Calling all computer geeks... HELP!!!

[Poker_Babe]

OK, here's my question. (and yes I've already googled it, I've found different/confusing answers. I just want some more input) My laptop (Samsung) is no more... however I do have it backed up on an external hard drive. My BF gave me his laptop to replace my old one. But his is an acer. Both had the same operating systems (windows 7 home edition) Can I restore my backed up image from my samsung to my new acer???

 

[Littlegringo]

If what you've got is a full image with the OS, it's got everything installed based on the hardware that was in the original machine, so a different machine (even different model from the same manufacturer) with have different hardware and need different drivers.

It may work, in a bit of a messy way though. Once the image is on the hard drive of the new machine, when windows starts up it will start detecting all the different devices and try to install drivers it has built in. Some it will have, others it probably won't. If you have all the drivers, and install the ones needed, it may be fine.

I've seen it work ok on some machines, and just end up in bluescreens on others. Even if it works though, it's not going to be as good as a clean install and setup would have been.

 

[Michael_G]

What littlegringo said, the drivers on laptops are often made special for that laptop. On full size PC`s it can cause major headaches, on laptops even more so. A clean install is really the only answer.

 

[SoTxBob]

IDk if this will apply since when I change out machines its usually desktops but.... I simply take the old hd and plug it in as a second or slave drive on the new machine. Then I open it up and cherry pick what files I want to pull over to the new one instead of trying to make it the same image. I have done this easily between different brands of machine as well as versions of 'microsnot' [98, xp, 7] with little problem. I do know there are specific cables sold to do this via either a firewire or usb port if there's no access/room inside.

 

[Michael_G]

IDk if this will apply since when I change out machines its usually desktops but.... I simply take the old hd and plug it in as a second or slave drive on the new machine. Then I open it up and cherry pick what files I want to pull over to the new one instead of trying to make it the same image. I have done this easily between different brands of machine as well as versions of 'microsnot' [98, xp, 7] with little problem. I do know there are specific cables sold to do this via either a firewire or usb port if there's no access/room inside.

Yep that will, work, forgot about that, you just get windows asking which windows install you want to boot from.

 

[Littlegringo]

I worked as a comp tech for a decade, and from experience, doing that will work some of the time, other times you will just get a bluescreen when you try and boot from the windows installation that was from the other machine. If it does boot up, you'll want to go into the device manager and basically remove all devices, so Windows won't have any possibility of getting messed up with "ghost" devices that aren't there.

I would normally do a fresh load of windows and re-install everything, it ends up far smoother and cleaner. Second choice would be hook up the old HD through a USB connection (if the laptop is smaller than 17" it probably only has one space for a HD, so putting it in as a slave isn't an option, except by using a portable drive enclosure) and transfer all data into the new comp, but you would still need to re-install all programs.

 

[Shaun__]

When I used to build my desktop computers, whenever I changed the motherboard or any other major part Microsoft would call me a pirate and I would have to call a phone number to get it reactivated. It may be different now.

 

[Littlegringo]

When I used to build my desktop computers, whenever I changed the motherboard or any other major part Microsoft would call me a pirate and I would have to call a phone number to get it reactivated. It may be different now.

Yeah, ironically, the only way to NOT be called a pirate by Microsoft when changing major components is to be using pirated windows. :lol:
They actually make it a pain in the ass for people who upgrade their systems.

 

[TashaDutch]

i wonder what it is that you wanna keep? what kinda software i mean..
its probably alot less work to just download a new installation of all the software you wanna run, like the other said, chances are big that the hardware in the other computer are totally different from the new one.. and the drivers will be as well..
if its pictures or other files that you need to keep, you can just as easily copy/paste to your new laptop..

windows 7 is soo eaily installed... and all the updates will take care of drivers you need (most of the time) putting a backup on it from another laptop seems like more work. :twocents-02cents:

 

[Mirra]

If it's an image with something like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image, you definitely do not want to restore it. It's possible to prepare images to be restored on different hardware but one would have to do a few special things before the capturing of that image for it to work. If it is just a backup with the Windows tool, it's fine to restore it since that's generally just a backup of the profiles on the system (desktop, documents, pictures, etc).

Basically Littlegringo's first answer was pretty good. I just wanted to expand on some details.