Backup old computer and restore onto new computer

desertman · 23 Oct 2018

A friend of mine smashed his all-in-on PC with Windows 10 Home and asked me to make a backup of his data and later restore the data onto his new PC. I have basically two questions about this:

1.) How do I do the backup best? Can this be done with Windows' own backup feature, or is it better to use a third-party application for that (which one)?

2.) Is it later possible to restore everything (desktop, documents, applications, settings, email accounts and emails) or is that basically with Windows not possible? Is something like EaseUS Todo PCTrans a good applications for such a task?

I'm asking this because I am mainly a Mac person where such a task would be easy but I remember that at least in the past this kind of data transfer was not easy or even not possible with Windows.

Thanks for your help!

Steve C · 24 Oct 2018

Most people on the forum including me use the excellent Macrium Reflect Free. This is normally used to back up your system and data partitions to enable a full system recovery.You can mount the Macrium backup image as a virtual disk and recover individual files / folders as you wish.

dalchina · 24 Oct 2018

1.) How do I do the backup best? Can this be done with Windows' own backup feature, or is it better to use a third-party application for that (which one)?

Depends what state the PC is in.

a. Disk imaging (compressed copy of used part of selected partitions/disks)
- we so often recommend Macrium Reflect (free). Extremely well documented.
- If the PC is bootable, download and install MR and use it
- If the PC is not bootable, use Kyhi's live boot disk (available from the top of the Software and Apps section here, thene either create a bootable USB disk or burn to a DVD if there's a DVD drive. Boot the PC from it, Macrium Reflect and a whole bunch of other tools are on that disk.

b. If the disk is damaged or failing (CRC errors) it will not be possible to create a disk image. In that case you can boot the PC using Kyhi's disk and recover what data you can from it.

Forget trying to use Windows 7 Backup and Restore - problematic- MS recommends using 3rd party tools.

2.) Is it later possible to restore everything (desktop, documents, applications, settings, email accounts and emails) or is that basically with Windows not possible? Is something like EaseUS Todo PCTrans a good applications for such a task?

If what's on disk is viable, you have the following options:
a. Clean install on a new PC, and, using the disk image you have created (above) use e.g. Laplink PC Mover or PCTrans - the license for using a disk image was cheaper when I looked a long time back. Using a disk image is far more convenient.

b. Clone the existing disk (or create a disk image). Put the disk into the new PC. With a bit of luck, Windows will adapt its drivers to the new environment.

c. Use a 3rd party tool to support bare metal restore (e.g. a Macrium tool)
Redeploying to a bare metal PC using Macrium Reflect v5 - YouTube

Licensing: You should be able to move the Win 10 license to the new machine.

These are just basic notes on a complicated area with a number of possible options and issues.

You may also consider creating an iso from the existing installation, if it is viable:
Create Windows 10 ISO image from Existing Installation | Windows 10 Tutorials

Note: in transferring to a new PC, the options you choose may depend on (for example)
- whether you're moving from a MBR (legacy) build and now wish to use UEFI / GPT
- whether you're moving from HDD to SSD on the new PC