[GTO]

Good morning!

My current 2.5 year old Dell Latitude has turned out to be an unreliable lemon like a used DC Avanti (think 2 motherboards changed, hanging up or freezing multiple times a month, keyboard failure, battery failure and lots more). This is indisputably the worst laptop I have owned. What's more, Dell India's support is pathetic. Do note that I have a 5-year warranty on this Latitude, but am willing to discard it because of the unreliability.

Now, I need to buy a new laptop. But my Windows 10 environment is highly customised with settings, software etc. It takes me about 1 month of free time to set it up the way I want it. That's why I usually buy a laptop just once in 5 - 6 years.

Right now, I need a new computer, but don't have the time to set it up. If I move from my existing Windows 10 laptop to a new Windows 10 laptop, is there a way to migrate all my software & settings? I read up online and it appears that something like Acronis Universal Restore might do the trick? Any other options?

Thanks much in advance.

P.S. Am already a very happy user of Acronis True Image.

[reignofchaos]

If you can move the hard drive, it is the easiest way. Else you need a PC where you can connect both the current drive and the new drive. Then you can simply clone the partition using something like macrium reflect (free version). This is what I do setting up a PC (I have quite a few at home).

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

move the hard drive

+1

Windows 10 has made this much easier. Just move (or clone) the hard drive / ssd / nvme and leave it alone for ~10 hours (and connected to net).

Expect this to happen :

1. Activation warning for few hours
2. In those few hours licence will automatically be migrated (based on the license already configured in BIOS of new laptop). That is, if new laptop is from Dell/ Thinkpad / HP and other brands that are typically used by companies with 100k+ machines.
3. Machine should "just work"

[roamer012]

Originally Posted by GTO

Now, I need to buy a new laptop. But my Windows 10 environment is highly customised with settings, software etc. It takes me about 1 month of free time to set it up the way I want it. That's why I usually buy a laptop just once in 5 - 6 years.

Right now, I need a new computer, but don't have the time to set it up. If I move from my existing Windows 10 laptop to a new Windows 10 laptop, is there a way to migrate all my software & settings?

I would go with this. This is Microsoft's recommended migration solution. Microsoft has partnered up with vendor Laplink PC Mover to duplicate the functionality offered by Easy Transfer (The inbuilt Microsoft tool which has now been scrapped).

[NaXal]

Moving the hard disk suggestion is the easiest & has the best chance of success

However there is one issue with laptop platform. Warranty of your new device may void in case that new laptop doesn't allow user replaceable components (RAM, HDD etc.)

Secondly, in case your new device is with NVMe or SSD platform, you may not have a second HDD slot. Or even if you do have a second slot, your new laptop may come with a smaller size SSD / NVNe compared to your present HDD size.

So even before you plan moving your disc, first thing is to plan your purchase.

1. Buy a laptop which has user replaceable RAM/Storage option.
2. In this age, you must buy a laptop with NVMe drive along with option (slot) to install second hard disc.
3. Make sure your new laptop comes with larger amount of NVMe storage compared to your present system partition size (normally your C: partition)
4. Clone the system partition to your new Laptops native C: drive (NVMe)

Lastly, we may need little more information about about your present software & hardware configuration.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by GTO

If I move from my existing Windows 10 laptop to a new Windows 10 laptop, is there a way to migrate all my software & settings? I read up online and it appears that something like Acronis Universal Restore might do the trick? Any other options?

Yes, Acronis True Image is a good migration tool. But in your case I won't recommend it. You are buying a new laptop with Windows 10. So don't simply migrate all software and tools along with all junk registry keys. Configure your new laptop slowly by updating to the latest OS version, installing Office tools and Acrobat. Transfer all required files (works and backups) from current to new laptop. Later install all other necessary software on go.

NB: Subscribe for Microsoft 365 Business Basic @ Rs. 1,628 for 1 TB storage and domain email ID. Keep files in cloud and forget about data loss. It has encryption at rest and Personal Vault to keep your highly confidential files with 2 factor authentication

Cheers!

Vinu

[saisailendra]

I'm no computer "expert", but I have some knowledge and so will share with you whatever I know. I agree with Vinu. A bit off topic, if you're getting a new laptop, it most probably might come with a SSD or NVMe type of storage. If your old laptop has HDD, then the difference in performance with respect to speeds will be very high. I mean to say, the new SSDs or NVMe type of storages will be much much faster. So swapping your old HDD in place of the newer one will take away that advantage of speed. (The advantage is something you don't want to miss)

If your old laptop came with a SSD, then you already used it for 2 years, so, it has its share of wear. So swapping the new one wouldn't be a great idea. (Reduced longevity)

I've read at places that cloning the harddrive including OS, will also result in the SSD not functioning to its true capabilities. So if it's just the files, it's okay, but if you're planning to clone the OS, it isn't worth it. A clean install of the OS will give you the best speeds of your SSD.

Now technology advanced so much in the past few years, I remember days when it used to take 1 minute to copy 1 GB of files from an external harddisk to the computer. Now with USB 3, it takes seconds. Thunderbolt is much faster, if we have the devices that support it. I copied 24 GB files in ~ 4 minutes from an external hardisk yesterday. And if the external storage device is based on SSD (external SSD or a SSD in USB 3 enclosure), the speeds will be much faster. So transferring data will happen rather quickly.

So I'd choose transferring files manually and having a clean OS install to avoid any niggles and have a clean experience with the new system. Same goes with the software installations. After all, you are probably going to spend a lot of time over years with the new laptop ! It's just an opinion though.

For file transfers, if budget permits, you can get an external SSD. Or make one by yourself at a relatively cheaper price. I ordered a 250 GB Samsung evo SSD on Amazon and recieved a 500 GB one . I then ordered an Orico external enclosure of USB 3 for about 600 bucks and made the whole thing an external SSD. It looks ugly, but it is extremely fast.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by GTO

My current 2.5 year old Dell Latitude has turned out to be an unreliable lemon like a used DC Avanti (think 2 motherboards changed, hanging up or freezing multiple times a month, keyboard failure, battery failure and lots more). This is indisputably the worst laptop I have owned. What's more, Dell India's support is pathetic. Do note that I have a 5-year warranty on this Latitude, but am willing to discard it because of the unreliability.

On a side note, have you tried to escalate your service requests to their Advanced Resolution Services team? I too had some extremely pathetic experiences with Dell, and got so fed up that I sent them a very strongly worded email cc'ing Michael Dell and Alok Ohrie (Dell India VP), and the very next day got a call from the ARS team. They were extremely prompt in the matter and even resulted in one of my laptops being replaced completely FOC, even though the 10 day return window was way over.

Worth a shot in my opinion if you can give it one more chance!