Just to clarify, by boot process you just mean putting the SSD in the boot order right?
So the process would be:
- Clone
- Shutdown
- Remove old HDD
- Boot into BIOS, change boot order
- Boot into windows from SSD
- Plug old HDD in and reformat
Right?
Yeah if you wanna use the hdd as storage, right right. If you put it on the same data port that the HDD was on, you shouldn't have to change in BIOS
Yeah I need all the space I can muster because I'm quite the data scrooge, so it'll be straight back into service. I'll probably leave it a while just to have a drop in fix just in case the clone corrupted something.
I won't be moving the ssd into the hdd slot though as I've got all 8 SATA ports populated and they are hidden behind the graphics card. To compound the issue that is the location of a gordian knot of cables due to the "organic" upgrades over the years alongside the cable management in this case being awful, it's now five and a half years old and the fans have started to play up, along with the crap fan controller that hasn't worked properly since it was 6 months old.
TL;DR The next time I move things around in this case is to migrate to a new one.
Thanks for your help.
1 Like
Format the drive once you're done so you can maximize on the available space
I might going to need this in future.
I'm planning on upgrading from my FX8350 to X99.
So i need to find a way to migrate my current OS over.
Basicly i could just un-install all motherboard related drivers and stuff manually.
But it would have been nice, if there is some sort of a tool that could do this for me.
I´m not sure if sysprep is actually doing that.
I think that sysprep is more of a reset tool, not uninstalling any driver related things.
But i cannot say for sure.
Activation is not really a concern, i might do a full clean install eventually.
Because that is what i allways prefer.
But sometimes i dont have the time for it.
You're going to have to do a reinstall for things to work nicely, whether you do it the out fashioned way or with sysprep. AMD>Intel or vice versa isn't something I would advise.
Yeah i know its probably going to be a pain in the rear.
i personally prefer to do a re-install aswell.
Allthough since in the enterprise world, allot of system getting re-imaged.
I´m currious if there is some way to make a full backup image of my current installation + programms, but excluding any drivers.
So that you could basicly re-image it on another machine (X99) machine, and only having to install new drivers afterwards.
Most of the essential drivers are basicly plug and play like usb and sata controllers.
However indeed, if i go from an AMD based system to an intel system.
I might run into bluescreen issue.
Running sysprep is probably something that you'll want to do. If I have some time tomorrow, I'll get screenshots and throw together some details on using sysprep
A couple things here.
- The only driver relevant to booting Windows, as far as systems deployment is concerned, is the storage driver for the storage controller present on the motherboard. Intel/AMD architecture does not matter as long as the CPU supports it (64-bit OS image -> 32-bit Atom CPU is a no-no). Booting method (BIOS/UEFI) does not matter as long as OS supports it (Win 7 x64 Pro or above can do UEFI booting).
- Images that have not been syspreped tend to bluescreen when transferred to different hardware because the storage controller's driver needs to load very early on along with the kernel, so there are not enough checks to ensure that it is the correct storage driver.
- Due to the way Windows associates specific storage drivers with specific instances of the OS, sysprep is necessary to ask Windows do de-associate ALL drivers from the OS instance in preparation for a hardware transfer. No drivers are deleted in this process.
- Without sysprep and assuming the storage controller loaded successfully (slim chance, but it does happen), Windows will just assume some (or all) devices have gone missing and not load the drivers for those devices, even if the software software is still present on the image. Windows will Windows will naturally detect that new devices have been installed and attempt to locate drivers for those new devices, either locally only or, if configured to, from Windows Update.
- For the reasons above, I recommend dropping the idea that uninstalling drivers is necessary. It is not, and while conflicts are not unheard of, they are relatively rare. AMD->Intel transfers and vica-versa are not an issue either, provided the machine has been syspreped.
- Sysprep operations have a very high chance of failing.
- Failed sysprep operations irrecoverably bork an image. This is why using virtual-machines that can do snapshots+restore are invaluable in enterprise-style workflows.
- Be prepared to reinstall in the likely case that sysprep fails, but be happy that you do not have to in the case that is succeeds.
- It is usually necessary to dynamically install the storage controller (AHCI driver) of the target system via the DISM tool with something resembling the following syntax: "/image:c:\ /add-driver D:\drivers\mymobo\win7x64\storage\ahci /recurse". This can be done prior to capture, to a captured but mounted image, or in post-deployment before the first boot from the target system.
1 Like
Yeah i will have some stuff to think about.
Its basicly a matter of luck afterall.
I´m going to buy a second SSD and clone my current install to that in the first place.
Simply because i want a bigger SSD as my main drive, then i currently have.
And then i could also try if its going to boot or not on the X99 system.
I think we all should participate in the education of each other as techs, none of us know everything there is to know; nor will we ever. I also believe that educating techs should be exclusively the purview of other techs--who have experience to back them up. Otherwise, you're getting theory and not practical application, however, that's just my opinion.
2 Likes