Using a system image created with one laptop onto another

[spl4000]

My current laptop uses Windows 10. I wanna get me a new Windows 10 laptop so I wanna transfer what's on my current laptop with ease. If I create a system image on my current laptop, can I use it on another Windows 10 laptop? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

[bassfisher6522]

That's a "Yes" and "No" deal......simply put. Creating as system image or cloning the drive will bring with it all the drivers of laptop 1. Installing it onto laptop 2 with different drivers will create a big problem.

You could use some 3rd party software like Macrium/Acronis to do a system image of just your DATA or the files you select and then transfer them that way....this still involves a HDD big enough to handle the image file.

Personally, I would copy what data/files I wanted to keep from laptop 1 onto a 32/64 Gig USB drive and move what I I wanted to new laptop 2 that way. Simple drag/drop files onto USB, insert USB into laptop 2 and copy.

 

[shmu26]

My current laptop uses Windows 10. I wanna get me a new Windows 10 laptop so I wanna transfer what's on my current laptop with ease. If I create a system image on my current laptop, can I use it on another Windows 10 laptop? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

if the two laptops are similar enough, it will work. You can always try. But make a system image of the new laptop beforehand, in case you get BSODs and other issues.

and you will have activation issues with windows and office, if you happen to care about that. Microsoft products know when they are plopped on another machine.

 

[jaxonbur]

I could not resist posting on this, even though @shmu26 got it right. I was running a fairly new MSI-based desktop and decided to build a more powerful Asus-based machine for gaming. They were both Intel Z170 chipset boards, so I moved DDR4 memory sticks, PSU, my GTX 970 graphics card, and the SSD that was my Win10 boot drive over. When I finished the build, I booted it, fully expecting the machine to choke and take me to BIOS, which it did, but only to confirm the new processor. That done, I rebooted and it went right by BIOS and booted into Windows, taking only about an extra minute on top of the usual 20-second boot. I was flabbergasted! Win10 had seen the new hardware, replaced all the old hardware drivers with generic drivers and, since I was hardwired to my modem/router, immediately started downloading the correct drivers, and in the end I only had to add a couple downloaded Asus drivers for minor hardware that either wasn't working, or wasn't working as well as it should. I checked right away and was shocked to find that Windows was activated.

However, (you knew there had to be a however, right?) after about three days I got a popup notice that I needed to activate Windows, and when I entered my Pro product key, it was rejected. Even before I could call in, Office 2013 popped up a notice that I was running it on too many computers.

Twenty minutes with only the initial support tech had me fully sorted and activated on both pieces.

I must say I was mighty impressed. I've been a user, tech and builder using MS since Windows 2, with forays into Linux and even Mac. I must say, this is a very, very good OS.