Backup and restore from different OS's?

[DarkBowser]

I backed up Windows 7 from one computer to an external hard drive. If I plug this in to a Vista machine and restore it from that, will it have windows 7 on it? I'm very skeptical but I want to know something about it before I try anything. In theory it should work, right?

 

[willard]

Unless your backup is a system image, no, you can't do that. And if it is, all it would do is overwrite the existing disk, destroying everything in the process.

I've got a feeling you're looking to restore the backup from Vista, keep everything from the Vista machine around except change Vista to Win7. This simply isn't how backups work. Sorry.

 

[nbelote]

^ Correct. If you did a full system backup, you could restore that from within the Windows 7 install disc by booting from it (there's an option there to restore a system backup). It's not going to work, however, if the specs vary at all. It might, if the motherboards are identical, but then again...

 

[DarkBowser]

They are practically the same exact PC's. One is the Compaq version of the HP model.

 

[DarkBowser]

And if I booted int the Win7 disc, would it work?

 

[willard]

Nothing changes what I said. Backups do not work that way.

 

[spookyman]

Make a base image of the PC you want to back up. Then you can restore this image to other computer.

You can use either Acronis or Ghost for this. Both products do a great job.

Another option would be to just do a sysprep and copy this to the next box.

 

[nbelote]

Clonezilla: http://clonezilla.org/

 

[DarkBowser]

I have the system image file, would that work?

 

[Skippy27]

"Keep in mind that a windows 7 key can only be on one computer at a time unless it volume licensed."

This is a false statement as these PC's are from HP/Compaq and they contain OEM license which belong to the machines. You cannot copy move or restore an OS from one OEM machine to another without violating EULA license.

 

[DarkBowser]

I know exactly what to do now, thank you much. Pardon my not good English. I am a hacker, I can get around the licenses.

 

[Traildriver]

If you are a hacker what are you doing subscribing to Tom's.

This site does not support or condone Hackers and their activities.

Reading all the above it appears you are looking for a "free"way to upgrade to Windows 7 on that PC. Wrong thing to do....

 

[willard]

May be the worst way to pirate Windows I've ever seen.

 

[The_Prophecy]

This topic has been closed by The_Prophecy