StarchyPizza Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Okay So I am going to build a PC soon, and would like to take a bit for bot copy of my current laptop HDD and load it onto the new HDD. I know you're saying, why not just backup and re-download programs. But I wanted to try something a little different. So I saw on an episode of Hak5 that using Helix and other tools Chris Gerling got bit for bit of an HDD. Can this work in my situation? Or is this just way too much work for something so stupid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Okay So I am going to build a PC soon, and would like to take a bit for bot copy of my current laptop HDD and load it onto the new HDD. I know you're saying, why not just backup and re-download programs. But I wanted to try something a little different. So I saw on an episode of Hak5 that using Helix and other tools Chris Gerling got bit for bit of an HDD. Can this work in my situation? Or is this just way too much work for something so stupid? Taking an installation of windows and using it on another computer of significantly different hardware isn't going to work so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 It is possible, its just going to be a kludge and will probally not work 100%. What you have to do is install all the drivers to the current install of windows and sysprep the machine. This will strip all the account information and settings, and shut the machine down. If you then DD the disk to the next machine, and reboot it will run a mini-setup and hopefully it will boot to your former login screen. However, there is a bit of trial and error required here, so in all honesty I would just reinstall on the new machine. Check out the universal imaging section of this forum: http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewforum.php?id=30 The user state migration tool is a better idea: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library...57090.aspx#EEAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarchyPizza Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yeah now that you explain it all out it sounds more like a pain in the ass than anything fun or interesting. I probably won't do it all. I might just reformat the drive and throw it in my new machine and use it for music, videos, and pictures. So then if I ever need to get a new machine I can just swap it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 If you take all the drivers in the system and roll lthem back or uninstall them to the base windows install drivers(ex: like 16 color vga vs your GPU drivers), uninstall any hardware like nics, sound card, etc, then make the copy, when you boot into the other machine, it should see it like a new install, and then you can just install all the drivers for the other machines hardware. Not sure if it would work, but worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviltechie Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Something tells me that it would be illegal, (OEM license) and even if you did do it, it probably wouldn't work anyway (OEM problems). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickarse Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Its not illegal as long as he's not using the same copy of the install in a different place at the same time. And I think the license even stipulates 3 installs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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