Acronis Universal Restore

[voipfc]

I am getting a new computer and I plan to transfer the old computer to
it without having to reinstall all the programs again.

Can Acronis True Image with its Universal Restore option do the job
well enough?

Are there any good experiences with it?

Having to reinstall all the programs again will be a huge problem.

There is also the issue of the Windows XP license. The old machine
will also be in use and I want to avoid problems with Windows Updates.
Will it be possible to replace the license key on the new machine with
its original license after the copy?

- voipfc

 

[Merlin]

I am getting a new computer and I plan to transfer the old computer to
it without having to reinstall all the programs again.

Can Acronis True Image with its Universal Restore option do the job
well enough?

Are there any good experiences with it?

Having to reinstall all the programs again will be a huge problem.

There is also the issue of the Windows XP license. The old machine
will also be in use and I want to avoid problems with Windows Updates.
Will it be possible to replace the license key on the new machine with
its original license after the copy?

- voipfc

Not only would you have to do a repair install as Uncle Grumpy has mentioned
but unless both machine have pretty much identical hardware you will neeed
to replace all your device drivers as well.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am getting a new computer and I plan to transfer the old computer to
it without having to reinstall all the programs again.

Can Acronis True Image with its Universal Restore option do the job
well enough?

Are there any good experiences with it?

Having to reinstall all the programs again will be a huge problem.

There is also the issue of the Windows XP license. The old machine
will also be in use and I want to avoid problems with Windows Updates.
Will it be possible to replace the license key on the new machine with
its original license after the copy?

- voipfc

It seems some of the other respondents are not familiar
with Universal restore.

Yes, Acronis Universal Restore can do the job pretty well.
During its restoration process it forces a hardware scan in
much the same way as an original installation of Windows
does. Make sure to have your various hardware drivers
handy.

The product key is an entirely different matter. You will
probably have to ring Microsoft and explain that you're
retiring one PC and using Windows on a different machine.
They will give you a new product key but only if you have
a retail licence. AFAIK, OEM licence are tied to the
physical machine.

 

[voipfc]

It seems some of the other respondents are not familiar
with Universal restore.

Yes, Acronis Universal Restore can do the job pretty well.
During its restoration process it forces a hardware scan in
much the same way as an original installation of Windows
does. Make sure to have your various hardware drivers
handy.

The product key is an entirely different matter. You will
probably have to ring Microsoft and explain that you're
retiring one PC and using Windows on a different machine.
They will give you a new product key but only if you have
a retail licence. AFAIK, OEM licence are tied to the
physical machine.

This is what I am worried about as the old one is not being retired.
It will be used for a different purpose or as a spare machine once the
transfer is accomplished safely.

The new machine has its own license as well and I'd like to reset it
back once the transfer is successful.
Isn't there a way of achieving that? I thought there was some SID or
something that could be reset.

Aren't there some tools that can extract the key before the transfer
and apply it after?

- voipfc

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This is what I am worried about as the old one is not being retired.
It will be used for a different purpose or as a spare machine once the
transfer is accomplished safely.

The new machine has its own license as well and I'd like to reset it
back once the transfer is successful.
Isn't there a way of achieving that? I thought there was some SID or
something that could be reset.

Aren't there some tools that can extract the key before the transfer
and apply it after?

- voipfc

You could use KeyUpdateTool.exe
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=50346&clcid=0x409),
but only AFTER the cloning, not before.

If you don't know the existing Windows product key on the
target machine then it's high time for you to create a list of all
product keys in your business. You have a lot of money invested
in your software licences and not having such a list is negligent.
Use jellybean (http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml)
or Aida32 (http://www.aumha.org/freeware/freeware.php#aida32)
to extract your existing keys.

 

[voipfc]

You could use KeyUpdateTool.exe
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=50346&clcid=0x409),
but only AFTER the cloning, not before.

If you don't know the existing Windows product key on the
target machine then it's high time for you to create a list of all
product keys in your business. You have a lot of money invested
in your software licences and not having such a list is negligent.
Use jellybean (http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml)
or Aida32 (http://www.aumha.org/freeware/freeware.php#aida32)
to extract your existing keys.

I have just tried it on an HP xw4400. I point Acronis Universal
Restore to the COMPAQ directory that contains the drivers, as well as
a graphics card I added.

The whole restore process went smoothly without any hitches or
prompting for drivers. However when I restart I receive the error


\%windows%\system32\hal.dll cannot be found or is corrupted.

I did not include the MBR restore option as the machines are
different. The HD is SATA system as well, but I would presume that the
transfer process found all the necessary files from the COMPAQ driver
directory

Any help at this stage?

I have the feeling that

There are a few questions

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have just tried it on an HP xw4400. I point Acronis Universal
Restore to the COMPAQ directory that contains the drivers, as well as
a graphics card I added.

The whole restore process went smoothly without any hitches or
prompting for drivers. However when I restart I receive the error


\%windows%\system32\hal.dll cannot be found or is corrupted.

I did not include the MBR restore option as the machines are
different. The HD is SATA system as well, but I would presume that the
transfer process found all the necessary files from the COMPAQ driver
directory

Any help at this stage?

I have the feeling that

There are a few questions

Try this:
- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="5 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="6 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
- Boot the machine with this floppy. Try all 6 boot options
and report which one (if any) works.

 

[voipfc]

I have just tried it on an HP xw4400. I point Acronis Universal
Restore to the COMPAQ directory that contains the drivers, as well as
a graphics card I added.

The whole restore process went smoothly without any hitches or
prompting for drivers. However when I restart I receive the error

\%windows%\system32\hal.dll cannot be found or is corrupted.

I did not include the MBR restore option as the machines are
different. The HD is SATA system as well, but I would presume that the
transfer process found all the necessary files from the COMPAQ driver
directory

Any help at this stage?

I have the feeling that

There are a few questions

Try this:
- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="2 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="3 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="4 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="5 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINDOWS="6 Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
- Boot the machine with this floppy. Try all 6 boot options
and report which one (if any) works.

I tried the option and it was the first option. It turns out that the
recovery partition and the main windows partition are different on
the new system. It is what I suspected and if my 3 year old BartPE had
SATA compatible drivers I probably would have been able to fix it
right away.

In the case of the Key recovery two machines of the exact model
reported the same license keys which were different from those pasted
on the side of the case. Hmm.