[SOLVED] How to transfer boot drive to a new system

Bongert

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Jul 30, 2020
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A while ago i built a new pc and changed every part except for my boot drive. i just janked it out of the old one and put in into the new one, installed all bunch of drivers and thought that's that. A while later i had serious issues with my PC and tried all kinds of solutions until someone told me i shouldnt have just transferred my drive over and rather do a fresh windows install as doing otherwise could introduce all kinds of issues that wont be fixed without a new install.

End of that story was that i couldnt get my system to work properly no matter what, even after reinstalling windows, and i just gave up. sent all the parts back and after doing a backup (the wrong way as i would learn later) i reinstalled windows on my old pc again and started from scratch, with most of my data gone and me being extremely frustrated about this whole ordeal for the next month and a half.

Now im planning on building a new system again, and again ill swap out every part for a new one except the drive. Aside from doing a proper backup this time, how would i actually go about transferring all my data over to a new system? Just plugging in the same drive into a whole different system isnt a good idea, at least im told. But manually copying over every file cant be the solution either, so what am i missing? Ive used Macrium Reflect before to clone my boot drive (thinking back, i think i actually didnt just plop in the same drive into my new PC and rather cloned the drive on to a different SSD and used that, but cloning is basically the same as just plugging in the original, right?)

TL:DR how do i transfer over all my data over to a new PC without causing any issues like wrong drivers and such?
 
Solution
New system = fresh OS install.

Just slapping the drive in has 3 possible outcomes:
  1. It works jsut fine
  2. It fails completely
  3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months

There is no workaround, no magic bullet.
Fresh install in the new hardware.

Obviously, backup all your personal data before, off on some other drive.
Document all the username/passwords so you don't forget.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
New system = fresh OS install.

Just slapping the drive in has 3 possible outcomes:
  1. It works jsut fine
  2. It fails completely
  3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months

There is no workaround, no magic bullet.
Fresh install in the new hardware.

Obviously, backup all your personal data before, off on some other drive.
Document all the username/passwords so you don't forget.

 
Solution

Bongert

Reputable
Jul 30, 2020
102
2
4,595
New system = fresh OS install.

Just slapping the drive in has 3 possible outcomes:
  1. It works jsut fine
  2. It fails completely
  3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months
There is no workaround, no magic bullet.
Fresh install in the new hardware.

Obviously, backup all your personal data before, off on some other drive.
Document all the username/passwords so you don't forget.

and what do i do after that to get my personal data over? I guess all kinds of software has to be reinstalled to avoid outcome 2 and 3. but how do i properly transfer a programms save data and everything else associated with it? i remember that when i tried to do a manual backup of my torrents i just went into the programms folder and copied the entirety of the "qBittorrent" folder only to find out that all the .torrent files are stored in a completely different location and i had to recollect 250 .torrent files from the tracker i use.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
You have to track down where all that stuff is, and move it off to some other location.
There is no one size fits all solution for game saves, torrents, whatever.

Planning.
Document where all that is in the current system.

Applications will need to be reinstalled.
And then for some things, you can move that "game save"data back into the same location after the new OS and application install. Some things...;)

Bottom line - Windows is not modular. Can't just move it between hardware.
Going to a new system requires planning.
 
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Bongert

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Jul 30, 2020
102
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You have to track down where all that stuff is, and move it off to some other location.
There is no one size fits all solution for game saves, torrents, whatever.

Planning.
Document where all that is in the current system.

Applications will need to be reinstalled.
And then for some things, you can move that "game save"data back into the same location after the new OS and application install. Some things...;)

Bottom line - Windows is not modular. Can't just move it between hardware.
Going to a new system requires planning.
thanks, then i will take my time doing a proper backup this time ^^
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
thanks, then i will take my time doing a proper backup this time ^^
And actual backups are a whole different thing.
 

Bongert

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Jul 30, 2020
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And actual backups are a whole different thing.
yeah, i was looking into real proper backup but that will have to wait until i informed myself more and actually have to money and need to justify it. thanks anyway
 
As for full image backups, hard to get much easier than with Macrium Reflect, or, perhaps the easiest I've seen yet....RescueZilla

 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
As for full image backups, hard to get much easier than with Macrium Reflect, or, perhaps the easiest I've seen yet....RescueZilla

Interesting.
Still quite new though, and not likely to get me to move off Macrium.