Can i use my disk image on a different computer

[luckypig444]

Hello,
if i buy a new version of windows 7 and upload it to my computer....can i then use my disk image from the previous system ?

 

[skaz]

I assume your just trying to attempt to upgrade your operating system and load your old data onto the new install?

If so, just back up your data to external device separate from the drive you will be installing the O.S. on. Then install windows 7 to the drive, and then load the data you backed up. All done.

This is assuming you choose to do the clean install method, but if you choose the "upgrade" method your old data will be intact after the upgrade. I typically recommend clean installs though.

 

[squirrelonfire]

What do you mean "disk image from previous system?"

 

[luckypig444]

my hard drive locked me out while downloading a driver from the dell site. I got some error code and haven't been able to get in ever since. I pulled the drive and placed it into an external enclosure and tried to access the files from a different computer. It denied access. So, i then took ownership of it as administrator and still cant get into all the files. I cannot lose the info on this hard drive, so i bought a new hard drive that has been wiped, placed it into the laptop. Now, if i buy a new copy of windows 7, upload it to the new hard drive, can i then use the dvd disk image from the original hard drive to restore my programs and files?

 

[skaz]

Not if you can't access the drive.

Edit: When trying to restore the image it will need to be able to "access" the drive so to speak. You could test this by simply using a repair disc, but there must actually be an image. Not just a drive with installed data.

 

[luckypig444]

If i brought "my" DVD restore disks to your house and selected to restore your computer using "my" restore disks (even if your computer is working fine) would your computer now be an exact copy of mine? Would this even work? Would your version of Windows 7 come in conflict with my restore disks?

 

[skaz]

No it would not work, due to incompatibilities in hardware drivers.

 

[luckypig444]

what if we both had identical laptops with identical drivers?

 

[mesab66]

Try a good disk utility such as Acronis Disk Director or Paragon Partition Manager. Both these (you'll need to purchase) give you a number of powerful options to help you recover bad disks or files within. There are other similar utilities though these are the two I use.

 

[skaz]

Assuming both had identical hardware from the manufacture, then yes it would work. It would put the system back at the "recovery point" or whatever the recovery disc has on it. Most manufactured supplied recovery disc will put the system back to factory defaults.

 

[luckypig444]

i'll try it and post my findings. Thank you for your help.