Restore From Image

[maguiresc]

I am getting a new windows 7 laptop can i use an image from my previous laptop and restore to the new laptop or it wont work because of the driver conflicts??

 

[longlivelinux90]

Windows 7 *should automatically take care of the driver differences for you.
Windows basically backs up all your files and folders, along with a few configuration files. So not only do you have your files, but the majority of your current set up.

If you are worried about drivers, you can find a full list of hardware compatibility Here

 

[maguiresc]

ok awesome thanks....and that would be fine to restore using an image and not just the files? i am concerned with my programs basically...

 

[longlivelinux90]

The built-in backup that Windows 7 uses will NOT back up programs. One of the things you can do is back up the Program Files folder. But this will not change registry values that some programs need to run.

Here is a list of 10 free programs, one of which could probably help you out a little more than the standard windows 7 backup

However, if you own the liscenses to your programs, you can almost always re-download or re-install them. (I know it may be time consuming, but you know it works.)

 

[sminlal]

The built-in backup that Windows 7 uses will NOT back up programs.

It will if you use the "Create a System Image" option. This lets you get a snapshot of the entire disk and restore it to the same or another system by booting from a "Recovery DVD" that you can create from the backup utility.

 

[jsc]

I'd guess that an image from a different computer will not work because of driver conflicts.

People, maguire is talking about using an existing drive image built on a different computer. There's no Win7 installer involved.

My suggestion: go ahead and try - after generating a new image from the new laptop. At the worst, it won't work, but you will still have the current image to reinstall.

 

[longlivelinux90]

It will if you use the "Create a System Image" option. This lets you get a snapshot of the entire disk and restore it to the same or another system by booting from a "Recovery DVD" that you can create from the backup utility.

Considering the method of backup would fit on a type of media available to them. You COULD create a whole hard drive .iso and move it to and external hard drive. I completely overlooked this as i was thinking optical media! xD thank you for pointing that out! You could also go the route of numerous discs, but that is time consuming.

Could you please verify if you would be installing windows 7 on the new computer? I was under the impression that you were doing that prior to the restore. If you are just moving the WHOLE thing, why dont you put the old hard drive into the new computer? xD

 

[sminlal]

Considering the method of backup would fit on a type of media available to them. You COULD create a whole hard drive .iso and move it to and external hard drive. I completely overlooked this as i was thinking optical media!

Just to be clear, a "System Image" backup with Windows 7 does not create an "ISO" backup. When you back up a disk using "System Image" backup the result is a proprietary structure of files and folders on a hard drive (which would typically be an external drive) that contain metadata and the backed-up files. The "Recovery DVD" that you can burn to do a bare-metal restore is a mini-Windows-7 system that understands the backup format and can restore it to a hard drive.

 

[daship]

It will work, and it will cause problems. The only thing to consider is can you live with the problems it creates.

You wont know until you try.

You will have to reactivate it though, with the new laptops product key.