Is it possible to transfer storage data through a system recovery image?

[TrackmaniaFan]

My computer is on its last legs... I'm trying to figure out ways to make sure that everything on my hard drive stays safe and secure even after my computer completely fails.
I've been thinking of moving the files of this computer to another one by using a system recovery image, instead of just a normal hard drive to carry them all in, but I was trying to see if this was even possible or not. Is this even feasible?

 

[USAFRet]

No, and it is NOT a good idea to try.

Just copy your critical files, and move them to a different drive as needed.

 

[TrackmaniaFan]

Could you at least explain why?

 

[USAFRet]

OK...lets get into exactly what you want to save, and for what.

Your PC "is on its last legs". What does that mean, exactly?
You will be building a whole new PC? A 'system recovery' will almost certainly not work with all new hardware.

What are you actually wanting to do, and what are you trying to save?

 

[TrackmaniaFan]

OK...lets get into exactly what you want to save, and for what.

Your PC "is on its last legs". What does that mean, exactly?
You will be building a whole new PC? A 'system recovery' will almost certainly not work with all new hardware.

What are you actually wanting to do, and what are you trying to save?

Well, my PC is.. practically ancient; it's almost 4 years old. I have a feeling it's going to fail soon due to it's increasingly bad performance and all. Yeah, I'm building a new one and all. I'm basically trying to save ALL the stuff on my computer.

 

[USAFRet]

OK...lets get into exactly what you want to save, and for what.

Your PC "is on its last legs". What does that mean, exactly?
You will be building a whole new PC? A 'system recovery' will almost certainly not work with all new hardware.

What are you actually wanting to do, and what are you trying to save?

Well, my PC is.. practically ancient; it's almost 4 years old. I have a feeling it's going to fail soon due to it's increasingly bad performance and all. Yeah, I'm building a new one and all. I'm basically trying to save ALL the stuff on my computer.

4 yrs old is not 'ancient'. My main PC with which I am speaking to you now is an i5-3570k, mid 2012.
So 4 yrs old.

When moving between PC's, there are 3 different categories of 'things'
1. The OS
2. Applications. Steam, Office, Antivirus, FireFox, etc.
3. 'Files' (doc, vid, music)

All 3 have different ways of moving or reinstalling.
If, for a replacement for 'an old system', you will probably need to reinstall the OS (#1)
If so, you will also need to reinstall #2 above.

 

[TrackmaniaFan]

When moving between PC's, there are 3 different categories of 'things'
1. The OS
2. Applications. Steam, Office, Antivirus, FireFox, etc.
3. 'Files' (doc, vid, music)

All 3 have different ways of moving or reinstalling.
If, for a replacement for 'an old system', you will probably need to reinstall the OS (#1)
If so, you will also need to reinstall #2 above.

I want to move the apps and files. I'm going to keep using Windows 7 in my new build, because I'm kind of afraid of compatibility issues if I use Windows 10 instead.

 

[USAFRet]

I want to move the apps and files.

Here comes the issue.
Files, yes.
Applications, not so much.

When an application is installed, there are dozens, hundreds, thousands of entries made in the Registry, AppData, /User/, etc.
Some applications do not care. Some will choke hard.

Moving the entirety of your current 'install' sometimes works, sometimes not.
Sometimes it does, but you find lingering issues later.

As far as Win 10 vs Win 7?
What applications do you anticipate having issues? I have seen exactly none, with going from 7 to 8 to 8.1 to 10.
Of course, my use is different than yours.