Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

How to Transfer your Complete Windows 7 Installation to New Computer​

To start, a warning from Microsoft:

   Note

Important

You must use the Sysprep /generalize command to generalize a complete Windows installation before you can use the installation for deployment to a new computer, whether you use imaging, hard disk duplication, or another method. Moving or copying a Windows image to a different computer without running the Sysprep /generalize command is not supported.

This tutorial will show you how to do the transfer.

   Information

Windows 7 System Preparation Tool is a powerful, native Windows tool. When for instance used in so called Audit Mode, it let's you to freely configure Windows 7 to be then deployed to other computers as hardware independent image.

In this tutorial we use System Preparation Tool (sysprep) to prepare your Windows 7 installation to be moved to a new computer, keeping all your installed applications, program settings and user profiles. You can use this method for instance when you have bought a new PC and want to transfer your existing setup completely, without need to reinstall everything, or when you want to make major hardware changes like change the motherboard or GPU, which would usually cause Windows to stop booting normally.

   Warning

Using this method causes Windows 7 to lose all activation information, and it needs to be reactivated afterwards. If your Windows 7 is an OEM version, you might not be able to reactivate it, at least not without phone activation option.

I do not recommend to use this method on RAID systems. All experiments on RAID I know have failed.

With the speed of today's hardware evolution, most of us geeks are upgrading the hardware more often than operating system. Upgrading hardware can be painfully slow process if we need to reinstall the operating system and all our installed applications, plus transfer program settings and user profiles.

Using sysprep makes this easy. Changing the motherboard, or for instance an old ATI GPU to a new nVidia GPU quite often causes Windows 7 not to be able to boot anymore. This fact is usually accepted by the user, who then reinstalls the OS and all applications and transfers user profiles from a backup location.

Same thing when buying a new computer with completely different hardware setup compared to the old one, or trying to restore a system image to different hardware setup. Normally this would include a complete reinstallation of Windows 7 and all applications.

Why not use sysprep to avoid reinstalling? Here are the different scenarios where you can use it.

   Warning

An upgraded Windows cannot be sysprepped. As this method is based in sysprepping, this tutorial is valid only for Windows setups which have not been upgraded.

This means that if you have for instance in-place upgraded Vista to Seven, or using Anytime Upgrade upgraded for instance a Home Premium to Ultimate, you cannot sysprep and this tutorial cannot be used in your case.

Notice that a repair install is also an upgrade install, so if you have ever done a repair install (= in-place upgrade to same edition), you cannot sysprep.

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO CREATE A SYSTEM IMAGE BEFORE PROCEEDING!​

As you can read on this thread, on rare occasions this method does not work. If this happens, you can always restore your system using your backup image.

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup
System Image Recovery

IE10 Users: Please read this article first: Sysprep Fatal Error With IE 10 (FIX) | System Administration

METHOD ONE

Changing hardware components but keeping old hard disk(s)

Use this method if you:
- Change other hardware components but keep your old HD containing Windows 7
- Move the HD containing Windows 7 to another computer

1. Before installing new hardware, boot Windows 7 normally
2. Disconnect all external hardware except mouse, keyboard and main display. If your system folders are located only on C: drive, disconnect all other hard disks except that containing the C:. In case of relocated system folders, for instance the profile folder Users located in another drive and other system folders on C:, first move the relocated system folders back to C: then disconnect all other drives. Reboot after this
3. Run Command Prompt as administrator
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4. Type to Command Prompt: %windir%\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe, and hit Enter
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5. In sysprep dialog that opens, choose System Cleanup Action as Enter System Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE), select Generalize, select Shutdown Options Shutdown. Click OK
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6. Sysprep generalizes now your Windows 7 setup and shuts down your computer. Do not run any other programs during this phase!
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7. Switch the main power of your PC off and install the new hardware OR dismount the hard disk(s) and mount it (them) to a new computer
8. Boot the PC from sysprep generalized hard disk. You will notice Windows booting as if it was the first boot after installation, installing default drivers and updating registry. One or two reboots are needed, depending on your system specifications
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9. When Windows finally boots up, you will need to enter all information as if this really was a new, fresh installation
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10. Because your old user profiles already exist, Windows does not accept your normal username, but instead you have to create a new temporary user. I use username Test for this purpose
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11. When login screen appears, choose your old user account to login
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12. Windows boots now to default OOBE first boot desktop, with default 800*600 resolution and default theme. All your installed applications are there, as well as your old user profiles and folders. Windows has installed the default drivers for your setup, you can update them if needed
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13. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts and delete the temporary user account (in this case Test) that you just created

METHOD TWO

Change the hard disk(s) or move Windows 7 setup to a new computer using third party imaging software

Use this method if you:
- Replace the HD containing Windows 7 on your old computer
- Move Windows 7 to a new HD on another computer

1. Follow steps 1 through 5 above (method 1)
2. Boot PC with an imaging CD/DVD (Paragon, Macrium etc.). See Macrium Reflect Free:at our sister site TenForums.com: Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials . Also see this post for a practical tip to create a Macrium system image.
3. Create an image of your system
4. Turn PC off, change the hard disk(s) and reboot with imaging application, restoring the image OR boot the new computer with imaging software and restore the image
5. Continue from step 7 above (method 1)

This procedure is failsafe, and works every time. There is nothing to worry, but of course it is recommended to make a backup before trying this. I have even used this method when some serious driver issues caused the PC to constantly crash (BSOD), to reset all drivers to Windows defaults and then reinstalling them one by one to find the culprit.

   Note

What does Sysprep generalizing do to my Windows 7 setup?

• All system specific information is removed or uninstalled
• Security ID (SID) of your hardware setup is reseted
• All system restore points are deleted
• All event logs are deleted
• All personalization is removed (taskbar, toolbars, folder options, start orb etc.)
• Built-in administrator account is disabled (if it was enabled) and needs to be re-enabled after the transfer if needed

What happens when booting first time after sysprep generalizing?

• First boot configuration is run
• New SID is created
• Re-arm counter is reseted if not already re-armed three times
• Windows 7 is booted using first boot default drivers and settings

I have tested all above mentioned methods with all versions of Windows 7, from Starter to Enterprise. It works every time, with one exception: for reasons unknown to me, sysprep seems sometimes dislike Windows Media Player networking service, which is by default started every time Windows 7 starts. In about every third time I've done this, I've got an error message when trying to generalize:



However, this is not a big problem. You just need to stop the WMP networking service, and run sysprep with generalize option again. You can stop the service in question by typing net stop WMPNetworkSvc to command prompt, and hitting Enter:



If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Happy computing!

Kari

EDIT: A Useful tip from xxxwea, as later confirmed by Victor:

Kari, just a suggestion.

You might note in the tutorial that if on first booting Windows can't finish configuring, a reboot into safe mode, then a normal reboot will allow it to finish successfully.

This has happened to me both times I used a sysprepped system drive in a new computer. I found the answer to this problem buried deep in this thread the first time I ran into it, and the same thing happened yesterday on a different computer.

It's a seemingly very silly solution, but it works. I do believe many people have abandoned their sysprep work when they encounter the problem.

I think the solution deserves more visibility.

 

[Kari]

Although I do not understand how it's possible, I think the culprit is the IDE / AHCI swap. I just cannot figure it out, how on earth the ntos kernel could disappear just like that?

Anyway, I would do this: with old motherboard set the machine back to IDE, restore the image, sysprep once more shutting down when done, replace the motherboard, boot still in IDE mode.

 

[dsa44]

Crazy, I know. It is re-imaging now (in ide mode in bios). Since new mb already installed, I think once the reimage is done, I may just let it reboot and see what it does. I will still have the image to reinstall it again on the old mb if I have to go back to that route. Things just get so frustrating.

 

[Kari]

Please let us know then how it went.

 

[dsa44]

Please let us know then how it went.

Its fubar, at this point, I am putting in a different hdd and reinstalling windows7 and programs. I will pull data and such from the old drives if I hook them up as a freestanding drive. I'll let you know how it goes. Thx anyway.

 

[Kari]

I am sorry to hear that. The process itself, removing hardware related content which Sysprep, then changing the hardware and let Windows reinstall drivers is secure and do not harm Windows or the PC.

I wish you a lot of luck and patience, hoping all your personal data is intact.

 

[dsa44]

I am sorry to hear that. The process itself, removing hardware related content which Sysprep, then changing the hardware and let Windows reinstall drivers is secure and do not harm Windows or the PC.

I wish you a lot of luck and patience, hoping all your personal data is intact.

Reinstall was a bit painful yet I was able to reconfigure my settings and gather the data from the old drives. When I have a moment, I will try to hook the old drives back to the old Mb ( I installed to a new ssd) and see what happens. I have a feeling that the original win7 installation went corrupt the nite before I was planning the swap anyway, what a coincidence. Had booted, and it wouldn't load with some bizarre error, finally got it to load, but could not get it to recognize one of the three monitors, and once I was finally in win7 nevertheless, that is when I ran the sysprep. Might have been a hardware issue as well writing something corrupt to the kernel. Also could not even get it into safe mode at that time, and it froze on a driver from avast antivirus. So there was probably a lot at play, sorry to bore you with it. If I get to Leipzig, I will buy you a pint or two!

 

[Kari]

If I get to Leipzig, I will buy you a pint or two!

I'd rather have a whisky .

I have had some similar experience with Avast and other third party AV programs. I'll try to replicate your scenario as soon as I can, and test this once again. In the mean time before I have had a chance to test it, I think this might be a pretty good recommendation for future readers of this thread: Uninstall possible third party AV and Firewall programs before starting this procedure, then re-install them when done.

 

[thisisrija]

So I found a thread about cleaning all the drivers installed and reinstalling them. I tried to achieve the same thing. The thread directed me to this thread.

So I did the method 1 as you said in that thread, and I got an error in step 8. I turned my laptop back on and it won't continue. I did the safe mode method, then it continued after the normal reboot, but suddenly during the process I got Blue Screen. And after the reboot I'm stuck with this...



I tried the safe mode method again, it didn't work. I tried to repaired it with Windows 7 CD, it told me to insert windows 7 CD again when I select my image or something.

Oh just to be clear, I didn't dettach my HDD. And I think I didn't plug off my charger even though it already shut down, I don't know if that caused the problem.

Now, I don't know what to do. I tried to go through this thread but it just too long. So I decided to sign up and ask for help. What should I do?

 

[Kari]

Hi Thisisrija, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Please could you tell us what are you trying to do? Replace the motherboard or other components, or take the Windows HDD to another computer, or something else?

 

[thisisrija]

Thank you for the warm welcome and the quick reply.

I just try to reset all my drivers by doing the method 1, which you mention in that thread.

 

[Kari]

If you are trying to reset the drivers, staying on the same hardware, you can do it simply by closing all open apps including browsers, turning the AV and firewall off, then opening an elevated Command Prompt and giving this command:

%windir%\system32\sysprep sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /reboot

Windows removes all drivers now and reboots installing default drivers. When back in desktop, turn the AV and firewall on again.

 

[thisisrija]

Well it's too late for that.

I'm stuck, and do't know what to do. what should I do?

Could I reinstall my windows and restore from the image I've made?
Or do you have better suggestion?

 

[Kari]

The best for now is to restore an image if you have a recent one, or reinstall. I would restore an image.

 

[kdowen]

Kari,
I am new to the forum and I admit that I have not read all 50+ pages of comments.

I have a system which i built 3 years ago and now it seems that the mobo is having issues. I want to move my drives (SSD + HDD) to a new mobo. I have Win7 64 on the SSD ( C: ) and all of my user data (Documents, My Music, My Photos, Outlook, etc) on the HDD ( D: ). When I logon the system knows that the user's data is on D: as I set all the links when I built the system.

If I use SYSPREP on the SSD ( C: ) will all of the user data links survive the process? If yes, then this should work, right? If not, can I redirect them as I did when I originally built the system - not ideal, but better than a complete rebuild.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Kevin

 

[Kari]

Hi Kevin, welcome to the Seven Forums.

No, they might not survive. You need to "unlink" first, based on my own experience you might get boot issues if you sysprep when there are existing links or junctions to system folders on another drive.

My recommendation is to move everything back to C:, remove the links, then sysprep and finally with new hardware setup recreate the links. You don't of course have to copy the folder contents back to C:, for instance it's enough when the C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents is where it should be, it's content backed up to another drive. In other words, the location of those system folders is important, not how much and what they contain.

I would do it like this:

• Move my personal data from all system folders (Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures) to a safe place
• Move the empty user folders back to C:
• Remove all links
• Sysprep and shutdown
• Swap the motherboard
• Reboot
• Recreate links and junctions
• Move my data from backup back to where it was when I started

Kari

 

[PaulVdB]

Looks nice, interesting and utmost useful tutorial ! (thanks !!)
But I have this practical question:
My wife's computer is very old (but does run win7/32). My son left the house and also his (much more recent) computer. It has win7/64 on it. Is it possible (and how?) to transfer via network ALL my wife's software to my son's computer and keep all her settings/progs/data/etc. (except the hardware drivers, of course). If this transfer would not work flawlessly, will my wife's old computer still be operational ? In other words: will it be possible to use to her old computer as if nothing happened ?

thanks in advance, guys !

 

[Kari]

Software cannot be transferred simply by copying it, it must be separately installed on each computer it will be used. In your case the only possibility is to install the software your wife wants to use in your son's old PC directly on that PC.

Your wife's personal files and most of the settings can be copied, that's not an issue. See this tutorial for help: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11470-windows-easy-transfer-transfer-computers.html

Kari

 

[kdowen]

Kari,
Thanks for the quick response! Everything went well until I ran Sysprep and was told that it would not work due to an update (I did a repair install a week ago trying to fix my problems). Looks like I am destined for a clean install unless you have another idea.

Kiitos paljon!

Kevin

 

[Kari]

Yeah that is something I call Upgrade - Sysprep paradox: You cannot Sysprep an Upgraded Windows, and you cannot Upgrade a Sysprepped Windows.

Luckily there's a workaround. Check this tutorial at our sister site the Ten Forums, scroll down to last part titled Upgrade, and there see the Step 2: Edit Registry: Users Folder - Move Location in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Although the tutorial is written for Windows 10, the workaround in it when an upgrade or repair install makes sysprep impossible is a general solution for all Windows editions starting from Vista

Kari.

 

[PaulVdB]

Software cannot be transferred simply by copying it, it must be separately installed on each computer it will be used. In your case the only possibility is to install the software your wife wants to use in your son's old PC directly on that PC.

Your wife's personal files and most of the settings can be copied, that's not an issue. See this tutorial for help: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11470-windows-easy-transfer-transfer-computers.html

Kari

Thanks Kari for your superfast reply!
I know how to copy personal files from one computer to another. no biggie ... but for my case, I can't use the tutorial discribed at the start of this thread ?