If I Am Installing Windows on a New Computer

If you recently built or bought a new PC, you lot may be wondering if you tin can but transfer your old hard drive into the new computer–thus migrating your entire installation in one fell swoop. Only information technology's not as piece of cake as information technology seems.

Linux systems more often than not load all their drivers at boot time, which mean they're much more portable–that'due south why Linux can be loaded from those user-friendly live USB drives and discs. Windows systems don't piece of work like this, though. When y'all install Windows, it becomes tied to the hardware on that PC, and if y'all put information technology into a new PC, you'll meet a few issues.

The Technical Problem: Device Drivers

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If y'all really attempt moving a Windows drive to another estimator and booting from it–or restoring a Windows arrangement image backup on unlike hardware–it usually won't boot properly. You may see an error about problems with the "hardware abstraction layer" or "hal.dll", or information technology may even blue-screen during the kicking procedure.

That'southward because when you install Windows on a reckoner, information technology sets itself upwardly with drivers specific to that calculator'south motherboard and chipset. The drivers for the storage controller, which allows the motherboard to communicate with the hard deejay, are peculiarly of import. When Windows boots on different hardware, information technology doesn't know how to handle that hardware and won't boot properly.

The Licensing Problem: Windows Activation

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Windows activation is another hurdle in the process. Most people get Windows preinstalled on computers they purchase. These preinstalled versions of Windows are OEM ("original equipment manufacturer") copies, and are designed to be locked to the hardware they were originally installed on. Microsoft doesn't desire you to be able to move those OEM copies of Windows to some other calculator.

If you purchase a retail re-create of Windows and install it yourself, things aren't and then bad. The Windows activation procedure is designed to brand sure y'all only install that copy of Windows on ane PC at a fourth dimension, then changing a computer's motherboard–or even some other bits of internal hardware–will event in the Windows system becoming deactivated. Thankfully, you can just re-enter your activation primal.

The Outcome: Moving a Windows Installation Is Complicated

All that said, moving a Windows installation to another calculator is possible…in some cases. it requires a bit more tweaking, isn't guaranteed to work, and mostly isn't supported by Microsoft.

Microsoft makes a "Arrangement Preparation," or "sysprep," tool for this very purpose. It'south designed for large organizations and PC manufacturers, giving them a way to create a Windows image and and then indistinguishable, or deploy, it on a variety of dissimilar PCs. An organization might apply this method to deploy a Windows epitome with diverse settings and software installed on all its PCs, or a computer manufacturer might apply this play a joke on to install its customized version of Windows on its computers before selling them. It isn't designed for boilerplate Windows users or enthusiasts, though, and information technology won't run at all on an upgraded copy of Windows–merely one that was clean installed. As Microsoft's back up page puts information technology:

"If you intend to transfer a Windows epitome to a unlike figurer, you must run sysprep /generalize, even if the computer has the same hardware configuration. The sysprep /generalize command removes unique information from your Windows installation, which enables you to reuse that prototype on different computers. The next time you boot the Windows image, the specialize configuration pass runs… Whatsoever method of moving a Windows image to a new reckoner, either through imaging, hard disk drive duplication, or other method, must be prepared with the sysprep /generalize command. Moving or copying a Windows image to a dissimilar estimator without running sysprep /generalize is not supported."

Some enthusiasts have tried using "sysprep /generalize" on a Windows installation before attempting to move information technology to a new PC. It can piece of work, merely since Microsoft doesn't support this, there are many things things could go wrong if you endeavor to practice this at home. Zilch is guaranteed.

Other disk imaging tools have attempted to serve this purpose, likewise. For case, Acronis offers a tool called Acronis Universal Restore designed to be used with the Acronis Truthful Paradigm deejay-imaging software. Essentially, information technology replaces the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and hard disk controller drivers in an existing Windows installation.

This will de-activate Windows, and you'll have to get through the Windows activation process once again afterwards doing then. If you have a retail copy (or "full version") of Windows, you'll just need to re-input your activation key. if y'all purchased your own OEM (or "system builder") copy of Windows, though, the license technically doesn't allow you lot to move it to a new PC. However, y'all may be able to re-actuate it using Microsoft's "Telephone Activation", designed for those without internet admission. Give it a try and encounter if it works for you. If that OEM re-create of Windows came preinstalled on a computer, Microsoft definitely won't let you lot re-activate information technology.

Yous Should Probably Do a Make clean Install Instead

You could try messing effectually with sysprep, Acronis Universal Restore, or another method that will permit your Windows installation to boot on some other computer. But, realistically, you're better off non bothering–it'll probably be more fourth dimension and effort than information technology's worth. If you lot're moving to some other computer, you should usually merely reinstall Windows or use the new Windows installation that comes with the computer. Reinstall your of import programs and migrate your files over from the old reckoner rather than trying to drift its entire Windows system.

If you need recover files from a dead computer's hard drive, you don't accept to boot into its Windows installation. You tin insert that hd into another computer and access the files from your new Windows installation.

If the exact configuration of that Windows organisation is so important to you lot, y'all might want to consider converting the Windows installation on that figurer to a virtual machine epitome, allowing you to kicking that image in a virtual auto on other computers.

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Windows really isn't designed to be moved between hardware without a full reinstall, and that's why it'southward all-time to create backups of your files with something similar File History or some other file-backup tool rather than creating system prototype backups. Those organization image backups are really only expert on the PC they were originally created on. You can extract individual files from a system image backup, simply information technology's not quite as like shooting fish in a barrel.

Image Credit: Justin Ruckman on Flickr

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Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/239815/why-cant-you-move-a-windows-installation-to-another-computer/