Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

Windows update will not be a problem, let it be as it is. The only thing coming to my mind, in addition to what's already said, is to do the Sysprep from Audit Mode using the built-in administrator account rather than from normal desktop being logged in with you own account.

Reboot to Audit Mode from desktop: see tutorial Method One step 3 for how to open Sysprep dialog. Select Audit Mode, be sure the Generalize option is NOT selected, click OK:

Windows should automatically log in to built-in administrator account in Audit Mode, showing Sysprep dialog in the middle of desktop. Let it be there while you check that the Windows Media Player networking service is stopped as told at the very bottom of this tutorial. When OK, continue from the tutorial Method One Step 4.

Kari

Audit Mode is a special mode of Windows, allowing maintenance and customization even when no user accounts exist, using the built-in administrator account (so called "super user"). A bit more for instance in another tutorial, this from beginning of Part 4. Entering Audit Mode in tutorial Windows 7 Image - Customize in Audit Mode with Sysprep

When Windows has finished installing the system core on your hard disk or virtual hard disk, the preinstallation environment (Windows PE) which took care of the installation has done its job. A WinPE is like a mini operating system, taking care of vital system functions so that the real OS can be installed, analyzed or repaired. The WinPE checks its own checklist and if all lights are green, hands over the control to real Windows.

Windows thanks WinPE and boots first time. This first boot is called an OOBE boot, OOBE Mode (Out-Of-Box Experience), also known as Welcome Mode. To put it very simple it is (usually) a first ever boot after installation. If you buy a new computer with preinstalled Windows and turn it on, what you see and experience is OOBE Mode: Windows is there, ready to serve you but there's no user accounts yet, no personal data, nothing. A virgin Windows installation.

What we want now is to tell Windows "Sorry, I would like to do some stuff before entering OOBE". Windows accepts our request and let's us reboot to so called Audit Mode, kind of mix of WinPE and OOBE. Not WinPE per se but clearly not OOBE, either.

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Windows reboots now, rebooting to Audit Mode. It uses a so called built-in administrator user profile.

Audit Mode alone is nothing, can nothing. A built-in native Windows tool called System Preparation Tool (noun = Sysprep, verb = to sysprep) is needed to tell Audit Mode what to do. As soon as Windows shows the desktop in Audit Mode, it asks Sysprep to come to help as Audit Mode understands that although powerful together with Sysprep, alone it could do nothing.

Audit Mode automatically disables some services which might disturb Sysprep process. Also, because it uses the built-in administrator account instead of your account, it has the fullest possible rights and do not care of your personal settings. When sysprep when run normally fails, it is always a good idea to try again in Audit Mode.

Following the instructions in my previous post you will reboot to Audit Mode, then continue from this tutorial, Method One Step 4.

Kari

As this procedure does not add anything on your HDD, only removes something, you don't need any extra free space. The rule is: if there's enough free space for the HDD to work on your old system, there's enough free space for it to be moved to a new hardware setup.

If you do as told in this tutorial, it has none whatsoever impact in your system performance, and does not need any more free space than an SSD or HDD would normally need to operate.

Question about manually removing drivers is totally irrelevant as the sysprep command with generalize switch as told in this tutorial removes all hardware related information.

Yes, the generalize option removes hardware specific drivers and I think the hardware ID that Windows stores, which make this possible to move the install to new hardware.