Cloning,Syncing which is better

[Novel8]

The computer these days have a lot of info on such subjects, unfortunately they are outdated...what was Free a year ago is not Free any longer and users should be warned about this before they proceed. As for my case, I would like to get my laptop win 10 version moved to my desktop's SSD drive. Some warn against imaging...some say to clone and I recall syncing my Firefox browser from one pc to another and wondered if this could be done with operating systems too. Like I said i was unfortunate to take advantage of the Ease free version or Macrium Free version when it was offered and now they are charging. . I've tried to install win 10 via Media creation tool, but found out later that it is very difficult to do so if one is trying to install to a SSD drive. It can be done, but mainly by cloning or something similar.

[DaveLembke]

I would like to get my laptop win 10 version moved to my desktop's SSD drive.

This is against Microsofts EULA

However you can install a clean install of Windows 10 to systems.

Only migration I ever did that was a EULA grey area was a system that was dying of a bad motherboard with the capacitor plague which would randomly freeze up, software was installed to system that once installed it couldn't be migrated to another system as its all licensed specifically to the system that was ill, and the company that made the software didn't make any exceptions to getting another activation onto a newer computer because they lacked the ability of knowing if a 2nd system was going to be brought to life with their software and so they demanded spending $3500 for a new licensed copy of the software, and so for the client who has this issue I had them retain the troubled system to the side "not running it", and making its build into an image. Then running the image of the system through Virtual PC 2007 on a healthy system to use the expensive software that was non-transferable to save them from having to spend $3500 again.

I've tried to install win 10 via Media creation tool, but found out later that it is very difficult to do so if one is trying to install to a SSD drive.

Windows 10 installation is easy and fast with a SSD as long as all hardware is healthy and supports it and plenty of RAM, 4GB or more suggested. So not sure why you have had difficulty with a clean installation as once media is made for Windows 10, boot system from it and follow the prompts, and if you refuse connecting it to the internet through the build process of the OS you can have local logon credentials vs through a Microsoft account logon. I always make sure my systems are disconnected physically from the internet when installing 10 to have local authentication of the legacy local authentication type.

*Possible Installation Problems I've seen:

- HDD or SSD is not healthy and refuses to take the installation...

- You may need to disable UEFI in bios to get it to boot from USB stick of DVD...

- You may need to change boot order so that USB or Optical DVD drive is listed prior to HDD or SSD drive...

- You may need to use a different USB flash drive as some have issues supporting bootable media and they will either be skipped by the system as if no image to boot from -or- the image on the USB stick will partially load the installer and lock up the system in a hung state.

[Novel8]

 HDD or SSD is not healthy and refuses to take the installation...Even if the SSD drive is new?

- You may need to disable UEFI in bios to get it to boot from USB stick of DVD...This i never tried

- You may need to change boot order so that USB or Optical DVD drive is listed prior to HDD or SSD drive...Always had the usb set first

- You may need to use a different USB flash drive as some have issues supporting bootable media and they will either be skipped by the system as if no image to boot from -or- the image on the USB stick will partially load the installer and lock up the system in a hung state. My Media creat. tool gets me always to the finished line on installing and the only thing i get recrded is the Cortana welcme info and NO viewable system...that is as far as i get with first reboot that informs us its going to do.

[DaveLembke]

My Media creat. tool gets me always to the finished line on installing and the only thing i get recrded is the Cortana welcme info and NO viewable system...that is as far as i get with first reboot that informs us its going to do.

Ok with the SSD replaced with new and its crashing through the install at the Cortana welcome....

Some more questions:

Has this system ever run windows 10 before properly - or -  trying to install 10 to it now but it was originally sold with XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8?

And what are the system specs such as the CPU and amount of RAM your using, and the make/model number?

Have you run a memory test like Memtest86 on system to verify that the RAM is healthy?

[SHENGTON]

I understand your concern about the availability of free software for moving your operating system from one computer to another. While it is true that some software that used to be free may now be paid, there are still options available for cloning or imaging your operating system.

One option for cloning your operating system is to use a live CD or live USB drive with a cloning software such as Clonezilla. This will allow you to boot your computer from the live CD or USB and clone your existing operating system to the new drive.

Another option is to use a tool such as the Microsoft System Image Backup utility, which is included with Windows 10. This tool allows you to create a full system image of your current operating system, including all of your files and settings, which you can then restore to the new drive on your desktop computer.

It is important to note that cloning or imaging your operating system is not the same as syncing your Firefox browser. Syncing your browser simply means that your bookmarks, history, and other settings will be copied from one computer to another, whereas cloning or imaging your operating system will create a complete copy of the entire operating system, including all installed programs and settings.

I hope this information helps. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

[Novel8]

If I am not mistaken....is it the same backup used in win 7? That is what i see on my win 10 notebook. I used that same backup for win 7 a year ago and tried to restore it from a crash and for some reason it did not do what i had hoped it did do. Possibly, i attended it wrong. Can you give me a few tips on how to setup a usb to do what u suggested?