Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

ICIT2LOL · 02 Oct 2012

derekimo said:

ICit2lol said:

Isyther said:

I still have one question after reading this tutorial. I have a laptop wit windows 7 Home Premium on it can I completly romove windows 7 off it and put it on my desktop? My laptop right now I about to bite the dust, and I built my desktop from scratch. Right now my desktop has windows xp and i was looking to upgrade it.

Hiyya and welcome Isyther as ignaztsonic says - slightly different though is that I had an OEM on a refurbished machine in which the motherboard died and a phone call to Microsoft and they let me transfer the OEM to another machine that had previously been Vista (the other machine I had slipped in a SSD of course).

My point is for the cost of a local phone call what have you got to lose

?

I think the key points here are yours originally came with Vista, so your OEM was a separate purchase.

The OEM ignatzasonic is speaking about is the one that originally came with Isyther's laptop.

So, if it is like yours, sure it's worth a call.

If it's what ignatzasonic is referring to, it is indeed tied to the motherboard.

If it is a separate retail license, none of the above matters, it can be freely moved to another computer.

Oops yeah you're right mate I had forgotten I had started with Vista

unifex · 02 Oct 2012

Brink said:

Hello unifex,

I would recommend to move them back to their default locations on the SSD first to help make sure that would be one less possible issue during the transfer. :)

Hi Brink, thanks a lot for the advice!

Brink · 02 Oct 2012

Anytime. :)

mnhansoge · 08 Oct 2012

Dear Kari,

I wish to thank you for an excellent Tutorial.I just now purchased a new Computer except for the original Hard Drive which had had windows 7.I followed your instructions and in just 10 minutes I was working on the new Computer with no problems whatsoever. And it would have taken me at least 3 to 4 days and that too with many a other problems if I had gone in for a fresh installation.

I am really grateful.

Manju

Kari · 08 Oct 2012

Thanks, Manju :)

bg17 · 10 Oct 2012

Here is my experience using sysprep to do a mobo/cpu swap. I am 1 for 2.

First scenario was with my older W7 pc, so lots of data and apps on it. It has a retail OEM license. Went from an Intel setup to an AMD without a hitch. Windows even re-activated all by itself. Yay!

Second scenario was going from an AMD CPU/VGA to a new AMD APU. This PC has an UPGRADE license. After getting around the "can't do sysprep on an upgrade version", I thought I'd be cruising to success. No such luck. Windows refused to start, and was even unable to repair itself. Luckily there weren't any important files, so I just did a fresh install. I'm sure I'll have to call to activate, as I've already used the key for a fourth time. Have no clue what went so wrong here, but I'm suspecting the major change to an APU. It's interesting to note that vga was still low-res after the re-install, which it's never been with any other of my many setups. Either that, or sysprep on an Upgrade install doesn't clean up as well as the other versions.

EDIT: I just realized that the new motherboard came with UEFI BIOS, not sure if it was enabled in that mode but I assume so. Maybe that's what caused the major snafu?

Just my story, for those of you scoring at home. :)

Victor S · 14 Oct 2012

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 · 14 Oct 2012

Thanks for the tip, Victor. Added.

Kari

bg17 · 14 Oct 2012

Victor, what messages did you get when Windows failed to start?

Victor S · 14 Oct 2012

bg17 said:

Victor, what messages did you get when Windows failed to start?

Something like "Windows can't finish configuring the system."
Sorry I don't remember the exact wording. It's basically a dead end loop and if you reboot normally it just repeats itself.
If you then boot into safe mode it just stops loading drivers at some point that makes no real sense. Doesn't take long at all.
Then if you reboot into normal mode it flawlessly configures, and you see a percentage sign progress.
This is where I first saw the solution.
Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

But as I recall from last night there was no message in safe mode. It just stalled.

Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

WINDOWS 7-TRANSFER TO NEW COMUTER