best migration software/method

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
P

pranaman

Honorable
May 25, 2015
99
0
10,640
I have a client who has windows 7 and an old drive in a machine his friend built. It had a lot of errors, and checkdisk ran on bootup.

I advised him to buy an SSD drive, which he did, and I planned to migrate his system over. He also has an external usb drive.

I went to migrate his drive, and I hadn't done that in a while. I used to, with Norton Ghost back in the day.

I found "Acronis Migrate Easy" on download.com. Looked good. I ran it, but it said there was an error, did not say what kind, or why, but just did not install.

So, then I initiated a Windows 10 upgrade. It did not work, then I tried a few things, and on the 3rd try, it started.

It was downloading slow, so I left, and will go back soon.

A few questions

What is the best way to migrate his drive?
What software should I use?
I've never used an SSD drive. Should I connect the new drive in a master/slave connection, or back up the drive to the external USB drive and then move that file to the new drive?
Any BIOS changes I need to be aware of?
And is there a Plan B I should be aware of in case I hit a snag?
 
Solution
hang-the-9
2 hours to do a full migration is not enough, especially with installing an OS and making sure all drivers are installed. There will be no real product key once Windows 10 is on there, if it needs to be re-installed, it will do so by talking to the activation servers and reporting on the system.
Sort by date Sort by votes
R

rhysiam

Splendid
Mar 24, 2013
4,366
29
26,990
To be blunt, the best migration software is a fresh install... i.e. no migration software at all.

While it often works, it also often doesn't and in my experience I've spent just as long trying to fix issues as I would have spent reinstalling programs. The one catch will be if your friend is running particular software and has lost the software and/or license keys required for install. But if you possibly can, here's what I'd be doing.

1) Make a note of all the programs and check you have or can download the software and install them legally
2) Unplug the HDD and connect the new SSD
3) If it's an old machine - check that AHCI is on in the BIOS -> google that if you're not sure
4) Install a fresh copy of Windows 10, you have a couple of days left for the free "upgrade" and the current builds will accept a Win7 license key
5) Install all the programs on the new OS
6) Reconnect the HDD again as a second drive, once booted into Win10, copy all the data off the old HDD before it dies completely.

Because this process is completely non-destructive, you can always take the SSD out and boot from the HDD again if you run into issues. The one catch is that if you switched the BIOS to AHCI from IDE, you'd need to put it back again to boot from the HDD again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
LukeFatwalker

LukeFatwalker

Reputable
Dec 29, 2015
733
1
5,660
What is the best way to migrate his drive? Cloning the drive
What software should I use? Drive Cloner Rx (it's in the name)
I've never used an SSD drive. Should I connect the new drive in a master/slave connection, or back up the drive to the external USB drive and then move that file to the new drive? Not neccesarily. I would recommend just cloning the drive to the new one.
Any BIOS changes I need to be aware of? Not that I can think of.
And is there a Plan B I should be aware of in case I hit a snag? Do a full backup and re-image.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940
You have a drive with errors, right there is an issue with using any automated software to migrate. As you have seen, you already ran into an error with using a utility. A cloning program may help, but it has a good chance of not working if there are drive errors. Before you do anything, make sure the files you need are already backed up to another drive, as running a disk procedure like a clone can cause the original disk to get damaged even more, making it totally unusable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
P

pranaman

Honorable
May 25, 2015
99
0
10,640
I wanted to get in and get out of there, as I charged him for 2 hours, and have almost 3 invested so far. I understand cloning may not be the best, however, he does not have the original W7 disk, and the Windows 10 upgrade worked.

I have an 'upgrade only' w7 disk I can bring, as a backup, but there's no product key. (As a side note, does his product key stay the same when it upgraded to W10?)

I plan to revisit him tomorrow. Since the W10 upgrade completed, I'm hoping that fixed some of the errors, and cloning will work.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940
2 hours to do a full migration is not enough, especially with installing an OS and making sure all drivers are installed. There will be no real product key once Windows 10 is on there, if it needs to be re-installed, it will do so by talking to the activation servers and reporting on the system.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom