Do I have to reinstall windows? The Answers HERE!

[Gillbot]

Migrating from one machine to another, the do's and dont's.
Since I see this question get asked multiple times a week, I thought i'd create a little thread with some info and answers.

First off, if you are switching from one piece of hardware to another, follow these steps:
1) BACKUP! I don't care how many times another user successfully swapped from one piece to another, things can and WILL happen so keep a backup! I don't care if you are simply swapping graphics cards, if your data is THAT important, BACKUP FIRST!
2) A fresh install on the new machine is ALWAYS the best option. If you choose not to do a fresh install, you are left with the following options:

• A) Sysprep

• B) Plug-N-Pray

• C) Setup/Repair

Lets dive into Sysprep:
Basically, Sysprep is a Microsoft tool that "resets" the configuration data on the machine to allow OEM's and system manufacturers the ability to create a master image to be used on multiple similar machine configurations.
What does this mean for me?
Since it resets the configuration data, you can use it to migrate a hard drive from one machine to the next while keeping your data and programs intact. I am not going to go into a detailed "how-to" but I will point you to the Microsoft Sysprep support pages so you can equip yourself with knowledge and perform the functions you need to successfully migrate your data.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577
http://technet.microsoft.com/e.../library/bb457073.aspx

I have used sysprep successfully to migrate a hard drive from my old socket A system through about 12 hardware changes up to it's current home in an Intel socket 775 system. While the system is quite sluggish due to all the extra bloat it has carried from system to system, all data and programs are intact which is more important to me than overall system speed.

Lets touch on the "Plug-N-Pray" method:
I'm not going to cover this because there isn't a very good reason to use it with a proper tool like sysprep available. Basically you pull the drive from your old system, place it into the new system and let windows completely reconfigure itself. Some people go so far as to remove or uninstall the hardware in the device manager before migrating the drive over. Either way, it is risky especially without a backup and I don't recommend it.

The setup/Repair Method:
I'm not going to cover the Setup/Repair method as I have never gotten it to work properly. If anyone cares to add more info about this section, I'd be happy to add it in here. Basically, you place your old drive into the new system and boot from the install CD. Choose repair and use the repair console to fix your installation or you can also run setup over top of your existing install.


Thread unstuck due to age and dated material
AT Mod
Gillbot

 

[techmanc]

I used Repair method an number of times with Windows XP and Vista and it has fixed my system most of those times. If the OS your doing the repair install on it is totally botched e.g. bad registry problems the the repair install wont help. Always make a backup image before you make the repair. My preferred Imaging software ShadowProtect Desktop. acronis True Image is a good image backup program too but I found ShadowProtect more reliable if you need to do a bare metal restore to totally different hardware.

 

[conlan]

Stick this please :thumbsup:

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: conlan
Stick this please :thumbsup:

It's already stuck?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Quoted from Microsoft's OEM Builder FAQs:

Q. Can a PC with OEM Windows XP have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license?

A. Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal computer" to which Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required.

Just thought I'd toss this out there ...

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Quoted from Microsoft's OEM Builder FAQs:

Q. Can a PC with OEM Windows XP have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license?

A. Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal computer" to which Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required.

Just thought I'd toss this out there ...

Good point, though many of us build from scratch so therefore we do not have an OEM preinstalled key like those included with Dell, HP or other OEM systems.

 

[superunknown98]

Actually Plug and Pray has been pretty good to me. At work, I've moved systems from Nforce 2 motherboards up to nforce 4, and even some nvidia professional series server boards. Sure windows wants to install new drivers, but it seems nvidia hasn't really changed much in their chipsets since the nforce 2. Hell i've even done the plug and pray from intel to amd systems, and had it work out. Of coarse I always make a copy of the drive first. It really depends on the hardware your using.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: superunknown98
Actually Plug and Pray has been pretty good to me. At work, I've moved systems from Nforce 2 motherboards up to nforce 4, and even some nvidia professional series server boards. Sure windows wants to install new drivers, but it seems nvidia hasn't really changed much in their chipsets since the nforce 2. Hell i've even done the plug and pray from intel to amd systems, and had it work out. Of coarse I always make a copy of the drive first. It really depends on the hardware your using.

Same here. I've even went from Via to Nv chipsets without issue. I did delete all the pertinent hardware from the device mangler, then turn off, swap everything, then let it detect the new stuff on the next start up.

 

[donfm]

I just used the "repair" method on windows XP Pro SP3 and it worked just fine. You boot from CD and do not choose the system recovery console. You select the option to install windows. Then you select the option to "repair" windows. Do not use the system recovery console or you will wipe out everything. Just do a simple repair and it worked for me.

My mobo burnt up and the system was old so I basically changed all the hardware but the hard drives. After the windows repair I was back up and running no problem.

 

[theAnimal]

When my motherboard died, I had no option other than a repair install. It worked perfectly going from AMD to Intel.

Following are the steps as listed on microsoft.com. (Slipstreaming the latest service pack with your install disc would be something I'd recommend, but it's not necessary.)

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. For more information about how to do this, refer to your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer. Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer.

1. When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

2. Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen.

3. Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console.

4. In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.

5. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.

6. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

Edited for formatting.

 

[theAnimal]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
Lets touch on the "Plug-N-Pray" method:
I'm not going to cover this because there isn't a very good reason to use it with a proper tool like sysprep available. Basically you pull the drive from your old system, place it into the new system and let windows completely reconfigure itself. Some people go so far as to remove or uninstall the hardware in the device manager before migrating the drive over. Either way, it is risky especially without a backup and I don't recommend it.

I don't think it would hurt to put a link to this thread with instructions at Arstechnica with a YMMV disclaimer.

 

[donfm]

Originally posted by: theAnimal


Following are the steps as listed on microsoft.com. (Slipstreaming the latest service pack with your install disc would be something I'd recommend, but it's not necessary.)

Actually you brought up a good point and slipstreaming "IS" necessary if your installation CD is not the same service pack as the one installed on your HDD. Windows XP will not install if it is not the same SP as on the HDD unless you do a "clean install" from the original disk which wipes out everything.

I ran into that issue a long time ago much to my chagrin since my original installation CD was SP1 and I had SP2 installed on my machine. I tried to do a repair and windows would not accept the original CD. Since then I always keep a slipstreamed copy of Win XP SP3 around. This may or may not be an issue for a particular person.

 

[donfm]

Originally posted by: theAnimal

Originally posted by: Gillbot
Lets touch on the "Plug-N-Pray" method:
I'm not going to cover this because there isn't a very good reason to use it with a proper tool like sysprep available. Basically you pull the drive from your old system, place it into the new system and let windows completely reconfigure itself. Some people go so far as to remove or uninstall the hardware in the device manager before migrating the drive over. Either way, it is risky especially without a backup and I don't recommend it.

I don't think it would hurt to put a link to this thread with instructions at Arstechnica with a YMMV disclaimer.

I would just like to point out that method only works if the original system is still operational and you have access to the HDD. You can't change drivers if your system is down. Otherwise that is a great idea.

 

[Dadofamunky]

I really like the Sysprep idea. I'm going to give it a try for my next build, whenever that is (not soon, at any rate). I've had both success and failure scenarios with both of the other two methods. When PnP or the Repair works, it's a huge relief.

But really, Gillbot - what are you running on that old install you stubbornly cling to - Win95? But seriously, I would guess an afternoon of pruning drivers and cleaning out old system calls in the Processes list in XP should make things a lot snappier. It's a shame to lose so many valuable clock cycles. But, obviously, sysprep works.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: Dadofamunky
I really like the Sysprep idea. I'm going to give it a try for my next build, whenever that is (not soon, at any rate). I've had both success and failure scenarios with both of the other two methods. When PnP or the Repair works, it's a huge relief.

But really, Gillbot - what are you running on that old install you stubbornly cling to - Win95? But seriously, I would guess an afternoon of pruning drivers and cleaning out old system calls in the Processes list in XP should make things a lot snappier. It's a shame to lose so many valuable clock cycles. But, obviously, sysprep works.

Nothing that I need to hang on to, other than laziness and my poor memory. I always forget something on a fresh install and the loss of personal data overrides the need for a fresh install at this time.

 

[AstroGuardian]

I moved from GigaByte GA-945GZ to Gigabyte G31 just to be able to upgrade to 4GB of RAM and it gave me BSOD even though i prayed a lot! So i guess this method is the least reliable of them all.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: AstroGuardian
I moved from GigaByte GA-945GZ to Gigabyte G31 just to be able to upgrade to 4GB of RAM and it gave me BSOD even though i prayed a lot! So i guess this method is the least reliable of them all.

I have had instances where I replaced an old mobo with one of the same exact model back from RMA and windows would refuse to boot, and the "repair" function via the install CD was unsuccessful. Luckily I keep a "sysprepped" image backed up for such occasions.

What I prefer to do on each new system is boot it up, install my typical apps, games and drivers then run sysprep and shut the system down. Then I make an image of the HDD and archive it. That way, I have my preferred setup with drivers and apps/games in case I ever need to restore the machine. If my install hiccups, I can have the machine restored and back up in minutes as opposed to hours with installing the OS, finding drivers and adding my apps/games.

Since I used sysprep before creating the image, If I upgrade hardware I can migrate this installation if need be later on since sysprep forces the machine to reconfigure it's hardware like it does when you install. This cuts the install time down dramatically and the machine is online much faster this way.

 

[AstroGuardian]

I on the other hand, have developed a list and ways of things to do during disaster recovery. All my valuable data is on separate hard disk which is not bootable. If my OS or hardware fails, i can install windows and all needed apps in two hours, so i don't bother trying to recover an OS installation. However there are times when i need to do do it for a client or to a server. And then i am sure to use the sysprep where possible.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: Gillbot

Originally posted by: Dadofamunky
I really like the Sysprep idea. I'm going to give it a try for my next build, whenever that is (not soon, at any rate). I've had both success and failure scenarios with both of the other two methods. When PnP or the Repair works, it's a huge relief.

But really, Gillbot - what are you running on that old install you stubbornly cling to - Win95? But seriously, I would guess an afternoon of pruning drivers and cleaning out old system calls in the Processes list in XP should make things a lot snappier. It's a shame to lose so many valuable clock cycles. But, obviously, sysprep works.

Nothing that I need to hang on to, other than laziness and my poor memory. I always forget something on a fresh install and the loss of personal data overrides the need for a fresh install at this time.

Send me your box and I'll clean it up for you. I "promise" I'll send it back. Heh. Heh.

 

[jkresh]

acronis has a good option (though it is not cheap) their enterprise imaging software (home one doesn't have this feature), has a universal restore feature (which basically restores the os without any drivers, during the restore it detects your new hardware and installs basic drivers (not sure what happens if the os doesn't have drivers for the hardware), its not perfect but probably the best outside of a clean install.

 

[F1N3ST]

Oh, last week I had an unsuccessful Plug N Pray, so I really advise against that one.

 

[jkresh]

moved from the q6600 on 780i, to a 920 on x58 (no gpu or hard drive change), oddly enough universal restore wouldn't complete, so I just tried to boot and windows loaded fine, can't seem to get 3dmark vantage to run but everything else does (including games and other gpu programs so...)

 

[fatcowcom]

 

[poohbear]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
Migrating from one machine to another, the do's and dont's.
Since I see this question get asked multiple times a week, I thought i'd create a little thread with some info and answers.

First off, if you are switching from one piece of hardware to another, follow these steps:
1) BACKUP! I don't care how many times another user successfully swapped from one piece to another, things can and WILL happen so keep a backup! I don't care if you are simply swapping graphics cards, if your data is THAT important, BACKUP FIRST!
2) A fresh install on the new machine is ALWAYS the best option. If you choose not to do a fresh install, you are left with the following options:

• A) Sysprep

• B) Plug-N-Pray

• C) Setup/Repair

Lets dive into Sysprep:
Basically, Sysprep is a Microsoft tool that "resets" the configuration data on the machine to allow OEM's and system manufacturers the ability to create a master image to be used on multiple similar machine configurations.
What does this mean for me?
Since it resets the configuration data, you can use it to migrate a hard drive from one machine to the next while keeping your data and programs intact. I am not going to go into a detailed "how-to" but I will point you to the Microsoft Sysprep support pages so you can equip yourself with knowledge and perform the functions you need to successfully migrate your data.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577
http://technet.microsoft.com/e.../library/bb457073.aspx

I have used sysprep successfully to migrate a hard drive from my old socket A system through about 12 hardware changes up to it's current home in an Intel socket 775 system. While the system is quite sluggish due to all the extra bloat it has carried from system to system, all data and programs are intact which is more important to me than overall system speed.

Lets touch on the "Plug-N-Pray" method:
I'm not going to cover this because there isn't a very good reason to use it with a proper tool like sysprep available. Basically you pull the drive from your old system, place it into the new system and let windows completely reconfigure itself. Some people go so far as to remove or uninstall the hardware in the device manager before migrating the drive over. Either way, it is risky especially without a backup and I don't recommend it.

The setup/Repair Method:
I'm not going to cover the Setup/Repair method as I have never gotten it to work properly. If anyone cares to add more info about this section, I'd be happy to add it in here. Basically, you place your old drive into the new system and boot from the install CD. Choose repair and use the repair console to fix your installation or you can also run setup over top of your existing install.

lol for option B & C u start w/ im not going to cover this because ... so we're basicly left w/ option A then yea? Why dont u just say that from the get go! Thanks for the post regardless, but if u're not gonna cover stuff why bother making this a sticky? its not like its a begginers forum. We COME here for the details, of which "u're not gonna cover" any of em except option A, and even then its not very detailed. Thanks for this wonderful post.

the thread title "do i have to install windows? the answer here" implied i was gonna get some details, not deferred answers.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: poohbear

lol for option B & C u start w/ im not going to cover this because ... so we're basicly left w/ option A then yea? Why dont u just say that from the get go! Thanks for the post regardless, but if u're not gonna cover stuff why bother making this a sticky? its not like its a begginers forum. We COME here for the details, of which "u're not gonna cover" any of em except option A, and even then its not very detailed. Thanks for this wonderful post.

the thread title "do i have to install windows? the answer here" implied i was gonna get some details, not deferred answers.

I don't need to cover the Plug-N-Pray method because there is nothing to cover.

As I said in the write up:

Basically you pull the drive from your old system, place it into the new system and let windows completely reconfigure itself.

Do you need me to go into detail about how to plug in a new drive and boot the system?

I mean, I thought you covered it in your own reply:

its not like its a begginers forum

yet you want me to give details?

Also, as I said:

I'm not going to cover the Setup/Repair method as I have never gotten it to work properly

How can I do a write up if I can't get it to work? That wouldn't make much sense would it?
also, if you would have bothered to READ the OP, you'd see this wonderful little blurb:

If anyone cares to add more info about this section, I'd be happy to add it in here.