How to move Windows 10 from laptop A to laptop B

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I have what I believe to be an uncommon issue. I was given the task of “migrating” Windows 10 from an old laptop to a new laptop which also has Windows 10 installed. The owner of both laptops wants this done because she has some proprietary software on the old laptop which she can no longer get the source program for. Trying to do this with free software, I have successfully migrated the old laptop’s Windows 10 to an external USB hard drive. It is bootable on the new laptop. I used Mini Tool Partition Wizard  to accomplish that seemingly monumental feat.

The problem now is that I can’t find any free software to migrate her preferred Windows 10 from the USB drive to a partition on the new laptop’s internal hard drive. Free versions of Partition Wizard, EaseUs Partition Master, Disk Genius, and Aoemi Backupper have all failed. I initially wanted to make the new computer dual bootable, but I don’t know if that will even work with two Windows 10 OSs on the same physical hard drive.

Any ideas on which, if any, free software will do the job? Also, step-by-step use of that software would be greatly appreciated.

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Been in this boat a few times and what I found worked best was to put the old OS with programs into a VM. With this approach they can move it to different machines over the years. Also they don’t have to reboot to access the old system. I’m actually doing one right now and have his old Win7 system running inside his new Windows 10 computer using VMware

https://www.howtogeek.com/213145/how-to%C2%A0convert-a-physical-windows-or-linux-pc-to-a-virtual-machine/

1 user thanked author for this post.

windbg

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That was one of my initial suggestions, but she does not want to operate in a VM environment. This real-time proprietary software is how she makes a living and it may not interface well in a VM environment. Thank you for that idea though.

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It isn’t free, but PCMover is usually recommended as the best way to get hard to move software from one OS to another.  (Moving just what is wanted from the old to the new, no dual-boot in the end)

Do not do the following, but in theory you could blank out and overwrite the new computer with a full clone copy (not partition copy) of the external drive.  Using any of the backup software you mentioned.  This could fail and make the computer non-bootable (a brick).  In other words, PCMover is a much better solution.

Note that some old software is surprisingly easy to copy even without PCMover.  Some of it works if you simply copy the program files(x86)\oldprogram folder to the new computer and create an icon for the exe within it.  Maybe only a 5% chance that this will work (anything that needs custom system installed DLLs or the registry or has copy protection will fail) but worth a try if you really don’t want to pay.

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She wants the OS, all installed programs and settings moved to the new computer, not just installed programs. All the clones I made with the aforementioned software would not boot from the external USB drive. Although called Partition Wizard, the program actually migrates the entire OS (with boot system) to the external USB drive so it’s multiple partitions. I do appreciate your suggestion however.

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anonymous wrote:

Mini Tool Partition Wizard

Never new that was an option! Thanks for that.
What to do: Have you considered imaging the new laptop for safety’s sake and then removing the HDD form the new laptop and inserting it into a external HDD enclosure and performing the same operation. Then reinserting the drive and trying? ( I am thinking this WOULD be too easy, but worth a try. )
As a second option several of the paid disk imagers have a restore to new hardware option. MacriumReflect does however I have never needed it. Others here will have had experience with one of the several other programs.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Believe me, I was surprised also when I was able to boot W10 from an external USB drive after reading so many people lament that it couldn’t be done! The migrated OS still resides on the old laptop as a back up. She doesn’t really care about the programs and data on the new laptop. I hadn’t considered swapping but if I am following you, wouldn’t an even simpler solution be to just swap the internal hard drives of the two laptops?

As for MacriumReflect, the free version is virtually useless. It failed me miserably when trying to triple-boot si I wouldn’t trust their paid version to work as advertised either.

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Although this may be possible eventually, one thing that immediately sprung to mind was the change in hardware from laptop A to Laptop B..this may invalidate your W10 laptop A installation and digital licence once on laptop B.
It may run for a while then stop accepting any more updates, things may start to go south.. flagging errors and mismatches up to MS. Perhaps this is why the migrating software does not work.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Good point! I did notice that her pin would no longer work on the migrated W10 that resides on the external USB drive. I had to use her password to get into it. But her pin still worked on both laptops when booting from their internal hard drives. Paid versions of Partition Master and Partition Wizard both claim to be able to migrate the OS from an external USB drive to the internal hard drive. It looks like I may have to go that route. Thank you for bringing up the license issue.

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Aoemi Backupper will do it if you backup the disk to an external disk, then restore to the new laptop disk. After the restore you may need to boot from a Windows 10 USB and repair the installation.

Before doing anything make sure you have a backup of the disk on the new laptop. Also make sure you have a bootable backup program on USB – booting from USB to perform the backup and restore is the best test.

You may also need to find the Windows license key from the new laptop to re-install post restore.

cheers, Paul

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I hate to disagree, but the free version of AB would not restore the migrated OS from the old laptop (A) on the external USB drive to the internal hard drive of the new laptop (B). I tried them first and the OS would not boot. I have a bootable W10 OS on the external USB drive already. My problem is getting it migrated to the new laptop. The free version of AB will not do this. Thank you though for the idea and mention of a possible license issue.

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I would not expect anything to restore from an external bootable USB to an internal disk, they are very different beasts.
You would boot from Aomei on the original laptop and make an image backup to an external disk. Then boot the new laptop with Aomei and restore from the external disk files.

cheers, Paul

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Paul, do you have a step-by-step guide how to do that? I could swear I already tried that and it would not boot from the restored image. The free version of Aomei Backupper doesn’t seem to do much.

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I use Image For Windows from TeraByte; not free, but only $38.94 with lots of extras, and there is a completely functional 30-day free trial.  Over the years I’ve done what you’re trying to do a number of times, and it’s a simple process.

Install Image For Windows on the laptop installation that she wants to keep.  Create the Rescue Media (bootable USB or Optical Disc), then boot to the Rescue Media and create a complete drive image of the laptop to an external HDD.

Next, boot the target laptop with the Rescue Media, plug in the external HDD containing the image, and restore that image to the new laptop.  Shut down, unplug the external HDD, remove the Rescue Media, and boot the new laptop.

 

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

2 users thanked author for this post.

rpetruzz, wavy

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bbearren, thank you for that suggestion, I will keep it in mind.

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What size hard drives/SSDs are we talking about for the two laptops?

Why not just buy a new SSD (1TB = $100, or thereabouts), clone the source system to it, then pop that drive into the new laptop? It just might boot – Windows 10 is pretty forgiving about drivers, etc.

If it doesn’t boot, you might be able to sort out the issues in safe mode and get it up & running.

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jabeatty, thank you for suggesting that course of action. Both laptops have 1TB internal HDDs. The external USB drive I’m using is 500GB. I have partitioned the new laptop’s drive into two partitions to retain the current W10 OS. I’m trying to migrate the bootable W10 OS on the external drive to that partition. I’m sure an external USB drive can’t be popped into a laptop with no extra drive bay. Please elaborate. I already have a bootable, migrated W10 OS on the external USB drive so I’m not understanding what you are suggesting.

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Simply swapping the HHD is not simple on differing HW, there are ways to do it but complexity increases. That is why I suggested a restore to new hardware option available on some paid versions of imaging programs. Maybe some one who has actual experience in restoring to new HW with one of those programs will offer advice at this point. FWIW Macrium Reflect has a good rep on these forums as do others. I am not sure how using MR for a triple boot would even work, I do not recall options in program for this.
BTW
Happy and Prosperous New Year

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Actually, swapping the hard drive from one computer to another is not necessarily a difficult thing. I’ve done it a couple of times, and the only thing I had to do afterward was make sure that all of the basic drivers were updated to match the new computer (chipset, audio, Ethernet, etc.). It is possible that there will be issues, but in my opinion, there is a good chance that the only issue you will run into is that the basic drivers won’t be right for the new computer, something that is easily addressed.

Of course, if there is a restore partition on the hard drive, it won’t be matched to the new computer, unless the two computers are identical.

As always, you should get a good backup before doing this. But if you are going to get a good backup, you might as well restore to the new computer’s drive rather than swapping drives, because in that way you will have verified that your backup was good.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

1 user thanked author for this post.

jabeattyauditor

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Jim, please give my regards to Cinnamon Carter. I have the bootable migrated W10 OS on the external USB drive. I’m now thinking I should just slick the new laptop’s HDD. So, barring swapping, how do I migrate it to the new laptop HDD?

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Cinnamon says hi.

The best way to move your Windows install from any drive to any other drive is to do an image backup of the source drive, then restore that image backup to the target drive.

(Obviously, when you do the backup or the restore, the drive in question will need to be installed in the computer.)

If the hard drives are physically the same dimensions, you could remove the drive from one computer and then install it in the other computer. That is essentially what you are doing when you do a backup and a restore from one drive to another.

But there are some advantages to the backup/restore option (as opposed to simply moving the drive):

* You can get a newer/better/faster/bigger drive for the target computer.

* The original drive becomes a full backup of your system – you can store it in a static bag, then pull it out and install it if your new drive crashes; you are then back in business.

In any case, you should do a backup of your drive periodically, whether the drive is new or old.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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As for “slicking” the new laptop’s hard drive, I would make a backup of it before I overwrite it or wipe it clean. You never know if you may one day need it. You probably won’t, but if by chance you do, you will be glad you made that backup.

Once you have a good backup, I would definitely go with the drive that came in the new laptop. Not only is it faster/better, but it’s under warranty along with the laptop. It’s good to keep them together if possible.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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@ anonymous

anonymous wrote:

I was given the task of “migrating” Windows 10 from an old laptop to a new laptop which also has Windows 10 installed. The owner of both laptops wants this done because she has some proprietary software on the old laptop which she can no longer get the source program for.

What’s wrong with the *old laptop*–why a *new laptop*, and the trouble it causes to *migrate* the old Win10 to the new laptop?

But, regardless, it looks like you have already demonstrated the ability to copy the Old Win10 to an external USB hard drive (HDD), and then successfully use that copied OS on that USB HDD to boot while hooked up to the *new laptop*:

anonymous wrote:

Trying to do this with free software, I have successfully migrated the old laptop’s Windows 10 to an external USB hard drive. It is bootable on the new laptop. I used Mini Tool Partition Wizard to accomplish that seemingly monumental feat.

You should use that information to guide your decision making. We know nothing about the hardware side of your project–brand and model numbers of *old and new laptops*. We know nothing about the size and type of HDD that is in the *old laptop* vs what HDD is in the *new laptop*. We know nothing about the partitioning of the HDD on the *old laptop*, and what partitioning exists on the *new laptop*. We know nothing about what size and the partitioning of the external USB HDD was prior to your using the Mini Tool Partition Wizard to transfer the old Win10 to it. And we don’t know what exactly you have tried using all the various software that you have mentioned. If you have used all those programs to attempt to alter the HDD on the *new laptop*, we have no idea what the state of the HDD on the *new laptop* is now in. Lots of unknowns!

What are your computer skill levels? Are you comfortable digging into the innards of the *new laptop*, pulling out the HDD (you will have to determine if it can be accessed and removed). If you can access it, and it is a *standard* type HDD, then you can use the previous method you used on your external USB HDD on the *new laptop’s* HDD.

You can use an adapter, such as this, to turn any HDD into the equivalent of an external USB HDD. Then fire up the Mini Tool Partition Wizard and transfer the *old Win10* to the *new laptop* HDD that is in the adapter acting like an external USB HDD. Once you have completed that task, re-install the *new laptop* HDD back into the *new laptop*. It should fire up just like the OS that was on the other external USB HDD.

Be aware, the Win10 that is on the *new laptop* HDD will be over-written, and gone using the above routine. If you wanted to preserve that copy of Win10, you need to use an imaging backup program to create a backup image. I’m betting there are at least two partitions, and probably three (one or two are hidden from normal view?). Probably only the main OS partition of the three would be needed to create a *dual boot*, by shrinking the *old Win10 partition*, that is now on the *new laptop* HDD, creating a new partition and formatting it as NTFS, and then restoring the *new Win10* into that new partition. Then a *repair boot* would be needed to make it into a functional *dual boot*.

anonymous wrote:

I initially wanted to make the new computer dual bootable, but I don’t know if that will even work with two Windows 10 OSs on the same physical hard drive.

Sounds like *you* are the one who wants the *dual boot* set up, and not necessarily the *owner* of the laptop. Why? It’s certainly doable, but what advantage does that offer for you, or the owner of the laptop? Adding this to the process more than triples the complexity of what you are trying to do–worth it?

If it is *worth it*, you still need to get the *old Win10* successfully transferred over to the *new laptop* HDD first, and then work on the *dual boot* option. But, you have to prepare for that ahead of time by using an imaging program to backup that *new laptop* HDD, so that *new Win10* OS is available in the future.

But, one step at a time …

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@ anonymous

anonymous wrote:

Paul, do you have a step-by-step guide how to do that? I could swear I already tried that and it would not boot from the restored image. The free version of Aomei Backupper doesn’t seem to do much.

Let me turn that around a bit–do you have a step-by-step record of what you did using *Aomei Backupper* so we can see what you attempted to do, what was the source drive partition scheme, did you select *all partitions* to be backed up, and what was the destination HDD, and were you restoring *all partitions* (most commonly, you need to back up both the OS partition, and also the *reserved* partition (that has the boot information) and both need to be restored to the destination drive)–so we can see if you did something that would have prevented success?

Also, what was the result when you attempted to boot? Any error messages? Anything? Usually when you attempt to boot, and something doesn’t happen correctly, the system reports some sort of error. Knowing that, we might be able to suggest solutions!

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@NightOwl,

I have asked the owner to provide the hardware/software info as we are now geographically separated. As soon as I get it I will add what I can remember of what I did. Thank you for taking a deep interest. Happy New Year to you and all who have responded!

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@ MrJimPhelps

MrJimPhelps wrote:

Actually, swapping the hard drive from one computer to another is not necessarily a difficult thing. I’ve done it a couple of times, and the only thing I had to do afterward was make sure that all of the basic drivers were updated to match the new computer (chipset, audio, Ethernet, etc.).

Actually, wont that happen regardless of whether one swaps hard drives (HDDs) between two systems, or restore an image file onto a HDD in a new hardware system? Drivers will have to be adjusted to match the new hardware either way.

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Yes, you are correct. You will need to update the drivers for the new computer, whether you move the drive or do a backup/restore.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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@ anonymous

anonymous wrote:

I have asked the owner to provide the hardware/software info as we are now geographically separated. As soon as I get it I will add what I can remember of what I did.

So to clarify–at one time, you had access to the two laptops, and attempted to help transfer the old Win10 to the new laptop. At the time, you re-partitioned the new hard drive on the new laptop so it now has 2 partitions on it where originally it only had 1 partition. You were successful in using the Mini Tool Partition Wizard to transfer the old Win10 OS to an external USB HDD. And you have since tried multiple attempts to transfer the old Win10 OS from the USB HDD to the new partition you created on the new laptop HDD–but unsuccessfully.

But, now you and the owner (and I presume the two laptops) are now geographically separated from each other.

So, what are you trying to do now? Are you trying to advise the owner via long distance as to what to do to get the old Win10 transferred to the new laptop? Is the owner *technically* inclined? Where is the external USB HDD that had the bootable/working old Win10 OS on it?

Do you know how to use imaging software? Does the owner know how to use imaging software?

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[CraigS26]

https://forum.macrium.com/Forum23.aspx

No disrespect to contributors here but I’m Certain if No Fix found here & you sign-up and post at Macrium Forum that your solution will evolve.They are quite use to the topic. Tell them Free failed and I need Help.

Every New Computer Transfer I’ve read of on M Forum involves use of Redeploy Module of PAID-Only Macrium and it’s used WITHIN the PE CD/USB Rescue Media Boot environment. The Image is Transferred and THEN Redeploy is used B4 Re-start to — as Mentioned Prior — Install REQUIRED Drivers that MATCH the NEW Hardware. I think you must FIND / Save the Required New Drivers and steer Redeploy TO THEM – it’s Not automatic. As an amateur, That would be my Everest. Also, the Assumption IS that you are Including the Boot Mgr Partition in ALL of your attempts, NOT to mention the New Drive – Does MS Win License Care / Reject use on New Drive?

Just reading about Redeploy steps and the Transfer Issues it mentions MAY give someone the better perspective to Brain-storm into a solution IF the Macrium Forum is not used.

https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/plugins/servlet/mobile?contentId=3276835#content/view/3276835

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by CraigS26.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by CraigS26.

1 user thanked author for this post.

PKCano

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Why make this into such a huge project?

• Download the chipset and NIC drivers for the new laptop and stash them in a folder on the old laptop.
• Clone the old laptop drive to a new hard drive or SSD that’ll fit in the new laptop.
• Swap the newly-cloned drive into the new laptop, fire it up, and install whatever drivers you need to get it online. Let Windows Update pull the rest, or download the full package from your vendor’s site.

This doesn’t need to be a 500-step process – time is money.

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[wavy]

And IF that works good enough.

It depends IIRC on how close compatible the Hardware Abstraction Layers are, for instance going from a singe core processor to a dual core required some special attention and a mid boot change (F 3 or 6 maybe) as well as a Sysprep prepared disk.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by wavy. Reason: added HAl info

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Indeed, it could be a longer process… but even if you assume both systems are absurdly slow and have ancient spinning-rust drives, it’ll take a couple of hours to find out.

Why not try?

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The one driver you absolutely must have before you make the switch is the driver for your network adapter. If you have a way to get on the internet on the new computer, you can then get on the internet and get all other needed drivers.

If you make the move to the new computer, but forgot to get the network adapter driver ahead of time, then get yourself a USB network adapter so you can connect to the internet. Now you can connect from the new computer and get all needed drivers.

There have been times when I simply could not figure out which driver to get for the onboard NIC (Network Interface Card) for a computer. In those cases, I would plug in my USB NIC, get online, and then do a Windows Update to try to find the NIC driver. Invariably Windows Update would find a working driver for the onboard NIC, and I was then back in business. I keep a USB NIC in my tool kit for those situations.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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And to further cloud the topic: From the MiniTool site , MiniTool ShadowMaker free SEEMS to have this ability. The site is a bit confusing\disjoint …
https://www.minitool.com/help-sm/overview.html.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I transferred a Windows 10 system from one Lenovo laptop to a new Lenovo laptop using EaseUS ToDo Backup Pro.  I install  trial version on the old laptop and created a bootable rescue drive.  Then I did a System Backup onto an external HDD.  (Of course I cloned the new laptop disk before the I started this).

On the new laptop I booted the rescue drive and I had two options:  System Restore and System Transfer and I chose System Transfer.  (How this differs from System Restore I do not know).

After the System Transfer completed I was able to boot the new laptop and after updating some drivers it ran OK.  But when I looked at the PC properties it showed the properties of the old laptop.  I was concerned about this.  Would Microsoft a month later inform my client that she was running illegal software?  I couldn’t take that chance so I abandoned the project and used more traditional ways to transfer her data to the new laptop.

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My solution:
If windows 10 is the same version on both laptops, such as 10 home or 10 pro, simply put the old drive into the new laptop. Of course this only works if both are sata drives or m. 2 drives.

Windows 10 usually finds the correct drivers and activates once it connects to the activation server.  it will also activate if the license is tied to a microsoft account.

If the drive interfaces are completely different she may want to consider a new laptop with older tech inside (you may have to google a teardown and recommend a different laptop if the software is more important than the laptop style.

Other options were already mentioned. Sometimes the customer just has to accept change.  But you can make that easier by simplifying things for them and mention the benefits!

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Going back to the original post where the priority was the transfer of proprietary software from the old laptop to the new machine – the question is what is the proprietary software worth.

If it is worth more than $60 you should consider using Laplink PCmover Professional.

I have used it successfully on multiple computers. It is simple, fast, and works.

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