Question about migrating applications to a new machine.

[erkang]

The computer I have is a lemon. After having been "fixed" three or four times HP has decided to solve the problem by swapping and giving me a new computer. Yay! (Sort of.) The current machine has had Windows 7 installed from the get-go. I've done all the updates and, since I'm only going to have it for a few more days, I installed Windows 10 just to see how that system works. . I could still revert to Windows 7 if need be.

The machine they are shipping me has Windows 8.1 which I intend to replace with Windows 10 (though , frankly, I'm quite happy with Win 7.) On the old machine are many applications which I could reinstall from discs if I had to. But I also have a ton of stuff that I got from a site called Give-away of the day. They make applications available for free for 24 hours. If you miss that window you're out of luck and have to buy the application.

What I want to do is to take what is now the C drive on the old machine and put it into the new one. My hope is that I'll be able to keep all my applications. I'm assuming that I'll have to put it in as the G drive but I don't know about that. In addition, the old machine has a 1TB drive that has nothing on it at all. I'm going to remove that from the old machine and, I assume put it in the new machine.

The one time I tried this years ago my mind was still in Mac mode and I assumed that a clone would be just that ... a fully functional copy of the original. It seems that Windows won't allow me to do that. Or will it? I'm looking at an application called XXClone but don't want to start messing around until I've heard from people who know much more about this stuff than I do. (Which means just about anyone.)

Thanks, I look forward to getting some good help here.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Clarify some things:

"What I want to do is to take what is now the C drive on the old machine and put it into the new one."

Do you mean that literally? I would have thought that if you have to return the broken machine that you would have to return its C drive as well.

Or will HP let you keep the old machine?

Is the new machine EXACTLY the same model as the old machine, other than one came with Win 7 and the other will come with Win 8.1? I mean same motherboard, same chipset, same CPU.

"the old machine has a 1TB drive that has nothing on it at all. I'm going to remove that from the old machine and, I assume put it in the new machine."

Likewise, do you mean that literally? You don't have to return this 1 TB drive to HP?

Re Giveaway of the day applications". Do you still have them in their uninstalled form, as when you downloaded them, before installing them? I'm not sure if those giveaway apps can be re-installed from scratch months or years after they are downloaded. Is there a time limit to activate them?

What OS do you want to ultimately have on the new machine, which will arrive with 8.1? Win 10? Win 7?

 

[erkang]

Clarify some things:

"What I want to do is to take what is now the C drive on the old machine and put it into the new one."

Do you mean that literally? I would have thought that if you have to return the broken machine that you would have to return its C drive as well. Or will HP let you keep the old machine?

HP wants the old machine back but has said that it's ok to remove the C drive.

Is the new machine EXACTLY the same model as the old machine, other than one came with Win 7 and the other will come with Win 8.1? I mean same motherboard, same chipset, same CPU.

No. they replace it with the current model whose specs are closest to the old machine.[/COLOR]

"the old machine has a 1TB drive that has nothing on it at all. I'm going to remove that from the old machine and, I assume put it in the new machine."

Likewise, do you mean that literally? You don't have to return this 1 TB drive to HP?

he 1 TB drive is one that I put it at one point when the machine was going through one of its very flaky spells. It has nothing on it because the machine came back from HP repair only a few weeks ago and I've not got around to using it.T

Re Giveaway of the day applications". Do you still have them in their uninstalled form, as when you downloaded them, before installing them? I'm not sure if those giveaway apps can be re-installed from scratch months or years after they are downloaded. Is there a time limit to activate them?

I don't have the uninstalled form. It wouldn't make any difference even if I did. The registration needs to be done within a strict 24 hour window. It's possible that some of the vendors might allow me to reregister with the old registration code but it's pretty unlikely.

What OS do you want to ultimately have on the new machine, which will arrive with 8.1? Win 10? Win 7?

I like what I've seen of Win 10. I installed it yesterday on the machine that's going back just to see how it works. So far it seems pretty good.

I hope I've answered your questions. If not, let me know and I'll try to clarify. But, please, don't throw any bricks!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Can the new PC can accommodate 2 internal drives simultaneously?

I assume you are going to have 3 hard drives available to you: the 1 TB drive, the drive from the old PC, and the drive that will be in the new PC.

Do you have any type of external storage drive, above and beyond those 3 drives?

Which of those 3 drives do you want to end up in the new PC as the boot drive containing Windows, after all the smoke has cleared?

Do you know if the motherboard on the old PC and the motherboard on the new PC will have the same chipset?

I'm leaning toward pointing you toward an app called "Paragon Adaptive Restore", but above details needed.

 

[erkang]

Below you'll find the specs for the new machine. As for your other questions ... Yes. Once I remove them from the old machine I will have the three drives you list. The old C drive and the blank one will have to be installed, of course.

I have several external drives. I believe on of them is 1 TB but I'll have to dig it out and check

I think it would make sense to have the drive that will be in the new machine as the boot drive, though if it's easier to use the C drive from the old machine that would be fine. It's quite new. HP replaced it no more than two months ago.

I'm not sure how to find out if the two machines have the same chipset and motherboard. Do you know how I can find out? I'm reluctant to call HP tech support. All the people at those call centers are allowed to do is stick to scripts for a limited number of common situations. As soon as you deviate from what they are expecting everything gets complicated and I'm not sure the answers are good. They've make some big mistakes in the past.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Below you'll find the specs for the new machine.

I don't see them. Are you referring to HP p7-1240 from your system specs?

Or?

Can you state the EXACT product line and model number for old and new machines?

Are these desktops?

 

[erkang]

Let's see if I get it right this time.


HERE ARE THE SPECS FOR THE NEW MACHINE

Replacement Offer:

HP Pavilion 500t Desktop

M0K50AV#ABA_1

Silver
Windows 8.1 64
4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 processor quad-core [3.5GHz, 6MB Shared Cache]
12GB DDR3-1600 DIMM (1x8GB+1x4GB) RAM
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6G 3.5 Hard Drive
Intel Integrated Graphic [VGA, HDMI]
SuperMulti DVD Burner
HP WLAN 802.11 b/g/n 1x1 MCard BT
7-in-1 Media Card Reader, 2 USB Ports (Front), Audio [Front 2USB3.0]
Microsoft Office Trial
No Additional Security Software
Integrated Sound, B&O Play Audio
HP USB volume control Keyboard and USB Optical Mouse

HERE, AS BEST AS i CAN TELL, ARE THE SPECS FOR THE OLD MACHINE.

Manufacturer HP
Model p7-1240
Processor AMD A10-5700 APU ith Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 3.40 GHz
RAM 10GB (9.43 usable)
System type 64 Bit Operating System, xx64 bases processor
​

 

[ignatzatsonic]

OK.

Grossly different hardware--AMD platform now on old machine. Intel platform on new PC.

Start googling "Paragon Adaptive Restore".

Take a look at this tutorial:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/292068-make-windows-7-bootable-after-motherboard-swap.html

Note that you can download the 2010 version of PAR from step 1 at the top of the above link.

PAR is from Paragon Software, a UK outfit. Highly regarded. I've never used it. The premise is to do what the name implies--let you transfer an installation from PC 1 to PC 2 when they are significantly different, sparing you the necessity of reinstalling Windows and applications.

I can't vouch for it.

I think companies like Acronis and Macrium have certain apps that supposedly can do the same thing. I can't vouch for them either.

You should be able to find a decent help file on Paragon's web site.

The fact that you are switching from AMD to Intel may make the job more difficult--maybe not. Maybe PAR can overcome that as well.

I'd certainly make an image of any OS installation I cared about before any further fiddling, with Paragon or otherwise. Probably using Macrium

 

[erkang]

Thanks so much for you help so far. Just one more question. Since the old machine is going back I installed Win 10 on it just to see if I like it. Should I revert to Win 7 prior to going through the process with Paragon..... or is that a question I should be asking them, not you?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Thanks so much for you help so far. Just one more question. Since the old machine is going back I installed Win 10 on it just to see if I like it. Should I revert to Win 7 prior to going through the process with Paragon..... or is that a question I should be asking them, not you?

I'd ask them or at least look at their web site. They may have forums, I don't know.

It may not matter, BUT there is some possibility that the PAR 2010 that you have free access to is NOT compatible with Windows 10---in which case you'd have to start from Win 7.

Just as a general proposition, I'd probably try to do whatever it took to not "confuse" PAR any more than necessary---which would point to starting from Win 7 or even a clean install of Win 7, if possible. Why volunteer for complications when it's a testy and complicated enough procedure to begin with?