May I use my existing software indefinitely?

[George Tyndall]

I am in the process of cloning my current Win7 machine, which functions amazingly.

Questions:

If ever I am forced to purchase a new machine, will it boot with the clone as if nothing happened?

Or, would I need to use Acronis' Universal Restore to restore an image of my current machine to the drive of the new machine and then run the System Repair Disk of the new machine?

Or, none of the above?

Thank you.

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, a clone should give you a bootable drive. Assuming you don't need any new drivers for your new hardware..

In fact, you could load Windows 3.1 on your computer if you'd like and it will still run. Though, as time goes on, there's going to less and less support for all of these older operating systems.

Windows 10 is definitely the future, whether you like it or not. And I think that ultimately will prove to be a good thing. Microsoft's biggest challenge has been trying to support all things on every machine (while Mac has the advantage of limiting its support to its own machines). Focusing on Windows 10 will give the guys in Redmond just one operating system to focus on and perfect.

But enough lecturing. The short answer is yes. A cloned drive should be identical to the original.

[Peru]

If ever I am forced to purchase a new machine, will it boot with the clone as if nothing happened?

Or, would I need to use Acronis' Universal Restore to restore an image of my current machine to the drive of the new machine and then run the System Repair Disk of the new machine?

Or, none of the above?

I am skeptical about the ability of a clone from one machine properly booting on a different machine. I have, on occasion, had problems booting from a clone on the same machine and have had to go into the BIOS to set the clone as a boot device.

[George Tyndall]

I have, on occasion, had problems booting from a clone on the same machine and have had to go into the BIOS to set the clone as a boot device.

Please elaborate how to do that.

Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

Most BIOS options have a Boot Device setting and Boot Order. You can set a CD drive or other drive as the boot drive and in various order. If the system doesn't find a bootable device it moves to the next one in the order until it finds a bootable device. I am assuming you know how to get to the BIOS screen on your machine.

[Peru]

Some help here:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... oot+device

[Bob]

Two issues:

1) Drivers. If the chipset changes you will need drivers corresponding to the new chipset. This is the issue that Acronis' Universal Restore was designed to handle.

2) License. The original Windows installation creates a hash key based on the installed hardware and hardware ids/serial numbers that is used along with your product key to activate and register your copy of Windows. If the hardware changes, the hash key no longer matches. Periodically, Windows will validate the installation. The validation routine can accommodate small changes in hardware, but If enough hardware changes, Windows will treat it as a new machine and it will need to be activated again. Here the terms of the license apply. While there are exceptions, in general, Microsoft uses a one computer one operating system licensing model where the Operating system is tied to a specific computer.

[George Tyndall]

Some help here:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... oot+device

Thanks for the link.

I'm familiar with holding the ESC key at startup. Is that what you mean by "enter the BIOS"?

If yes, then I have another question. After I've created the clone, I'm assuming that the next step is to shut down, unplug the source drive, and then attempt to boot with the clone -- and if that fails, then I need to restart to enter the BIOS and select the cloned HDD.

Is that correct?

[George Tyndall]

Two issues:

1) Drivers. If the chipset changes you will need drivers corresponding to the new chipset. This is the issue that Acronis' Universal Restore was designed to handle.

Problem is, in my experience Acronis' products sometimes do not actually function as specified, despite rave reviews. Do you have any experience with Universal Restore?

2) License. ....

So if activation was refused, the only solution would be to keep the machine offline?[/

[George Tyndall]

Well, a clone should give you a bootable drive. Assuming you don't need any new drivers for your new hardware.

Thanks for the reply, Steve.

My attempt to boot with the cloned drive initially failed; however, booting with a Win7 System Repair Disk (SRD) and restarting a couple of times solved the problem.

Does this likely mean that the SRD went online to find and download the correct driver, or is there some other more-likely explanation?

[Steve Grisetti]

That's beyond my area of expertise, George. Hopefully someone else will know the answer.

[Bob]

The System Repair disc isn't concerned about the system drivers and doesn't go online to download the correct ones. The startup repair function is designed to check the various components such as the boot manager and the boot configuration data that are necessary to allow the OS to begin loading and repair them if missing or corrupted. Startup repair can only fix one component at a time so you may need to boot several times if more than one thing needs fixing.

The system drivers come into play when the OS is actually loaded. That's subsequent to the boot process. Windows does come with many drivers preinstalled. But, depending on the specific hardware in the PC you may need additional drivers, updated drivers, or a manufacturer customized driver instead of the standard driver.

[George Tyndall]

The system drivers come into play when the OS is actually loaded. That's subsequent to the boot process. Windows does come with many drivers preinstalled. But, depending on the specific hardware in the PC you may need additional drivers, updated drivers, or a manufacturer customized driver instead of the standard driver.

Thanks for yet another clarification, Bob.