Question Data migration between two laptops

[vincentliu9816]

Hello,

Recently I bought a new laptop that comes with only a 500GB 2230 M.2 ssd that contains a windows 10(it does have a empty 2280 slot). While my old laptop is configured as a ssd with windows 10 to boot from, and a hdd for steam and other stuff. Now I want to migrate to my new laptop and I have already learned from this very forum that I can’t just remove the ssd in the old laptop and pop it in to the new one and boot from it.

Currently my solution for migration is to relocate the stuff on the hdd and cloning the os back to the hdd(the old laptop does not have the ssd when I got it new as the os is on the hdd). And then wipe the ssd, put it on the new laptop, using a software to ‘copy’ the old laptop os to the new one, migrate the new ‘copied’ os onto the ssd(now in the new laptop) and lastly boot from the ssd and restore the old hdd stuff.

My question is that, are there any better or more efficient ways of doing this exact process? For I think I might have to do this again when my next hardware upgrade comes up.

Thank you,

Vince

 

[USAFRet]

Currently my solution for migration is to relocate the stuff on the hdd and cloning the os back to the hdd(the old laptop does not have the ssd when I got it new as the os is on the hdd). And then wipe the ssd, put it on the new laptop, using a software to ‘copy’ the old laptop os to the new one, migrate the new ‘copied’ os onto the ssd(now in the new laptop) and lastly boot from the ssd and restore the old hdd stuff.

In particular....

using a software to ‘copy’ the old laptop os to the new one

No. That will fail.

Don't try to move the OS between the laptops.


Give us a better rundown of what drives each laptop has, and what, specifically, is on each drive and system.

 

[vincentliu9816]

In particular....

No. That will fail.

Don't try to move the OS between the laptops.


Give us a better rundown of what drives each laptop has, and what, specifically, is on each drive and system.

Hi, thanks for the heads up, the software is not copying the entire os, instead, according to the software’s description, is to copy all the system settings and stuff of the old laptop and apply these settings to the new laptop’s os.

As for specification of each laptop, the old laptop is SSD(M.2, 2280, OS to boot)+HDD(2.5 inch, contains steam and other stuff), and the new laptop is one single M.2 SSD 2230 that contains the OS that comes with it.

 

[USAFRet]

Be wary of this "software" and outlandish claims.

Does the new laptop have the capability to physically install the HDD?

 

[Lafong]

Hi, thanks for the heads up, the software is not copying the entire os, i

What software is that?

 

[vincentliu9816]

Be wary of this "software" and outlandish claims.

Does the new laptop have the capability to physically install the HDD?

Thanks for the warning, right now both of the ssd and the hdd contains the exact same os, and the the new laptop is left untouched.

The new laptop does not have a space for an hdd of any size for it’s an Alienware m15 with a 11th gen i7 and an rtx 3060. The old one is a dell with 7th gen i5 and a gtx 1050 so it has space for a 2.5 inch.
The old laptop still booting from the ssd but there’s a cloned os in the hdd, what are my options for now?

thanks

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the warning, right now both of the ssd and the hdd contains the exact same os, and the the new laptop is left untouched.

The new laptop does not have a space for an hdd of any size for it’s an Alienware m15 with a 11th gen i7 and an rtx 3060. The old one is a dell with 7th gen i5 and a gtx 1050 so it has space for a 2.5 inch.
The old laptop still booting from the ssd but there’s a cloned os in the hdd, what are my options for now?

thanks

Completely disregarding any OS, what do you wish to move to the new laptop.
Be as specific as you can.

 

[vincentliu9816]

Completely disregarding any OS, what do you wish to move to the new laptop.
Be as specific as you can.

What I want on the new laptop is all the software that installed on the ssd, all the system settings and the registry settings. I would like to have the old laptop to be booted from the hdd and put the ssd into the new laptop.

 

[USAFRet]

What I want on the new laptop is all the software that installed on the ssd, all the system settings and the registry settings. I would like to have the old laptop to be booted from the hdd and put the ssd into the new laptop.

You can't import the reg from Laptop A into Laptop B.
It WILL fail.

System settings? Presumably the two laptops are different. With different motherboards and BIOS.
Hence, they will NOT have the same settings and options.

Software?
Simply install what you need in the new laptop.


For the old SSD to the new laptop in the second port.
Sure. Put it in, and wipe it completely.
Commandline function diskpart and the clean command.
Then, install what you want on it.

 

[vincentliu9816]

You can't import the reg from Laptop A into Laptop B.
It WILL fail.

System settings? Presumably the two laptops are different. With different motherboards and BIOS.
Hence, they will NOT have the same settings and options.

Software?
Simply install what you need in the new laptop.


For the old SSD to the new laptop in the second port.
Sure. Put it in, and wipe it completely.
Commandline function diskpart and the clean command.
Then, install what you want on it.

Thank you very much, most of the software I have are pretty much redundant. The old laptop will be booted from the hdd it already has. The software that are necessary I can just install again. I’m giving up on the software and get the laptop ready for myself step by step. Thanks again for the help.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You can transfer settings, user profiles with associated files & misc data using USMT, which does have a steep learning curve and requires that you be comfortable with the commandline interface. Or, if you have access to a Windows 7 machine, you can copy the entire directory containing "Windows Easy Transfer" to a USB stick and run from there. Windows Easy Transfer is a more user friendly cut of USMT and works in Windows 8 & 10 just fine. Note that applications are not transferable.