chumley Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Hello My current PC - case, CPU, motherboard, couple of HDDs and an operating system - is about to be donated to my son. I have a new PC ready to go and am wondering if I can simply transfer my SSD containing the OS installation and the drive containing FSX into the new case. If I do this will Windows 7 and FSX both stop operating or demand reactivation or will things continue as though nothing has happened? It will be a real pain to have to reinstall everything. Thanks Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Hi Andy, I think I'm 99% certain that you'll have some Win7 registration issues to deal with. XP was a lot simpler and as long as you had the registration number, then as far as I can remember, there wasn't an issue. I think certification with XP was done within the hard drive, but with Win7 the registry certification is performed from the registry in the motherboard. I may be wrong, and as always happy to be corrected, but it may well be necessary to have a new Win OS and perform a new install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snave Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I am 100% certain Rockliffe is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brito Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Andy, mate, Microsoft fixed the OS license on each PC - a person can have multiple PCs: must acquire a license for each ONE. Nowadays Microsot identifies the license holder by the motherboard (MOBO). If CPU-MOBO are different, so there will be insurmountable problems of drivers incompatibility! For the sake of your health days and the and intregridade your HD / SSD not try this transfer: HD / SSD from a PC with the OS installed on another PC (another MOBO). Only data HD / SSD (files in general) can move freely between different MOBO's. The right and best thing to do, despite the work that will give, is to install everything from scratch on the new PC! Cheers, Sinesio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Clone the Disc's and your done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 This is PRECISELY why I run my OS on a separate HDD . at just 30 Gb (because I divorce all un-necessary crap from the OS) it is easy to clone to a new disk should it be required and drop that back into the existing chassis.or even a New Build. The reason many get into trouble I believe based on my experience in the trade is 1 They only often have only 1 or 2 Drives ( Large Drives allow many many Gb of rubbish to accumulate. 2 OEM OS Installations are CRAP (Pre-installed Systems) and not installed with Windows DVD etc but from a hidden image folder. The ONLY way to build a PC is build it yourself and learn, Install Software from Owned CD/DVD's because you have the software and can recover if needed. IMHO anyone that games or Sims is doing them selves a great dis-service by not running at least 5 or more HDD's 1 SSD say 50 Gb for OS ONLY 1 500Gb HDD for your Documents and Pictures Music etc (Required Editing of your My Computer File Access to relocate "My Documents", "My Pictures" & "My Music" so that it no longer clutter's your OS 1 500Gb HDD for "Program Files" (Registry Edit to move from "C:/") 1 1 Tb Drive for FSX and other gaming (NEVER install Anything in Program Files - but where YOU want it ) ie "F:/Flight Sims/Microsoft Flight Simulator X" "F:/Flight Sims/Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator" "F:/Racing Sims/rFactor" "F:/Racing Sims/GSC 2013" This might seem anal but it does allow you as the user to rapidly find folder's you need when the need arises. 1 Tb Downloads Drive (Set out to have similar programming in folder's together) 1 2 Tb HDD Drive for your Archives This drive have a switch attached to Power up Power Down to isolate the drives A lot of PC user's are paranoid about Viruses and let me tell you first hand that this is simply a non issue. You are more likely to have trojans sending out information than a malicious attack and by an large your PC is invisble to the outside world because of the way your ISP handles connections. Some Tools are available for maintenance and cleaning but NOTHING surpasses vigilance, and regular system file checks. I hope this has helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 This is PRECISELY why I run my OS on a separate HDD . at just 30 Gb (because I divorce all un-necessary crap from the OS) it is easy to clone to a new disk should it be required and drop that back into the existing chassis.or even a New Build. The reason many get into trouble I believe based on my experience in the trade is 1 They only often have only 1 or 2 Drives ( Large Drives allow many many Gb of rubbish to accumulate. 2 OEM OS Installations are CRAP (Pre-installed Systems) and not installed with Windows DVD etc but from a hidden image folder. The ONLY way to build a PC is build it yourself and learn, Install Software from Owned CD/DVD's because you have the software and can recover if needed. IMHO anyone that games or Sims is doing them selves a great dis-service by not running at least 5 or more HDD's 1 SSD say 50 Gb for OS ONLY 1 500Gb HDD for your Documents and Pictures Music etc (Required Editing of your My Computer File Access to relocate "My Documents", "My Pictures" & "My Music" so that it no longer clutter's your OS 1 500Gb HDD for "Program Files" (Registry Edit to move from "C:/") 1 1 Tb Drive for FSX and other gaming (NEVER install Anything in Program Files - but where YOU want it ) ie "F:/Flight Sims/Microsoft Flight Simulator X" "F:/Flight Sims/Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator" "F:/Racing Sims/rFactor" "F:/Racing Sims/GSC 2013" This might seem anal but it does allow you as the user to rapidly find folder's you need when the need arises. 1 Tb Downloads Drive (Set out to have similar programming in folder's together) 1 2 Tb HDD Drive for your Archives This drive have a switch attached to Power up Power Down to isolate the drives A lot of PC user's are paranoid about Viruses and let me tell you first hand that this is simply a non issue. You are more likely to have trojans sending out information than a malicious attack and by an large your PC is invisble to the outside world because of the way your ISP handles connections. Some Tools are available for maintenance and cleaning but NOTHING surpasses vigilance, and regular system file checks. I hope this has helped Hi Maurice, I in no way wish to contradict you as you are a bit of a whizz with hardware and have more experience than myself in that area, however, what you suggest contradicts my own experience and the experience I have read from others. So are you saying, because this will be of significance for my own information too, that it is possible to move a HD with a Win7 OS from one motherboard to another? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brito Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Maurice, mate, without contradicting your PC system management, and I believe in your vast experience, however, from personal experience, I can say that does not work. Even if someone would clone with a special software (eg Acronis) still have drivers incompatibility problems that will eventually taking the right approach: from scratch. But clone to/from the same pc is no problem. HDD / SSD that has the OS does not allow the transplant to another PC / MOBO: this is a safety criterion for Microsoft to ensure the sale of their licenses! Cheers, Sinesio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Interesting comments on the system setup you have made Maurice. definitely food for thought. I understand the proposition of cloning the OS immediately after installation (after the tweaks you mention) and having it set aside in case things go belly up as it would give you a clean install to write to the same hardware setup. However, the more I look into this the more I see that the comments Rockliffe made about Windows being tied to a mobo are true BUT is this just for an OEM version? My current installation is not an OEM version so it might be different. I planned on the OEM version (on disks) being donated to my son and installed on the old machine. On another tack - would installing a new instance of Win 7 64 on the new machine, then copying and moving the Registry and overwriting the new install, then moving the FSX installation disk to the new machine work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Andy unfortunately No moving the registry from a 32 bit will not work , 64 possibly but it might be able to be used as a band Aid and once the registry has been copied (this in itself is an issues as there are some strings that must not be overwritten) but if you have the time and want to try you can often be partially successful and only need to re-install various software that requires it, as I have done that for a client that was in a bit of a bind.The old adage how long is a piece of string comes to mind as some PC's will migrate to new hardware and some not this appears to be directly related to how the original OS was installed as well (remember what I said about things like Harvey Norman or similar pre-installed and OEM installs) I will not attempt to do anything with Dell PC's as IMHO they are Junk and only suitable for the Office Word and number cruncher. What you can do and I have done in the past is export and import registry strings to repair your upgraded hardware but this is a time consuming exercise and you need to KNOW what your doing with regedit or you are doomed to fail.Another thing I have been forced to try was 1 Do fresh install of Win 7 2 Shutdown and boot with Bart PE of similar management tool and then use xcopy (windows Tool) to copy the entire Windows OS (includes Registry) to the new install- this usually leaves the hidden files re the hardware in the root drive intact and allow boot up as per normal of your old drive structure. 3 Add all the Drives that were in the original system 4 Reboot If all has gone as it should You new install Win 7 Virgin ( With the new MoBo registration etc) and your old install will have merged leaving you with you old system in a new chassis and all you will need to do is install the MoBo driver's and so on for the new MoBo chipset etc. Moving Drives from one PC to another is easy of course and why I always recommend having only the OS and ONLY the OS on "C:/" so you only need space for that Drive in your archives. Other drives in the system can fail but touch wood I have not had a drive fail in over 15 years or more.Like I said above if you use archive drives wisely and back up your existing drives as they are by either creating an image, Creating a compressed ZIP, or just a blanket copy (large drives are cheap now) Images sometimes can cause issues when you want to retrieve just a few files or folder's where you can extract them from a ZIP or even a straight copy easily.And as for the argument about external backup drives, IMHO that is simply sales speak for I got you sucker. Internal v External either USB or eSATA drives are no more secure or protected from viri than anything else so don't think for an instant that your doing yourself any favors by using an external drive, it has been my experience that an external drive is much more volatile and prone to potential damage because it is being moved about, The HDD inside is no different than a regular drive so don't get suckered by popular misconception or PC Sales people as the argument simply doesn't hold water. Oh by the way I do not use ANY active Anti Virus software either, why because they will often cause the problem in the first place by quarantining a Windows file or other software file thinking it is malicious because of it's behavior stopping the system from either booting or running some software !! I will run several checks at the same time at random intervals , and am VERY careful about trial and or errant links on Web pages. Call me anal if you want as I have broadr shoulder's - but I also have a system that has been functional and migrated from previous systems and hardware without ever needing to be re installed. Much of what I have learned over the years flies in the face of the MSCE textbooks and in some cases works and some not - so try keep your original drives set asside and build up your PC with new drives and gradually migrate your system, have a go an learn. if you screw things up royally then too bad you were going to re-install anyway, if however you are successful or partially then you have taught yourself that you CAN repair your system and have learnt something by doing. I do not and have never claimed to be a PC guru, God knows I have bugger all hair left from all night PC sessions figuring out stuff.I would always try rather than just give up and re-install simply because I wanted to learn the hows and why's of my PC , and most importantly save clients data (the Prime driving force behind any PC tech) which is why I will always build systems that have an OS drive only with everything else on other drives so that when the OS fails all the client's user files and data are not lost. Many Jobs I have done I could NEVER charge an hourly rate but did for the challenge of saving their data, and self education. Andy is your system still currently running and operable ?You can still divorce your system from the OS and move it I believe, so maybe we should got on TeamSpeak and set up an remote admin session so I can show you a trick or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi Maurice Tried to PM you on this but you are blocked. Can you PM me an email address? Thanks Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Just to settle, hopefully, an issue with the tying of OS to Mobo. I have a PDF from Microsoft that refers explicitly to the tying of OEN versions of Windows to the Mobo on which it is first installed with a few exceptions related to Mobo failure and subsequent replacement under warranty. It mentions nothing at all about a full retail version being similarly encumbered. A Google search using the following terms will get it for those interested (without the quotes) "oem software licensing rules restrictions microsoft" Google searches indicate a full retail version is fully transferable and can be activated online. Thanks to everyone for their contributions. Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 That IS why I NEVER buy OEM PC's but rather Build the PC myself and buy propriety Software and not use imaged crap like prebuilt systems. as IMHO they simply SUCK.If you have ALL your original CD's and DVD you can transfer the licence to your new chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Actually I didn't buy an OEM PC as in a pre-built system - I bought the various components to build the thing and because I bought a new motherboard I also qualified for the OEM version of Windows and have the shiny disk in my hand and it is not an imaged version. Even has the lovely MS hologram. When you say I can transfer the licence to the new chassis do you mean that if I move the HDDs and SSD (windows only) to the new chassis Windows will detect the new motherboard and either accept the move or at worst have me get a fresh authorisation code from MS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Yes Andy essentially you should be able to simply move all your drives into the new chassis and in some cases do a repair with your legit CD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brito Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Very good to have a result. Please, Andy, after everything is installed on your new PC, could you give feedback? I would add that to my knowledge. Everything OK now. Good day to all. Sinesio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Some interesting info here. Thanks Maurice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydor Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The donated machine to your son would be better off keeping the original windows, as it is matched to the Chip/MOBO. So you will most probably have to purchase a new windows disk for the new machine.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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