Windows 7 Installation - Transfer to a New Computer

If you are trying to reset the drivers, staying on the same hardware, you can do it simply by closing all open apps including browsers, turning the AV and firewall off, then opening an elevated Command Prompt and giving this command:

Code:

%windir%\system32\sysprep sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /reboot

Windows removes all drivers now and reboots installing default drivers. When back in desktop, turn the AV and firewall on again.

The best for now is to restore an image if you have a recent one, or reinstall. I would restore an image.

Kari,
I am new to the forum and I admit that I have not read all 50+ pages of comments.

I have a system which i built 3 years ago and now it seems that the mobo is having issues. I want to move my drives (SSD + HDD) to a new mobo. I have Win7 64 on the SSD ( C: ) and all of my user data (Documents, My Music, My Photos, Outlook, etc) on the HDD ( D: ). When I logon the system knows that the user's data is on D: as I set all the links when I built the system.

If I use SYSPREP on the SSD ( C: ) will all of the user data links survive the process? If yes, then this should work, right? If not, can I redirect them as I did when I originally built the system - not ideal, but better than a complete rebuild.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Kevin

Hi Kevin, welcome to the Seven Forums.

No, they might not survive. You need to "unlink" first, based on my own experience you might get boot issues if you sysprep when there are existing links or junctions to system folders on another drive.

My recommendation is to move everything back to C:, remove the links, then sysprep and finally with new hardware setup recreate the links. You don't of course have to copy the folder contents back to C:, for instance it's enough when the C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents is where it should be, it's content backed up to another drive. In other words, the location of those system folders is important, not how much and what they contain.

I would do it like this:

• Move my personal data from all system folders (Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures) to a safe place
• Move the empty user folders back to C:
• Remove all links
• Sysprep and shutdown
• Swap the motherboard
• Reboot
• Recreate links and junctions
• Move my data from backup back to where it was when I started

Kari

Software cannot be transferred simply by copying it, it must be separately installed on each computer it will be used. In your case the only possibility is to install the software your wife wants to use in your son's old PC directly on that PC.

Your wife's personal files and most of the settings can be copied, that's not an issue. See this tutorial for help: Windows Easy Transfer - Transfer To & From Computers

Kari

Yeah that is something I call Upgrade - Sysprep paradox: You cannot Sysprep an Upgraded Windows, and you cannot Upgrade a Sysprepped Windows.

Luckily there's a workaround. Check this tutorial at our sister site the Ten Forums, scroll down to last part titled Upgrade, and there see the Step 2: Edit Registry: Users Folder - Move Location in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Although the tutorial is written for Windows 10, the workaround in it when an upgrade or repair install makes sysprep impossible is a general solution for all Windows editions starting from Vista

Kari.