Need a new PC: can I clone programs from a vista HDD onto a windows 7 or 8 HDD?

[Sam Matthews]

I have a 7 year old laptop that won't stay on longer than 10 minutes. I recently put a 1 TB HDD in it that has everything on it. If I buy a new laptop that will have win7 or 8 on it, is there a way to clone the old drive onto the new and keep the higher version of windows so that I'm just bringing all my files and programs over?

 

[getochkn]

no, when programs install they add registry entries, files to the windows folder that are needed for it to run, etc. You have to reinstall programs when you have a new OS.