Easiest way to clone or transfer to a new computer

1974darrenh · Tuesday at 7:56 PM

1) My old laptop is an ASUS Aspire E15 E5-573-33LX with an SSD with Windows 11 Pro.

2) The new laptop is an HP 14s-dw2512sa with only an NVMe slot.

3) I purchased a brand new WD SN5000 NVMe 1TB and fitted it in the HP.

All I want to do was make the new computer exactly like the old one (Clone) so everything is where I remember it. I know it will need drivers but I know how to do that.

I have clone software at my disposal.

Hope someone can help

XxXxX · Tuesday at 10:33 PM

is this of any help.

How to Clone a Hard Drive on a PC or Mac

If you need to migrate your data or are looking to keep a backup handy, you can clone your hard drive. Here's how to do it in Windows and macOS.

www.pcmag.com

cloning is easy if follow the instructions and take your time double checking everything before starting the clone
but its always best to have a backup of your data, just to be sure.
best of luck, Steve ..

cheaterslick · Tuesday at 10:38 PM

Thing is, ASUS drivers and HP drivers do not mix...

cereberus · Wednesday at 5:49 AM

cheaterslick said:
Thing is, ASUS drivers and HP drivers do not mix...

You can create a customised install.wim of old pc using dism and then inject HP drivers. Done it many times.

1974darrenh · Wednesday at 11:46 AM

cereberus said:
You can create a customised install.wim of old pc using dism and then inject HP drivers. Done it many times.

Is it possible you could send me some instructions on doing that?

cereberus · Wednesday at 11:59 AM

1974darrenh said:
Is it possible you could send me some instructions on doing that?

These are well covered in the windows 10 tutorial section.

1974darrenh · Wednesday at 2:19 PM

I can't find it.

cereberus · Wednesday at 2:36 PM

1974darrenh said:
I can't find it.

These are the main tutorials you need.

Create Windows 10 ISO image from Existing Installation

How to create a Windows 10 ISO image for clean, in-place upgrade and repair install

www.tenforums.com

DISM - Add or Remove Drivers on an Offline Image

How to add or remove hardware device drives on an Offline Image with DISM

www.tenforums.com

Create bootable USB installer if install.wim is greater than 4GB

Information As discussed in tutorial DISM - Split install.wim file | Windows 10 Tutorials, it is not possible to create a bootable flash drive in fat32 format if the install.wim file is over 4GB in size. That tutorial presents a method to spl

www.tenforums.com

You will have to download HP drivers first from web.. Another = good way to get HP drivers to inject is to clean install Windows on HP first and export drivers.

Backup and Restore Device Drivers in Windows 10

How to Backup and Restore Device Drivers in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

It takes a bit of effort to do this (not for beginners) but tutorials are good.

Another way is to use tools like Macrium Reflect paid versions which have a feature to restore to dissimilar hardware but you still need the key drivers for new pc.

spapakons · Wednesday at 2:59 PM

No need for anything complicated. I would first find a way to connect my old SATA disk to the laptop. Some new models use an NVMe drive, but also have a spare SATA connector to connect 2.5" SATA drives. Another option is to use a USB to SATA adaptor or a USB to 2.5" SATA enclosure. Then you can download a free cloning application such as Macrium Reflect.

Download Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - MajorGeeks

With Macrium Reflect Free Edition you'll be able to easily make an accurate and reliable image of your HDD or individual partitions. Using this image you can restore the entire disk, partition or...

www.majorgeeks.com

From Windows on the new laptop, install Macrium Reflect (or whatever other cloning application) and load it. Be extra careful to select your old disk as the source and the NVMe SSD as the target. Since the target already contains partitions, you must first remove them. Click on each partition and delete it. Don't worry, the changes are not applied yet. On the empty unallocated NVMe drive drag and drop the partitions from the old drive in the order they appear. In case your NVMe disk is smaller than the old disk, after you drag the large Windows partition, right-click on it and select to move/resize. Calculate about how many MB space you need for the rest partitions and set to leave that space at the end. The partition will shrink leaving the chosen size as unallocated. Similarly you can expand the Windows partition if the NVMe is larger than the old disk. Drag and drop the rest partitions and then start cloning. You should get a warning that the clone cannot proceed while Windows is running and prompted to restart. Do that to start the cloning process. When the cloning is complete DON'T load Windows or you might mess the drive letters! Shutdown the laptop, remove the old disk and then power on and see if it successfully loads Windows 11. If it does, wait to see the desktop and then go to Settings, Apps, Installed apps and uninstall any software related to the old laptop. Then you may download the new drivers from the new laptop manufacturer and install them. You should be OK. Good luck!

1974darrenh · Wednesday at 3:14 PM

Thank you both for your help. I'm just trying something at the moment but if it doesn't work, I will be following your instructions in order.

At the moment I've installed the NVMe drive into the HP. Run Hirens Boot CD on the HP. Opened Disk Genius and run OS MIGRATION. The old SSD from the Asus is plugged in using a SATA to USB connector and it's migrating to the NVME drive on the HP. Fingers crossed.

spapakons · Wednesday at 3:40 PM

There is also Clonezilla, you download the ISO, create a bootable USB using Rufus, boot with that and clone the drive, but it is a little more sophisticated to use than Macrium Reflect. Better stick to easier applications so you won't accidentally clone the other way around and lose your data!

Clonezilla - Downloads

Rufus

cereberus · Wednesday at 4:43 PM

spapakons said:
No need for anything complicated. I would first find a way to connect my old SATA disk to the laptop. Some new models use an NVMe drive, but also have a spare SATA connector to connect 2.5" SATA drives. Another option is to use a USB to SATA adaptor or a USB to 2.5" SATA enclosure. Then you can download a free cloning application such as Macrium Reflect.

Download Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - MajorGeeks

With Macrium Reflect Free Edition you'll be able to easily make an accurate and reliable image of your HDD or individual partitions. Using this image you can restore the entire disk, partition or...

www.majorgeeks.com

From Windows on the new laptop, install Macrium Reflect (or whatever other cloning application) and load it. Be extra careful to select your old disk as the source and the NVMe SSD as the target. Since the target already contains partitions, you must first remove them. Click on each partition and delete it. Don't worry, the changes are not applied yet. On the empty unallocated NVMe drive drag and drop the partitions from the old drive in the order they appear. In case your NVMe disk is smaller than the old disk, after you drag the large Windows partition, right-click on it and select to move/resize. Calculate about how many MB space you need for the rest partitions and set to leave that space at the end. The partition will shrink leaving the chosen size as unallocated. Similarly you can expand the Windows partition if the NVMe is larger than the old disk. Drag and drop the rest partitions and then start cloning. You should get a warning that the clone cannot proceed while Windows is running and prompted to restart. Do that to start the cloning process. When the cloning is complete DON'T load Windows or you might mess the drive letters! Shutdown the laptop, remove the old disk and then power on and see if it successfully loads Windows 11. If it does, wait to see the desktop and then go to Settings, Apps, Installed apps and uninstall any software related to the old laptop. Then you may download the new drivers from the new laptop manufacturer and install them. You should be OK. Good luck!

Sure it is worth trying this but I have had cases where new pc fails to boot as it cannot rationalise drivers. The paid versions of MR have a tool to sort out key drivers on new pc .

Actually, if you can export all drivers from new pc, when injected into a custom install.wim, when you boot pc, virtually every driver gets installed and only a few more obscure ones need to be sorted.

Even the paid MR restore to dissimilar hardware feature only really sorts key drivers (video, storage, internet, keyboard/mouse) to make sure new pc will boot. There are still many other drivers that often need updating and that can be a bit of a chore. Of course everybody's mileage differs.

Whilst the dism method is a bit more complicated, it is robust and once you get the hang of it, it works every time. I actually have a batch file that does all the hard work.

I am not suggesting that all users should go down the dism route but if you are inquisitive and confident with batch command files, it is actually very satisfying (and fun) getting it to work.

I learnt a lot from the tutorials I linked in earlier post (all due to the legendary guru @Kari).

spapakons · Wednesday at 5:33 PM

The main reason of BSOD when transferring the hard disk to another computer is usually due to missing drivers, especially storage controller drivers. It's not a bad idea to download the storage drivers for the new laptop and install it on the old computer before cloning the disk (assuming the installation proceeds without the hardware present). Every version of Windows includes most common drivers so this situation becomes rarer. I have been doing that since Windows XP. If the old and new computers are not completely different, such as from Intel to AMD, Windows will load and try to install the new drivers from Windows Update. The first time takes longer to see the desktop because of installing drivers in the background. You may not see it at all before restarting first for the changes to take effect. The newer the Windows version the less likely is to see a BSOD. Windows 10 and 11 can even tolerate an extreme change such as from Intel to AMD or vice versa, but I wouldn't bet on that. In the rare case that you see a BSOD and you cannot use Windows, no harm done. Just clean install Windows 11 and connect your old disk to copy your data. Every if it works, you probably need to activate Windows, Office and some other applications again.

1974darrenh · Wednesday at 10:40 PM

So I used Disk Genius and when the new drive boots, I get the BSOD INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE. I tried again by cloning with Macrium and the same BSOD appears. Do you think it's the storage controller drivers needed? Where are the storage controller drivers I need for an HP 14s-dq2512sa as I can't find them online?

I can then probably install them using HBCD and then device manager. Without having to do it using CMD commands.

idgat · Wednesday at 10:44 PM

1974darrenh said:
1) My old laptop is an ASUS Aspire E15 E5-573-33LX with an SSD with Windows 11 Pro.

2) The new laptop is an HP 14s-dw2512sa with only an NVMe slot.

3) I purchased a brand new WD SN5000 NVMe 1TB and fitted it in the HP.

You had something old. You now have something new. Why would you want to replicate the old onto the new???

idgat · Wednesday at 10:48 PM

1974darrenh said:
So I used Disk Genius and when the new drive boots, I get the BSOD INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE. I tried again by cloning with Macrium and the same BSOD appears. Do you think it's the storage controller drivers needed? Where are the storage controller drivers I need for an HP 14s-dq2512sa as I can't find them online?

And this sort of thing will go on and on. A clean install, done!!! Up and running.

Internet forums like this one are rife with similar situations (cloning and other so-called fast shortcutz), some resolvable, some futile. In any case, the user is stuck with a non-functioning new device for an unnecessary time.

hsehestedt · Wednesday at 11:22 PM

1974darrenh said:
Is it possible you could send me some instructions on doing that?

What is your timeline? I can write up a highly detailed procedure and even provide software to automate all this (see the app referenced in my sig) but if I'm going to do that, I need a few days because I'm swapped with commitments at the moment.

If interested, let me know and I'll get it done

It's not at all complex, just the number of steps to consider.

spapakons · Thursday at 12:35 AM

I am not sure if you can install the storage drivers from Safe mode or WinPE (Windows live USB). In the first case, after 3-4 times it fails to load Windows you see loading the Troubleshooting screen. After trying to automatically repair Windows fails, select Troubleshoot and then Advanced startup options. It will restart and present you a list of options. Select 4 Safe mode or 5 Safe mode with networking if you need internet access. If it loads in Safe mode try to uninstall old drivers and install the storage controller drivers.

If it cannot start in Safe mode, download Sergei Strelec WinPE. This is a live Windows system with a lot of tools. One of them is to install drivers on another Windows system. Use that to install the storage drivers before trying to load Windows again. Download the ISO and use Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive.

WinPE 10-8 Sergei Strelec English » Sergei Strelec

Bootable disk Windows 11 and 10 PE - for maintenance of computers, hard disks and partitions, backup and restore disks and partitions, computer diagnostics, data recovery, Windows installation. WinPE x64 version only

sergeistrelec.name

Plan B: Install the storage drivers on the old laptop before cloning the disk, as suggested in my previous post.

Play C: If everything else doesn't work, clean install Windows 11 on the new laptop and connect the disk to copy your data.

PS: Check the UEFI firmware (aka BIOS) in the new laptop for storage configuration. Try changing it to something more compatible such as AHCI. This might let you load Windows without a BSOD. If it does, uninstall all old drivers and install all new. You can leave it as it is, or you can try switching back to the previous configuration to improve performance. However the difference should be too small to notice.

spapakons · Thursday at 7:06 AM

idgat said:
You had something old. You now have something new. Why would you want to replicate the old onto the new???

Because unlike a typical office computer with a few GB to backup and few applications to reinstall, a typical home computer has hundreds of GB to backup and tens of applications/games to reinstall. All these take much more time than you think and a lot of effort. A teenager or senior user with a lot of free time, would need 2-3 days to do it properly, assuming he has all the installers and license keys for them. All of us working people, let alone those with kids, have very limited free time and would take over a week to do it properly. While cloning the disk would take an hour or less. Thanks, I would try to clone my old system to the new computer first, and IF it doesn't work I would consider a clean installation as a last resort with a lot of disappointment and a lot or cursing by bad luck...

If I ever upgrade my computer from 3rd generation to 20th or whatever generation will be available then (in the far future, I hope), of course I will try to clone my current system first, not start for scratch! No matter there are too many generations apart. If it fails I will only lose one hour from my life. But if it works, I will gain the effort of a week or more. Think about it...

jimbo45 · Thursday at 7:13 AM

spapakons said:
Because unlike a typical office computer with a few GB to backup and few applications to reinstall, a typical home computer has hundreds of GB to backup and tens of applications/games to reinstall. All these take much more time than you think and a lot of effort. A teenager or senior user with a lot of free time, would need 2-3 days to do it properly, assuming he has all the installers and license keys for them.. All of us working people, let alone those with kids, have very limited free time and would take over a week to do it properly. While cloning the disk would take an hour or less. Thanks, I would try to clone my old system to the new computer first, and IF it doesn't work I would consider a clean installation as a last resort with a lot of disappointment and a lot or cursing...

When installing Windows -- any version - it's always better to keep the OS and installed apps on the "C" (or OS drive /partition) and all the rest --user data, emails, music, photos etc etc on another drive / partition --this keeps the OS reasonably small so moving / cloning the OS would be simple.

If you also can install the OS on a PHYSICAL vhdx (or set of) VHDX file(s) then moving / clonuing is simple -- no 3rd party stuff needed -- just save the vhdx file(s) and move where appropriate. You can save with file explorer too.

Cheers
jimbo

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