Acronis universal restore to new pc and xp activation

[ell]

Hi, I have a customer with a very old pc running xp with a custom program for his trucking business, the software writer is no where to be found and he has no install disk. I have suggested a image be made ASAP and he wants to know if I can use it on a new pc (formatting and over-writing win 7). I know this is possible with acronis universal restore, but then how does that work for his XP key? Does it just remain activated after the image is transferred to the new system?


I guess I need to clarify, he will not be upgrading to vista or win 7, he needs to keep xp so he can use the custom program that he cannot reinstall.

 

[CompuMedics PC Repair]

Acronis Universal Restore could backup his current XP partition, and then you have to add the drivers for the new hardware, often the SATA, chipset drivers, sound and graphics card, the rest tend to get updated with Windows Update.

I think Windows will boot fine, if done properly, but if Windows update sees it, there could be problems, such as re-activation.

I had a brainfart, and forgot that there is no upgrade from XP to 7

 

[Rodrick]

WinXP to Win7 upgrade requires a reinstall. No matter how the OS got to the machine.

 

[CompuMedics PC Repair]

WinXP to Win7 upgrade requires a reinstall. No matter how the OS got to the machine.

I have never tried it, but could you upgrade to Vista, and then to 7. Not that I would ever try it, I was just wondering.

 

[ell]

Acronis Universal Restore could backup his current XP partition, and then you have to add the drivers for the new hardware, often the SATA, chipset drivers, sound and graphics card, the rest tend to get updated with Windows Update.

I think Windows will boot fine, if done properly, but if Windows update sees it, there could be problems, such as re-activation.

I had a brainfart, and forgot that there is no upgrade from XP to 7

so he won't have to reactivate XP at all from his image? He does not want to go to vista or win 7, cuz of the program he needs to keep won't work with anything but xp and he has no install disc for it.

 

[numnutz]

If I understand what you want to accomplish. I have used PCmover pretty succesfully to move a program to a new pc that you do not have the install disks for.

 

[ajc196]

so he won't have to reactivate XP at all from his image? He does not want to go to vista or win 7, cuz of the program he needs to keep won't work with anything but xp and he has no install disc for it.

You will have to reactivate, but you'll have no trouble with that, it will go through OK. The key from the old machine will reactivate just fine, but he would have to remove that CoA from the old machine and keep it handy for future repair/support. It's *technically* against the license terms to do that, but XP is practically abandonware by now anyway.

 

[ell]

You will have to reactivate, but you'll have no trouble with that, it will go through OK. The key from the old machine will reactivate just fine, but he would have to remove that CoA from the old machine and keep it handy for future repair/support. It's *technically* against the license terms to do that, but XP is practically abandonware by now anyway.

THANK YOU! thats all I needed to know!

 

[ajc196]

No problem! Good luck!

PS - If the old machine uses IDE and new one uses SATA, you'll definitely want to find the XP SATA drivers for that machine first, and point to that folder when setting the options right before performing the Universal Restore. Otherwise, manually putting in the driver afterward is a pain, and you'll just be in a BSOD loop until you do.

...or just set the new machine's HDD controller to IDE/ATA instead of AHCI/SATA in the BIOS.

 

[ell]

No problem! Good luck!

PS - If the old machine uses IDE and new one uses SATA, you'll definitely want to find the XP SATA drivers for that machine first, and point to that folder when setting the options right before performing the Universal Restore. Otherwise, manually putting in the driver afterward is a pain, and you'll just be in a BSOD loop until you do.

...or just set the new machine's HDD controller to IDE/ATA instead of AHCI/SATA in the BIOS.

thats what I'm reading, thanks for clarifying, I did a test run imaging a win 7 from a old sharp laptop and restoring to a old gateway laptop, went flawlessly, without installing drivers, but ofcourse when I'm being PAID to do it things will be different!!!

 

[colonydata]

i would certainly advice the client that even if the imaging works, it should not be the final solution.

i can think of alot of very bad scenarios that could happen.

 

[ell]

i would certainly advice the client that even if the imaging works, it should not be the final solution.

i can think of alot of very bad scenarios that could happen.

like what? he doesn't really have any other option without access to the original program installer.

 

[colonydata]

like what? he doesn't really have any other option without access to the original program installer.

thats my point exactly, if you do not have access to the installer you really should start thinking about a plan to transition away from that software. i dont know if that means switching to another premade piece of software or having a custom piece written.

 

[ell]

thats my point exactly, if you do not have access to the installer you really should start thinking about a plan to transition away from that software. i dont know if that means switching to another premade piece of software or having a custom piece written.

He won't even go there, they've been running the business for years on this, he is very non-tech and extremely tight, his mother owns the biz and has to get "permission" to even get the backup made! However they make big $$$$ Since they haven't ever backed up anything I wouldn't even want to venture into something else, it would only be a nightmare. I am not a expert on applications and wouldn't want to be the one to choose an alternative. I advised he should move into bar-coding and that ended unsuccessfully. I just want to cover what they have at this point.

 

[colonydata]

He won't even go there, they've been running the business for years on this, he is very non-tech and extremely tight, his mother owns the biz and has to get "permission" to even get the backup made! However they make big $$$$ Since they haven't ever backed up anything I wouldn't even want to venture into something else, it would only be a nightmare. I am not a expert on applications and wouldn't want to be the one to choose an alternative. I advised he should move into bar-coding and that ended unsuccessfully. I just want to cover what they have at this point.

i would at least make them aware of how far up a certain creek they are with out a paddle. that way when it all goes hand grenade you can at least CYA.

 

[ell]

thats what I'm reading, thanks for clarifying, I did a test run imaging a win 7 from a old sharp laptop and restoring to a old gateway laptop, went flawlessly, without installing drivers, but ofcourse when I'm being PAID to do it things will be different!!!

I'm thinking the bios thing is probably what I'll have to do if he buys a new machine, (my test was between two ide machines) not many manufacturers would even have the xp drivers on their websites I bet.

 

[ell]

i would at least make them aware of how far up a certain creek they are with out a paddle. that way when it all goes hand grenade you can at least CYA.

oh, yes, I put big fear in his head, I hope I get a call today, otherwise I'll get another one soon with him in a panic.

 

[numnutz]

again you should look at pcmover. I have built many new systems for clients that didnt have the install disks for old programs. I built the new pc installed pcmover on both pcs and moved / copied the program from the old pc to the new one. My last one was quickbooks enterprise edition. Ive only done it from xp to xp but they claim if the program is compatible with vista / windows 7 it will work from xp to windows 7

 

[jvcomputerservice]

You should make an image of the entire HD before trying anything else, hopefully that's not a point of discussion.

Why don't you go virtual. have a newer system run a different OS as host (win 7) and the current xp with the costume program running as a virtual machine.

 

[CompuMedics PC Repair]

If I have a choice between PC Mover and Acronis Universal Restore, I would take Universal Restore. If I was reading the posts right, he just wants all of his stuff including the program on a newer, faster machine. If that is the case, it would be easier on you to just backup and re-image with Universal Restore that way you have all of his favorites, documents, pictures, and stuff like that already loaded on the new machine. Rather than loading all of that stuff separately, and then trying to use PC Mover to get his program moved.

If he is happy with XP, let him stay with it, he seems dead set against change.

Just putting in $.02

Also the reactivation for XP wouldn't be any different then when you upgrade your processor or RAM, if they make you reactivate at all.