A quick technical question, if you’ve got one minute ? :)

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By Oliver (AKA the Admin) on 17 comments
in Categories: Just Talking

Hello everyone !

I’d like to ask, I heard, but forgot its name, of a program that allows to
– create a backup image of your Windows system partition ( c: ), OS and programs,
and copy that cloned image to brand new hardware (new hard disk, or new motherboard), adapting Windows to the new hardware when necessary
Would you know the name of that program ?
You see, I think that something is close to failing in my PC tower, either my motherboard or my SSD disk, windows 7 is throwing more BSODs than he ought to, so I’ve started gathering information, I fear I’ll have to replace one of these two some day…

On another topic : THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all the helpful replies and help offers in my Apple Ibook G4 help post ! The case is now closed :)
With help from someone who wants to stay anonymous (but thank you !!) I could eventually do all the testing, get the machine to run, test other OSes on it. And the final conclusion is that, anyway, that machine is too slow even for the common uses, like internet video playing, or occasional slowdowns during DVD playback – I’ll offer it on ebay, I guess, hopefully someone will enjoy having it.

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Zerosurge
Zerosurge
11 years ago

Closest program that i know of that might do what you want would be Acronis TrueImage. Not sure about the adapting part, but then again, I haven't used the program in years.

cockblockula
cockblockula
11 years ago
Reply to  Zerosurge

Zero is right Acronis true image is what you want it works perfectly
Source: im a Computer guy use it everyday

acb
acb
11 years ago

I've used Acronis Imaging Software though I don't remember if it adapts to change in hardware.

Lou
Lou
11 years ago

oliver check out this site it mentions a pogram i think would meet your needs http://www.howtogeek.com/57442/how-to-backup-and-… (B)

mvee
mvee
11 years ago

I use Macrium Reflect. It's free and you can schedule backups to happen as often as you need it.

mada
11 years ago

Uhm.. is it norton ghost, perhaps? Well.. I'm only use it once though and too unstable. Try Macrium Reflect just like **mvee** mentioned

Naraz
Naraz
11 years ago

nothing will technically adapt to the new hardware except if the operating system is Windows vista,7 or 8. They generally come preloaded with drivers and such. however this can be a pain because you would then have several different drivers on your machine which can cause headaches such as blue screens or conflictions between devices.
if Your Hard drive is failing i recomend a USB external drive using eSata (faster) or Usb 3.0 if you can support it.

software i know that does cloning is Western digital but its not the best stuff i would say

if you have the capability with acronis you could make a new partition on your hard drive and store the sata and if the other partition doesnt work with the OS then you could just format 1 partition and keep the data on the other half. (if it isnt the hard drive failing)

btw http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/… will tell you if your hard drive is failing.

evangeline-tan
evangeline-tan
11 years ago

The name of the program is Sysprep and it comes bundled with Windows OSes from 2000 onwards. There is however another way to take a functioning Windows install and use it on completely different hardware without reinstalling anything if you don't want to use Acronis, Norton Ghost or the like._Using the original HDD that you use and want to move to another motherboard:_Step one: Uninstall the video card drivers completely. DO NOT REBOOT AT ANY OF THE STEPS._Step two: Change your ATA/ATAPI/IDE drivers to the MS defaults, namely: Standard dual channel IDE controller (Warning: if your new motherboard has its SATA/RAID controller set to AHCI mode, change it to legacy/compatibility/IDE mode or the HDD won't boot at all)._Step three: Change the HDD to the new hardware and try to boot it. (In WIndows XP if all went well, there's not need to reactivate it, you must reactivate Vista and Seven). If you get BSOD Stop 0x0000007B, then you didn't completely remove the original hardware's disk drives drivers completely, so try again from step two.__If all went well, the HDD WILL BOOT with all your files and programs intact (aside from the ones requiring the old hardware), then you simply load up the drivers for the new motherboard and that's it. In the case of Laptops the process is the same, just be aware that not all manufacturer's BIOSes support non AHCI (IDE/Legacy) Sata modes.__Hope this helps.

Xenor
Xenor
11 years ago

Depends on which version of Windows you have. Windows 7 Pro & Ultimate (as well as Enterprise) let you use an included utility "Backup & Restore". Just type that into your start menu and when the Control Panel app loads (its a subset of "System & Security"), look on the left hand side for the option "Create System Image". It also gives you the option of creating a system repair disc. You can use this OR the original install DVD to boot and then restore from system image. I use this all the time when upgrading components. (i.e. moving to a larger SSD drive). If you are careful and change out only 1 item at a time, you may not even have to mess with re-authentication of Windows.

Acronis True Image also works well…We used to use it for deploying an image across multiple machines. However, the Windows System Image is free (with the right editions), and has lots of support info on forums. One thing to note, you should try to do the re-install the same way as the original. If you install from a USB Flash Drive (like I do….much, much faster than DVD), be sure to use the same method. There are work arounds, but doing it the same way makes things easier.

Xenor
Xenor
11 years ago

Also, you can try and run some diagnostics against your hardware. Use the S.M.A.R.T. info to see if drives are having issues. Run MemTest. Run DXDiag. From an elevated CMD, use the old SFC /scannow…to check for any driver issues or hacked/malware replacement of .dll and such.

Good luck….drop me an email if you want support via Skype.

Xenor
Xenor
11 years ago

Lastly, might I suggest you run yourself a Windows Home Server to back up your PCs. You seem to run into issues a bit, and having a lightweight server around to automatically backup your machines would probably make your life easier. I run one as a VM under my HTPC machine. 15TB of RAID5 goodness keeps me sleeping well. Plus, I use Carbonite to cloud backup my important files (about 250GBs worth…only $50/year…totally worth it.) If you encrypt the files on your end, you can even ensure that the cloud host doesn't know you're hoarding PR0N. :)

Tsunami
Tsunami
11 years ago

For a Windows machine I use Todo Easus Free 4.0.0.2 it can:
a) recover to dissimilar hardware
b) clone a hdd to a ssd (just select the box)
c) can create bootable recovery media
d) is FREE while being fully featured (the new "free" version 5.0+ is trialware)
e) is available here: http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Todo-Backup-Free/

I have also used Acronis TrueImage which is very good and will do all of the above but you have to pay for it.

dragonskullinc
dragonskullinc
11 years ago

Try either Acronis True Image or Symantec BESR. BESR gives you the option when backing things up to allow for new different hardware upon boot. Use it all the time at work to convert from old HP's to newer dells.

Geno
Geno
11 years ago

Acronis true Image with universal restore is exactly for those cases it even lets you put in new drivers while restoring the system.

Pravy
11 years ago

Well Just clone the C: Partition to the new HDD as a whole or by making another C: Partition.
http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html

HDclone is the one u need… i have been using it for yr's now cloning Oses for multiple PC setups…. thou after u clone the C:… u just need to install all the driver's of the new hardware and it works perfectly…

Trust me on this…. this shit is easier than acronics or any other software…..

htw
htw
11 years ago

I use the old DOS method since I still have a copy of the partition magic dos version (partition magic was taken over by Norton).

Change Motherboard
1. Install the old hard drive into the new machine
2. Boot into DOS (using flash drive of course, not floppy)
3. Clone the old drive to the new drive
4. Remove the old hard drive

Change of Hard drive
1. Install the new hard drive into the old machine
2. Boot into DOS (using flash drive of course, not floppy)
3. Clone the old drive to the new drive
4. Remove the old hard drive

anon
anon
11 years ago

Are you by any chance using a Crucial M4 SSD? Do a firmware update http://www.crucial.com/support/firmware.aspx . It should get rid of the seemingly random BSoDs.