Question Old Windows New PC

lord.patrick

Reputable
May 21, 2018
18
0
4,510
Sorry if I'm messing this up, but I'm trying to get used to this forum.

Every time I try to title my post as I want, it keeps suggesting stuff, so I left it at "New PC" - sorry if this angers some members and mods - it is not meant to anger anyone.

My motherboard is causing issues, lots of issues, I now have a ROG Maximus XI Hero (z390) and so I decided to make a new build using an ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula(WiFi 6E).

Everything will be new, memory, case, PS, and an RTX-3060 instead of a 1080 Ti.

What I want to do is simply move the C drive to the new rig - I did this years ago with Windows 95, and it worked out fine after downloading divers, etc.

I'm not 100% sure what the heck can happen with all the hardware checks and whatnot.

I realize I'll need a new Windows 11 license key, but really, what else can I expect? Has anyone done this?

My usual thing is to install Windows from a clean download from MS, and normally I would do this, but I really, really, really am hoping to avoid doing this.

Can anyone give me a bit of advice?

Thanks.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Happy New Year!

You will need to reinstall your OS, after fabricating a bootable USB installer for Windows 10/11. No way around it, as you're changing platforms...i.e, Z390>Z690. If all you were doing was a storage swap, from a smaller SSD to a larger SSD, then a drive clone would've sufficed.

what else can I expect?
System instability = you're going to pull all your hair off your cranium and perhaps your own eyebrows and lashes(yes there are some people who do that when stressed).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Exploding PSU

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
What I want to do is simply move the C drive to the new rig - I did this years ago with Windows 95, and it worked out fine after downloading divers, etc.
This ain't Win95 anymore.

Doing this, there are 3 possible outcomes:
  1. it works just fine.
  2. It fails completely.
  3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

I've personally seen all 3.
#3 is the most likely.

A fresh OS install is strongly recommended, often/usually required.

You can try it if you want.
But be prepared for total fail and the subsequent wipe and reinstall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lutfij

lord.patrick

Reputable
May 21, 2018
18
0
4,510
Damn. I was hoping for a ray of sunshine. I normally do a clean install, but I really hate it every time I do it.

sigh I guess I just have to bite the bullet.

I will try it first ( I mean, just move the C drive) since I'm guaranteed to mess it up - maybe it will be a learning thing. I'll post my failures here - my mobo comes in tomorrow, so, wish me luck.

Thanks for the help guys.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Damn. I was hoping for a ray of sunshine. I normally do a clean install, but I really hate it every time I do it.

sigh I guess I just have to bite the bullet.

I will try it first ( I mean, just move the C drive) since I'm guaranteed to mess it up - maybe it will be a learning thing. I'll post my failures here - my mobo comes in tomorrow, so, wish me luck.

Thanks for the help guys.
You might get lucky...;)
 

punkncat

Champion
Ambassador
The biggest issue you face when trying to get a new install feeling right is trying to recall all those settings and tweaks you made over the years to get it that way. Take the time now to go through all your folders and user files to back up everything you want to keep. I find that taking some screenshots of the 'installed programs' window is a nice thing for recalling what I had going on.
Concerning things like games, with some of them you can move aspects of the data file on them and have an easy reinstall process. Steam comes to mind as making it as easy as possible.

You may consider taking the time to post the complete specs and details about what is going on with the old PC you are having issue with. You could do that here or create a new thread. It would seem that in your current troubleshooting process you may have gotten a new motherboard while still using this original OS version. It has been pointed out clearly in the above posts what can come of that and you may well be on the backside of it now.

Do some proper backup work. Do a troubleshoot and clean install of your current system with some help from the folks around the forums. See if you can get the old rig to operate properly and especially before installing an OS disk meant for another system which happens not to run right.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Amongst all the other things you need to prep for this, be sure to document ALL of your username/passwords, details for any licensed software, etc, etc.
I almost lost a $1,000 CAD package during a reinstall (new hardware), because I could not remember what email I used for the original registration.

We'd all like a Windows install to modular and trivially movable between random systems.
Sadly, it is not.
 

lord.patrick

Reputable
May 21, 2018
18
0
4,510
I'm pretty sure the problem is hardware. One issue I had is unzipping a file and all of sudden the drive it was on - D: - simply disappeared, it didn't exist anymore until I rebooted. Another problem was just today - I was looking at the news this morning and shut the PC down to take a shower and when I went back to it windows would not log me back in, I had to boot in safe mode, and then boot back in normally. There are other issues - like a bit of buzzing which I'm pretty sure is coming from the motherboard. Lots of odd stuff going on for a few months and I finally decided to bite the bullet and make a new build.

@USARet, yeah, I too have a ton of stuff and places where I need a password.

One of my problems is that I hate the Windows "Document" folder, and I have a data drive where I keep my documents, and I'll have to set that up from scratch for each reinstall.

At this point, considering all the advice I've gotten here, I will back up a ton of stuff, but I WILL try it since there is nothing to lose, and maybe...I might get lucky.

I'll keep you guys updated once I finish the build.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
For your Documents folder, copy ALL underneath that folder to some other location.
Both files and subfolders.
Do NOT just copy the whole Docs Lib...that carries permissions from the old OS and user, and will give a little heartache with the new OS.

Then, simply copy that into the new Docs Library in the new install.

This is part of your prep.

Don't start down this upgrade road without a known good backup of everything you do not wish to lose.
Then, check that again.

Only then do you think about moving that drive, or the preferable full OS install.
 

lord.patrick

Reputable
May 21, 2018
18
0
4,510
Hmmm. Not sure what you mean. I went to the documents folder, pressed CTRL-A, and dragged everything to a folder on another drive.

Are you saying there are hidden folders?

BTW, I also did the same thing for "User" folder, though I did have to skip some protected stuff.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Hmmm. Not sure what you mean. I went to the documents folder, pressed CTRL-A, and dragged everything to a folder on another drive.

Are you saying there are hidden folders?

BTW, I also did the same thing for "User" folder, though I did have to skip some protected stuff.
/Documents/SomeFiles and Subfolders....

The contents of the Doc lib are fine.
But don't grab the whole top level Doc lib and copy that (and all of its contents.
Everything from SomeFiles and Sunfolders is fine.

The Documents Lib is permission locked to the curent user.

And the whole /Users/ folder is even more so.
That protected stuff includes the Documents Lib, which is permission locked to the user 'lord.patrick'....

In the new system you can get around that with TakeOwnership. But if you do it properly, you won't have to worry about that.

Just copy the stuff under the Library, not the whole Library.
 

lord.patrick

Reputable
May 21, 2018
18
0
4,510
Well, I punked out and did it the usual way - I used a brand-new W11 ISO from Microsoft. The main reason I did that is that I'm going to try

I had endless problems with this because of ASUS BIOS though. The first hint was a USB stick that was supposed to have all the drivers, but in reality, it was empty - not huge because I always download everything beforehand.

However, I have multiple problems in Device Manager that wouldn't resolve, mainly with the Intel chipset. I finally downloaded a driver from a somewhat dubious source that was actually for a z460 chipset and it worked to clear the SM Bus error.

After a BIOS update to the latest, my PC wouldn't stop freezing, so I had to go back two versions to get a stable system. Note that I didn't overclock, just a plain vanilla system. I'm still working on Windows 11 freezing & rebooting issues.

My new rig:

ROG MAXIMUS Z690 FORMULA
Intel Core i9-13900K - Core i9 13th Gen Raptor Lake 24-Core (8P+16E)
CORSAIR Vengeance DDR5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 5200 (PC5-41600) C40 1.25V Intel XMP Memory
MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 15 Gbps GDRR6 192-Bit HDMI/DP
Corsair RMx Series (2021), RM850x, 850 Watt, GOLD
Noctua NH-U12A, Premium CPU Cooler with High-Performance Quiet NF-A12x25 PWM Fans
CORSAIR 7000D AIRFLOW Full-Tower ATX PC Case