second time around, so I canceled the restore, turned it off, registered to these forums off my family computer, and here I am right now.

    I'm thinking that I should replace all the old parts and try the restore again, but other than that, I'm stuck as to what I should do.

    Please help me.

    If it helps, these are my build specs.

    Before the Upgrade:

    1 x Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
    1 x ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
    1 x SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
    1 x SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
    1 x AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
    2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
    1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
    1 x ASUS CD/DVD Burner Black E-IDE/PATA Model DRW-22B2S/BLK/B/AS (Bulk) - OEM

    2 x Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design
    1 x Hauppauge Colossus - Record your high definition video gameplay and TV programs by H.264 for resolution up to 1080i, PCI-Express x1 Interface

    Windows 7 Ultimate x64

    After the Upgrade:

    1 x Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
    1 x ASRock Z77 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
    1 x SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (100315L)
    1 x SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
    1 x Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
    2 x Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model BLT2KIT4G3D1337DT1TX0
    1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
    1 x Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
    1 x LG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH24NS90 - OEM*

    2 x Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design
    1 x Hauppauge Colossus - Record your high definition video gameplay and TV programs by H.264 for resolution up to 1080i, PCI-Express x1 Interface

    Windows 7 Ultimate x64

    *Note: Was installed after I discovered my new motherboard didn't support anything PATA
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I did some more digging around on this site, and I'm going to try this:

    System Image - Extract Files Using Disk Management[2]=Backup Restore

    If this works, I will, in this specific order:

    1. Jump for joy
    2. Feel like an idiot for not seeing this before posting this thread
      My Computer


  3. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #3

    A lot of info so I may have missed something.
    I personally would backup my data, deactivate licensed software and do a clean install. I know it takes time but I think it is best in the long run. Alternatively this tutorial may help
    Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

    Be aware that you cannot transfer an OEM OS to a new PC.
    Extracting files from the mounted VHD (your tutorial link) should definitely work for pulling out data or non installed software.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    mjf said:
    A lot of info so I may have missed something.
    I personally would backup my data, deactivate licensed software and do a clean install. I know it takes time but I think it is best in the long run. Alternatively this tutorial may help
    Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

    Be aware that you cannot transfer an OEM OS to a new PC.
    Extracting files from the mounted VHD (your tutorial link) should definitely work for pulling out data or non installed software.
    Thank you for the response. :)

    That is the exact tutorial I was going to use. However, when I tried to run sysprep, the system said it couldn't work on my version of Windows, which was really strange. That's when I opted for the full re-installation, also because going from AMD to Intel is a huge change.

    I have a retail version of Windows. As for my programs, there's nothing I needed to deactivate except Adobe Photoshop, which I was already aware of. Aside from that, all of my programs are retail and don't need deactivation.

    Currently re-installing Windows. I'll be putting in the new drivers and upgrading to SP1 before I attempt to recover anything from the system image.
      My Computer


 

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