Solved Macrium BIOS & MBR mirror to be restored to EUFI & GPT

[ineuw]

I have a Macrium mirror of W7x64 which was created on a BIOS & MBR. Now that my 12 year old PC CPU bit the dust, I purchased new equipment (expected delivery June 7) which is using EUFI and GPT.

My question is; Is it possible to restore the mirror of a MBR to the new PC? The system disk drive (SSD) is the same, and there is no data in the old installation of the SSD. What I am trying to do is savr myself two days of installing apps and configuring my working environment.

 

[Megahertz07]

I would say that you can't restore the mirror of a MBR to the new PC.
- On Legacy-MBR, BIOS takes the boot sequence to MBR that will take to the boot loader on C:
- On UEFI-GPT, BIOS takes the boot sequence to a UEFI- Fat32 partition,, that has the boot loader, that takes the sequence to the C: drive.
As a MBR doesn't have the UEFI partition, it won't boot.
You probably can set your BIOS to boot as Legacy - MBR so you can boot the cloned disk.
But I think it wont work. New hardware requires drivers that are not on Win 7 installation disk or on the cloned disk.

As your installation is 12 years old, I wouldn't even try. Over the years there is a lot o trash on the register, old software etc.
And to install win 7 on the new hardware you'll need to add the new drivers (manly SATA and USB3.x) to the installation disk.
Read my tutorial Create a Windows 7 USB flash installation with new drives for new MB's - Windows 7 Help Forums

Feel free to ask.

 

[ineuw]

Thanks for the reply and it's much appreciated. As for the old, the MB and the CPU were 12 years old, but the software is new and very clean (no event errors whatsoever). But I know that means nothing. Just defending the effort.

Now the question is should I install the Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit which I have the licence, or do I buy Windows 10 Pro. Would there be problems with the drivers, or they are included in the W10 OS package? At the moment I am using a Linux Mint laptop but can download anything needed to be prepared. The new hardware won't be here until June 5.

Your, or anyone else's comments would be much welcome.

 

[Megahertz07]

Windows 10 is a downgrade but will install without issues. The need drivers you will find on the CD that comes with the MB.
If you have a retail license of Win 7 ultimate, you don't need to buy a win 10 pro license.
Download a win 10 64 iso, burn a DVD or install on a flash drive and do a clean install. When asked for the license, give the win 7 ultimate license. It will activate.
Download Windows 10

Windows 10 Forums - Windows 10 Forums

 

[ineuw]

Windows 10 is a downgrade but will install without issues. The need drivers you will find on the CD that comes with the MB.
If you have a retail license of Win 7 ultimate, you don't need to buy a win 10 pro license.
Download a win 10 64 iso, burn a DVD or install on a flash drive and do a clean install. When asked for the license, give the win 7 ultimate license. It will activate.
Download Windows 10

Windows 10 Forums - Windows 10 Forums

Needless to say that your information is most valuable and thank you again. Can you please explain what you mean by "Windows 10 is a downgrade?" Also, I doubt that my Windows 7 Ultimate is a retail license, considering what I paid for it. So I'll try first, and then "bite the bullet" if need to buy a new license.

But then, the Windows 10 downloaded from the Microsoft site is not a retail version, unless I pay for the software accordingly.

The saddest part is that I will have to say goodbye and head over to the Windows 10 Forum for all my "newbie" quaetions.

P.S: I liked it here.

 

[AddRAM]

The new board should have a Legacy/MBR option, so you don`t have to go UEFI if you don`t want to, I don`t.

This is a Partition Wizard snip from my Asus X299 showing the Samsung 860 Pro with W10 installed on 1 MBR partition.

 

[AddRAM]

ineuw, there is no difference between a OEM version of W10 and a Retail version of W10, the only difference is support, the Operating Systems are identical.

W10 downloaded from Microsoft is no different then if you were to go out and buy it somewhere.

With a Retail copy you would get support directly from Microsoft.

With a OEM copy you would get support from the PC manufacturer.

If you bought an OEM copy and installed it on your own PC then you`d get no support at all, well except for sites like Seven Forums etc.

 

[ineuw]

Again thanks for the all the options presented. I am considering them all and will post here to let you know what I have accomplished in the end.

 

[Megahertz07]

- As I wrote on post #2 and confirmed by Brian (Addram), you probably can set your BIOS to boot as Legacy - MBR so you can boot the cloned disk. But it wont activate if your Win 7 ultimate isn't a Retail license.
- If your disk is OEM not Retail (see the label) you cant install it on any other computer but the one you once installed. And you cant use the license key on Win 10. You will need to buy a Win 10 license (home or pro)
- The win 10 you download will have the two versions (home or pro). Install the one you buy the license.

 

[ineuw]

Megahertz07, Aware that I will have to buy a license. Out of curiosity, why did you write that Windows 10 is a downgrade? I would really prefer to continue in Windows 7, even if I have to purchase a new license. And thanks again.

 

[Megahertz07]

"The best software is the one you know how to use"
Despite the name, win 10 is a lot different from win 7.
- Win 10 can be used on a PC, on a tablet or on a smart phone. Cant be good on so different platforms.
- Stat menu is on alphabetic order with hundreds of links. It is very difficult to find what you're looking for. There is Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements that makes Start menu and explorer like XP or 7. A Must have.
- Settings is divided in two (notifications - Settings and Control Panel). You will be lost till you get use to it.
- Win 10 is constantly changing. And user can't block the "updates". One day you start windows and it begin to install a new version. And you wont be able to use it for 2 hours.
- There are pages of settings to allow or deny telemetry. Windows 10 wants to have access to your camera, microfone, documents, what you type, contacts etc etc. It what to spy everything. If you deny, some features, like Cortana, doesn't work.

Well, Android and Apple does the same. And they sell those users profiles to make advertisements. And M$ whats to do the same.

I think win 7 is a much more indicated as a OS. The problem is that it is ~10 years old and the installation disk doesn't have the newest drivers (SATA, USB3.x, M.2 NVMe). You have to add them to the installation disk.
If you have read my tutorial you know that isn't very easy (but also not so difficult)

Win 7 has 44% and win 10 31% of the OS market share (Operating system market share)

M$ is trying to kill win 7 so people move to Win 10. On 7º and 8º Intel generations (Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake) M$ installs a "update" to prevent updates (but you can fix by removing the "update").

There is still some Win 7 Pro OEM copies on sale. Don't by on Ebay etc as they are pirate. Even on Amazon can be pirate.

 

[ineuw]

"The best software is the one you know how to use"
Despite the name, win 10 is a lot different from win 7.
- Win 10 can be used on a PC, on a tablet or on a smart phone. Cant be good on so different platforms.
- Stat menu is on alphabetic order with hundreds of links. It is very difficult to find what you're looking for. There is Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements that makes Start menu and explorer like XP or 7. A Must have.
- Settings is divided in two (notifications - Settings and Control Panel). You will be lost till you get use to it.
- Win 10 is constantly changing. And user can't block the "updates". One day you start windows and it begin to install a new version. And you wont be able to use it for 2 hours.
- There are pages of settings to allow or deny telemetry. Windows 10 wants to have access to your camera, microfone, documents, what you type, contacts etc etc. It what to spy everything. If you deny, some features, like Cortana, doesn't work.

Well, Android and Apple does the same. And they sell those users profiles to make advertisements. And M$ whats to do the same.

I think win 7 is a much more indicated as a OS. The problem is that it is ~10 years old and the installation disk doesn't have the newest drivers (SATA, USB3.x, M.2 NVMe). You have to add them to the installation disk.
If you have read my tutorial you know that isn't very easy (but also not so difficult)

Win 7 has 44% and win 10 31% of the OS market share (Operating system market share)

M$ is trying to kill win 7 so people move to Win 10. On 7º and 8º Intel generations (Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake) M$ installs a "update" to prevent updates (but you can fix by removing the "update").

There is still some Win 7 Pro OEM copies on sale. Don't by on Ebay etc as they are pirate. Even on Amazon can be pirate.

Again, your information and comments are much appreciated. As I said earlier I prefer Windows 7. My W7 Ultimate was purchased online a year ago from a seller with whom I have been dealing for the past five years, buying a variety of MS products and never had problems registering them with Microsoft and getting regular updates.