Let's imagine a situation where we needed to transfer a hard drive with Windows 7 installed to another computer. In this case, there is a high probability that the OS will refuse to boot on the new hardware. Another typical example of such a problem is a computer upgrade, for example, when the motherboard is replaced.
If you encounter a similar problem, do not rush to reinstall the system, but try using the method of preparing the OS for transfer using the utility sysprep. The sysper utility is included with Windows Vista and Windows 7. Sysprep provides the following benefits:
Removing system data from Windows. Sysprep can remove all operating system-related information from an installed Windows image, including the computer's security identifier (SID). The Windows installation can then be imaged and installed throughout the organization.
Configuring Windows to boot in audit mode. Audit mode allows you to install third-party applications and device drivers, and check the health of your computer.
Setting the Windows Welcome screen to load. Sysprep configures your Windows installation to boot with a welcome screen the next time you start your computer. Typically, the system should be configured to boot with a welcome screen before the computer is shipped to the customer.
Reset Windows activation. Sysprep can reset Windows activation up to three times.
Note: owners of computers with a pre-installed OEM version of Windows 7, after transferring the hard drive to another computer using this tool, will have to reactivate the OS over the phone, because activation information is strictly tied to a specific hardware, for example a motherboard.
Stage 1. Prepare the system disk for transfer to another PC.
The sysper utility can be run either in the graphical interface or from the command line as an administrator with various parameters, depending on the task at hand. For example the command
c:\windows\system32\sysper\sysper.exe /oobe /generalize /shutdawn
removes data related to the operating system from the Windows installation and turns off the computer. Information related to the operating system includes event logs, unique security identifiers (SIDs), and other data. After removing unique system information, the computer shuts down. After you shut down your computer, you can boot your computer to Windows PE or another operating system, and then use the program to record your Windows installation. ImageX, creating a source image that will be used on computers with similar equipment. You can find out more about the syntax of the sysper utility launched from the command line.
A few things that are useful to know about how the sysprep utility works:
The configuration of the computers on which the system is planned to be deployed should be approximately the same. For example, if you created an image of a single-processor system, you cannot use it to deploy to a dual-processor machine;
The target computers must have the same BIOS types. For example, an image of a source computer with an ACPI BIOS will not be suitable for a computer with an AWS BIOS;
The target computer's system disk size must be the same or larger than that of the source computer;
sysprep does not create a disk image, but only prepares the system for cloning.
So, to prepare to transfer a hard drive with Windows 7 installed to another computer, you need to run the following command in the command line as an administrator:
%windir%\system32\sysprep\sysprep
The utility window will open in the graphical interface (this is the method we will consider further):
Pay attention to the settings that need to be specified:
in “Actions to clean up the system”, select the option “Go to the system welcome window (OOBE)” and check the “Prepare for use” option;
in “Shutdown Options” select "Shutdown." Selecting the “Reboot” option will allow you to immediately remove an image of an already prepared system disk by booting from a Windows PE USB drive. If you boot from a prepared system disk, you will have to start the entire process of preparing to transfer the system to the disk over again.
After clicking the OK button, the system cleaning process starts, and after it is completed, the computer turns off. Now you can transfer the hard drive to a new system, change the motherboard, and so on.
At the beginning of the download, you will see the message “Preparing the system for use”, then “Installing devices”:
The system may reboot and continue installation - this is normal.
Finally, you should see the regional settings window (the appearance of this window already indicates that the transfer was successful):
Enter the name of the new user. In order not to confuse the settings of existing users, enter a name that has not been used before (for example, Test). This user can then be deleted.
Next, standard settings for date and time, automatic updates, etc. are performed. As a result, you will be taken to the Test user's desktop. Now you can log out and log in with your regular account. The last step is to update device drivers.
As mentioned above, Microsoft advises doing this operation only for computers with the same configuration (AMD-AMD, Intel-Intel). Otherwise, various glitches are very likely to occur.
Successful application!
It happens that it is necessary to replace an old computer or laptop, or to replace the motherboard. Then you would have to reinstall the operating system. Yes, this process is not complicated, but you can transfer the operating system using the utility Sysprep. This utility is from Microsoft, which allows users to transfer the OS to new hardware while preserving all data.
As soon as you run the sysprep utility, all information about drivers and the operating system will be cleared. The main thing is that all installed programs will not be touched. There will be no need to make all sorts of backups, reinstall programs, etc. Another nuance is that information about the activation of Windows 7 is also lost, so you will have to re-activate it. This does not apply to the version, since activation is tied to the hardware and it occurs automatically.
To migrate Windows 7 using the sysprep utility, you need to open a command prompt. To do this, click Win+R and enter cmd. Now enter the following command on the command line:
%windir%\system32\sysprep\sysprep
A system preparation window will open where you need to make some settings.
Where it is written System cleaning action, you need to select the item Go to the system welcome window (OOBE) and be sure to check the box Preparation for use.
In parameters shutdown You can select shutdown, or you can select reboot the system.
After running Sysprep, in order to avoid going through this procedure again when transferring to a new computer, it is not recommended to boot on the same computer.
So, click OK We are waiting for the work to finish. After everything, the computer will turn off and now you can change the motherboard, or transfer the hard drive to a new computer.
When you turn on a new computer, or a PC with a new motherboard, Windows 7 will be installed, checked and detected. The system may be rebooted. We don’t touch anything and wait. Afterwards, a window will appear with a choice of regional parameters: country, language, etc.
Having done everything necessary, you can now log in using your account that you had on your old computer. Don't forget to install the necessary drivers before. Now you can work as usual.
As you can see, the procedure is not complicated, and it is better to use the Sysprep utility and do everything quickly than to reinstall Windows again.
Microsoft does not guarantee 100% that all data will be saved during the transfer, and there may be some failures, but this depends on what hardware you are transferring to. Mostly everything goes smoothly.
Let's look at a situation where it is necessary to transfer Windows to another hardware, but first let's determine in what situations this need may arise:
1) New computer - you purchased a new computer and, therefore, you will have to install Windows, software and set everything up as usual. It is much easier and more convenient to simply rearrange the hard drive and work in a familiar environment, but in this case, when loading Windows, a blue screen of death will appear, since Windows is configured for a specific hardware, unless it is similar.
2) Replacing the motherboard or processor - in this case the situation will be similar, a blue screen will appear because the equipment has been changed.
3) Obsolescence - let’s say you want to strengthen your computer with new components, but the hardware for this motherboard is outdated and is no longer sold, therefore, you need to buy a new computer and reinstall Windows.
Therefore, let's solve this issue, and it can be solved using Windows 7 itself, but before we use this tool, I advise you to take an image of the system disk using the Acronis program or through system archiving.
I will perform this operation on a virtual machine, since it will not be possible to record this video on a physical machine.
And so let's get started, go to the disk C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe– run as administrator and a window appears System preparation program 3.14, so, this program rolls back Windows to the state of the first login. That is, to the moment when the operating system was not tied to the hardware, and it does this by removing device drivers.
Before starting the process of removing device drivers, let's create a text file on the desktop Check and specify Go to the welcome window (OOBE)\ put a tick Preparing for use \ Shut down \ OK.
After the program has completed its work, we connect the hard drive to another computer, or, if it is replacing the motherboard or processor, then we change the equipment and turn on the computer. Before us is a process that takes place at the final stage of installing the Windows operating system. We enter the user name and computer name, and the user name should not coincide with the previous name, since the previous user has not been deleted and we can then log in to the system under him, but at this stage we need to create a new user to complete the installation stage.
Now we log in under the previous user and can delete the created user as well as his profile. We see that our Check file remains on the desktop, which means all user data remains in place and has not been deleted.
However, this method has a drawback: activation of Windows and most software fails, so you will need to activate everything again, and install drivers, but this is much easier than reinstalling Windows and transferring information accumulated over the years.
If this method does not help, it happens that an error appears when running the sysprep program; in this situation, you can use Acronis True Image Universal Restore.
There are times when it is necessary to transfer the operating system to another hard drive. For example, imagine that you have a small hard drive installed on your computer, and you do not have enough memory. And now you have finally bought a new hard drive with more memory and want to install it on your PC. The question arises - how to transfer the operating system to another screw. By following my instructions, you can do this absolutely without problems. So, if you're ready, let's begin!
My computer has two hard drives. One of them is old with 80 GB (disk A), the second is new with 500 GB (disk B). So it turns out that I need to transfer the Windows operating system from hard drive A to drive B. For the transfer, we will use a very convenient and multifunctional program called Acronis Disk Director 11 Home. Finding it will not be difficult on various trackers, as it is very popular.
Well, we installed the program, now turn off the PC. Open the side cover and insert a new hard drive (also called a hard drive or screw). Turn on the computer. You don't have to prepare a new hard drive to copy the operating system. So, let's launch the Acronis program.
IMPORTANT! Before you begin transferring the OS, you need to turn off sleep mode on your computer.
Having launched the program, we observe that another disk has appeared. Now you need move the system from one hard drive to another. Right-click on the disk on which the system is installed to bring up the context menu, where we select Clone basic disk.
In this window, do not forget to check the One to One box. In this mode, the disk will be copied one to one. Click Finish
All we have to do is apply the actions by clicking the checkbox button.
Acronis will ask in a new window, where we click Continue
At this stage, the program will inform you that you need to restart the computer, since all operations to copy the system will be carried out in DOS mode. Before you click OK, check out the pictures below to understand what will happen to your PC after it restarts.
When the computer restarts, do not press anything, because important operations are now being carried out. After the second reboot, look carefully - the following message will appear in the lower left corner
After which the process of copying the Windows operating system will begin.
Here we click OK.
When all the operations are done, we can see that all the information from the old hard drive (including Windows itself) has been transferred to the new one. However, the new hard drive has more memory than the old one, so we will be left with an unallocated empty area. We can correct this.
First, right-click on the disk and in the menu that appears, click Resize Volume
Here we change the size of our disk. To do this, drag the slider to the very end.
Next, we will set the size of the unallocated space in front of the disk itself, since to increase drive C, free space is needed. My C drive was 50 GB, but I decided to increase the system disk to 100 GB. To do this, I need to leave about 50 GB in order to add it to drive C after all operations. Now click OK.
We perform the same operations with system drive C. By the way, I wrote recently.
After the disk sizes have been adjusted to the required volumes, click on the button with the checkbox for our changes to take effect.
This article will discuss a method for transferring Windows 7 from local drive C to local drive D. This method is a universal instruction and is suitable for solving the following problems:
1. Transfer Windows 7 to another computer
2. Transferring Windows 7 to another hard drive or local drive
I want to warn you right away! This article is primarily aimed at advanced computer users. If you are familiar with your computer, then there should be no problems understanding the instructions for transferring Windows to another disk or hard drive. If you are a novice user, then read the article carefully from cover to cover. If you understand all the points of the instructions and you don’t have any questions, then great. If this seems difficult to you, then think carefully! Maybe it will be much easier for you to install a new Windows on the desired partition!
Well, it seems like we figured it out) Well, now let’s breathe in and let’s go...)
Why is transferring Windows 7 better than just reinstalling it?
Sometimes a situation arises that you do not need to reinstall the Windows 7 operating system, but transfer it to another computer or another drive, for example from drive C to drive D, and at the same time save all settings, installed programs, drivers, etc.
Of course, you can install a clean system. But then you will have to install drivers, programs, etc. In general, it is long and painful. And if we move Windows to another drive, then save all the settings plus a lot of time, effort and energy. Wherein the system will remain exactly in the state to which you are accustomed, but on another local disk or hard drive.
Let's now take a closer look at the process of transferring an operating system from one local drive to another drive (or from one computer to another).
Instructions
Step 1 - Create a backup copy of Windows 7
We have two local disks. Disk C and Disk D. The operating system is installed on disk C, and it needs to be transferred to disk D. First of all, before transferring the system, you need to make a backup copy of it.
For this I use Acronis True Image. After creating a backup, you will need to place it on another local drive (E, F, G, etc.). Just not on drive C (since it is a system drive) and not on drive D, because we will install Windows there.
By the way, when using Acronis you need to be careful - the program labels disks in its own way if it works from a bootable flash drive or disk, so be careful. In this case, I focus on the size of the disks, and not on the letter.
Making a Backup
Making a backup is very simple. Launch Acronis True Image and follow the steps shown in the photo below:
Let's start the backup:
Specify the drive on which Windows is installed:
Create a new archive (backup):
Disable scheduling:
Select the incremental backup type:
Here we leave everything as it is (default):
You can set up password protection for your backup:
Backup settings (default):
Step 2 - Transfer Windows to another drive (computer, hard drive)
OK. A backup has been created and is located on a third-party local disk or hard drive. Now you need to restore it to local drive D.
It's very easy to do! Launch Acronis True Image again. Now instead of the point "Backup" select an item "Recovery". And you perform actions that practically repeat the steps of creating a backup:
Select the Windows 7 backup we created and click “Restore”:
Select “Recover disks or partitions”:
Despite the fact that we need to install the system on drive D, in this window we still select local drive C!!!:
Change the location for unpacking the backup:
Select drive D to install Windows 7 from our backup:
Settings have been changed! Now the system will be unpacked to local drive D!!!:
Click the Proceed button:
After this, the computer will reboot!
Acronis True Image will download automatically, so don't worry, just wait! After the program has loaded, we launch recovery and, if necessary, repeat the steps described above!
If you are transferring Windows to another hard drive!
I would like to note that if you no longer intend to use your old hard drive for work, then before deploying the system to a new hard drive, it is better to remove it - this will avoid conflicts when there are two identical operating systems on the computer.
After the deployment has occurred (hopefully successfully) to drive D, the computer needs to be restarted.
As a result, you have two working operating systems on your computer: on Drive C and on Drive D, or on another drive if you have placed the backup on another hard drive.
Step 3 - Removing the old operating system
After a reboot, the old system will still boot. To work only with the new one, you need to remove the old operating system. Let's consider the removal procedure through.
Windows 7. You see a menu with two items – Install and System Restore. We need the second point:
In the recovery options, you need to select the first option “Use recovery tools...” and click Next. After this, another menu appears and in it selects the last item - “Command Line”.
Enter the command Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd, which scans all hard drive partitions for the presence of an operating system. The command finds the second version of the system on drive F and offers to add it to the download list. You need to confirm your selection with Y.
After confirming the addition to the download, type Exit on the command line and you will see a boot menu for the operating systems you have installed. After that, you select the second system (restored). After booting, the boot disk is automatically named C, and not D, as it was.
Please note that your old drive C has completely disappeared from Explorer. But in fact, he hasn't gone anywhere, he just doesn't have a mark. You can assign it manually through Disk Management. When you go here, you will see an unlabeled disk. Manually assign it a letter that is convenient for you, say F, and that’s it, it will appear in Explorer again.
Assign a letter to the local drive:
That's all the instructions for transferring Windows to another local drive.
By the way, after restoration, most likely, your Windows 7 may request reactivation.
When replacing an HDD or transferring a system from one computer to another, you need to know how to transfer to another drive or SSD. This is done so as not to install Windows from scratch, but simply make a copy from the old media and continue to use it.
You can transfer the OS to an SSD or HDD, a regular optical disk or a flash drive with a large amount of memory. In this case, the technique will remain the same, only it may take more time.
We transfer using standard Windows tools
In this window, do not forget to check the One to One box. In this mode, the disk will be copied one to one. Click Finish
All we have to do is apply the actions by clicking the checkbox button.
Acronis will ask in a new window, where we click Continue
At this stage, the program will inform you that you need to restart the computer, since all operations to copy the system will be carried out in DOS mode. Before you click OK, check out the pictures below to understand what will happen to your PC after it restarts.
When the computer restarts, do not press anything, because important operations are now being carried out. After the second reboot, look carefully - the following message will appear in the lower left corner
After which the process of copying the Windows operating system will begin.
Here we click OK.
(banner_ssilki_tekst)
When all the operations are done, we can see that all the information from the old hard drive (including Windows itself) has been transferred to the new one. However, the new hard drive has more memory than the old one, so we will be left with an unallocated empty area. We can correct this.
First, right-click on the disk and in the menu that appears, click Resize Volume
Here we change the size of our disk. To do this, drag the slider to the very end.
Next, we will set the size of the unallocated space in front of the disk itself, since to increase drive C, free space is needed. My C drive was 50 GB, but I decided to increase the system disk to 100 GB. To do this, I need to leave about 50 GB in order to add it to drive C after all operations. Now click OK.
We perform the same operations with system drive C. By the way, I wrote recently.
After the disk sizes have been adjusted to the required volumes, click on the button with the checkbox for our changes to take effect.
After purchasing a new HDD or SSD, the first question that arises is what to do with the operating system currently used. Not many users have the need to install a clean OS, but on the contrary, they want to clone an existing system from an old disk to a new one.
So that the user who decides to update the hard drive does not have to reinstall the operating system, it is possible to transfer it. In this case, the current user profile is saved, and in the future you can use Windows in the same way as before performing the procedure.
Usually those who want to divide the OS itself and user files into two physical drives are interested in transferring. After the move, the operating system will appear on the new hard drive and will remain on the old one. In the future, it can be removed from the old hard drive by formatting, or left as a second system.
You can complete the task in one of two ways:
- Using utilities from third party developers.
- Using a tool built into Windows.
Let's take a closer look at each of them. First, the user needs to connect the new drive to the system unit and make sure that the PC has detected it (this is done through the BIOS or Explorer).
Method 1: AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition
This program allows you to easily migrate your OS to your hard drive. It has a Russified interface and is free for home use, but has some minor limitations. Thus, in the free version you can only work with MBR disks, which, in general, is suitable for most users.
If you already have some data stored on your hard drive and you don’t want to delete it, create a partition with unallocated space.
Method 2: MiniTool Partition Wizard
A free utility that also easily copes with the transfer of the operating system. The principle of operation is not very different from the previous one, the main difference between AOMEI is the interface and the absence of the Russian language in the latter. However, basic knowledge of English is sufficient to complete the task.
Transferring the system to a HDD where there is already data
In order not to delete files stored on the hard drive, but at the same time move Windows there, you need to divide it into two partitions. The first will be system, the second will be user.
For this:
Transferring the system to an empty disk or partition
Method 3: Macrium Reflect
Like the previous two programs, Macrium Reflect is also free to use and makes it easy to migrate your OS. The interface and controls are not very convenient, unlike the previous two utilities, but overall it copes with its task. Like MiniTool Partition Wizard, there is no Russian language, but even a small knowledge of English is enough to easily migrate the OS.
Good afternoon, please tell me How without reinstalling. I’ll explain my situation: My Windows 7 is located on an old 120 GB hard drive that is NOT partitioned, is it possible to move the system to a new 1.5 TB hard drive, but unfortunately it is not empty, it has two partitions. One partition contains data (nothing should happen to it), the other is unoccupied, and the operating system must be transferred to it. I want to use my old hard drive for file storage. Alexander.
How to move Windows to another drive
Friends, several more people have made the same request, and before we begin, a small note: If you are a novice user, then this article is given to you primarily for your information. Before you begin, read everything from beginning to end and think about whether this method is right for you, maybe it will be easier for you to simply reinstall Windows. Basically, any operations related to the Acronis program are carried out by professionals. If you doubt your abilities, be careful, practice from the beginning on a virtual machine or contact a specialist.
Personally, I always work on everything on a virtual machine, sometimes for several days, then on my work computer, and then I move on to the customer’s machine. Many people express in their letters that they didn’t succeed in this or that. I think there’s nothing wrong with this, don’t be afraid of mistakes and failures, win in the end. For those same experienced users, not everything worked out right away either, the whole difference between a pro and an ordinary person is experience, and experience, friends, is acquired quickly, but you can’t sit in one place and do nothing. Even if you don’t succeed today, you will succeed tomorrow. Be sure to make backups and roll back in case of unfamiliar and unforeseen situations.
To show how , I simulated a similar situation on my computer. There are also two hard drives:
- The first hard drive is NOT divided into partitions and is designated in Disk Management as Disk (C:) with a capacity of 465.00 GB and the operating system is installed on it.
First of all, what would move Windows to another drive Let's create a backup of the current operating system in Acronis True Image Home 2011 using an Acronis boot disk or flash drive. How to make bootable media? I won’t repeat it, read our Acronis article on how to use it. How can I boot from the media by changing the boot priority? Also read here or How to boot from a flash drive.
Let me also remind you that if you, like me, contacted Acronis, do not forget that it often confuses drive letters when working from bootable media.
After creating a backup of the current Windows 7, you just need to deploy it to a free partition of the new hard drive (E:) 350.59 GB.
- Digression: If you don’t need the old hard drive, before deploying the backup you need to turn off the computer and remove the old hard drive completely, this will reduce problems with two operating systems.
As a result, we will have two identical systems on one computer, but one will boot. Next, using the EasyBCD program (a very simple method, link to our article) or whoever wants the Bootrec.exe command and the command line, we will achieve loading of two operating systems. Next, we’ll remove one Windows 7 located on the old disk from the boot menu and use this disk as a file storage, that’s all.
Result: All data on all hard drives is safe and sound, including the old one with 465.00 GB. The operating system is now located on one of the partitions of the new hard drive (E:) 350.59 GB and loads smoothly, which is what we wanted at the beginning. In the future, if you completely get rid of the old 465.00 GB hard drive and remove it, you may have problems booting Windows 7, they can always be fixed with the help of our articles: Restoring the Windows 7 bootloader, How to restore the Windows 7 system, BOOTMGR is missing in Windows 7. In the case of using the EasyBCD program, it is generally simple, you can leave the boot record as desired on any disk.
So we loaded into our program, select Backup . Discs.
We create a backup of our Windows 7 located on the drive (C:) 465.00 GB, put a checkmark on it and Next.
In this window you need to select a location to store the backup of our operating system, click Browse.
Disk (C:) is excluded according to the rules, (E:) is also excluded, but (D:) 1030.35 GB is just right, by the way, the volume is large and there is a lot of free space. Select it once with the mouse.
Write the name of the backup in the File name field, for example No. 13 and OK. Further
So, a Windows 7 backup has been created, if you open my computer, then drive (D:) we can see it,
Now we deploy our backup to a new hard drive partition (E:) 350.59 GB,
- Note: If you do not need the old hard drive at all, it is better to disconnect and remove it at this point.
Choose Recovery. Disks.
we find our backup number 13. As you remember, we have it on disk (D:),
We go into it, see our Backup, select it and press the OK button.
As you can see, Acronis wants to restore the default backup to the partition (C:) 465.00 GB, but we need (E:), we still check the box and Next.
In this window, select the New storage option.
And only in this window select our drive (E:) 350.59 GB and Accept
Click Change default settings
The Primary item should be checked and read: Thus, the partition will become bootable even if restored to a partition or disk different from the original one. Accept.
We see what is being restored where. Get started.
We wait. The Windows 7 operating system is deployed to disk (E:) 350.59 GB. In theory, it should boot from it immediately. OK and reboot.
Unfortunately, we are loading old Windows 7. As we agreed, now the easiest way to get two operating systems to boot is to install the EasyBCD utility; read the entire step-by-step guide here.
Or another way, boot from the Windows 7 installation disk and select recovery, then the command line.
We select the second one and get into our Windows 7 restored from a backup, only when we see a system partition with a capacity of 350.59 GB we no longer have (E:), but as it should be (C:). But the old disk with a capacity of 465.00 GB is not there at all,
It’s clear that now it should have a different letter. We go to disk management, we see our disk is safe and sound, we assign it a different letter and that’s it.
Change the drive letter or path, assign any one, for example (F:).
A drive appears (F:), which we can use as file storage.
If we don’t need any menu when we boot the computer, go to Control Panel->System and Security->System->Advanced Settings->Advanced Tab->Boot and Recovery->Options->Select the Windows 7 we need from the drop-down list, in in our case the second one, we can also uncheck the box Show recovery options and by default it will boot into Windows 7, which is located on the new hard drive.
