How to restore windows on different PC

[werty123]

Hi,
I would like to ask if it si possible to restore the windows restore point on different PC.

I had a notebook with windows 7 home edition that crashed. After that I bought a desktop PC. I don´t want to buy another windows copy as the one on notebook I have bought separately. The problem is that I lost the original DVD for windows and I don´t have serial number.

As the notebook crashed I have only restore point saved on external hard drive. Is it possible to install windows on my new desktop and then somehow restore the windows from the restore point made for different PC?

thanks a lot.

 

[edwar]

Having or not having the DVD doesn't matter. Win 7 can be downloaded as an ISO file and then burnt to a DVD or thumb drive. But not having the License Key, as you say the serial #, means you actually have no right of ownership. So you will need to buy Windows 7 again to get a valid legal License for it.

This time don't lose either the DVD or the License key that goes with it.

Good Luck.

 

[gregrocker]

Why would you not save the Product Key for a $100+ retail OS purchase which you own for life and can move to any machine you want?

There is a possibility you can boot the old HD on the new PC to audit the Product Key using Belarc Advisor.

You'll need to use a converter cable from 2.5" laptop SATA HD to desktop SATA port.

Using BIOS Boot menu key at boot, attempt to boot the laptop HD. If it stalls install and run Paragon Virtualization Manager 9.5 Personal on the HD to adjust its drivers, SID and HID's to the new hardware. You can get a free key for the Paragon product at Paragon Virtualization Manager (formerly Paragon Adaptive Restore) CD.

 

[DavidE]

This sounds like it might be able to retrieve keys from a PC that won't boot.
I've never used it so i can't comment on how good it is, if it works, etc.
Something you might want to try for a situation like this.

How to Recover Windows and Software Keys from a Broken Computer - How-To Geek
ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server