Clone System to Dissimilar Hardware with Secure Boot
You can easily clone system to dissimilar hardware without booting issues, either using cloning or imaging methods, in different situations. FREE download AOMEI Backupper to get started!
Cloning is a very effective way to transfer Windows 10 from one computer to another including its operating system, installed programs, drivers, personal data, etc. It requires the two machines to have the same or similar hardware. But what if you want clone system to dissimilar hardware?
“I have two Windows 10 computers with different hardware. Tried using creating images using Windows Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and restoring, but the system goes to a blue screen. Is there a good way to clone Windows 10 system to different hardware and have it boot?” – Spiceworks
The dissimilar hardware clone usually comes along with incompatible drivers or other issues, which is a very tricky issue. But do not lose hope.
- Newer systems like Windows 10 and 11 have better driver compatibility. For Windows 7/8 & previous systems, try the imaging method instead.
- With reliable software, you can still clone system to dissimilar hardware without boot issues.
- We'll also provide useful tips to help you smoothly through this process.
It also helps when you don't create a backup image before your system fails, your hardware (motherboard, CPU, etc) fails, or you change it.
What do you need?
As mentioned early, cloning to dissimilar hardware is tricky. Thus, to be sure the process goes smoothly, you need to have the following items on hand.
✔ Confirm if the new computer is compatible with the old computer. You can check the hardware specifications or contact a technician if necessary.
✔ Prepare a new HDD or SSD. Consider getting a new SSD if you don't have budget restrictions, it can give your computer a new lease of life with top performance. For peak computer performance, it's suggested to prepare an M.2 NVMe SSD and clone Windows 10 to NVME SSD. More importantly, be sure the target disk has enough space to hold all your data.
✔ Prepare a connector. If your computer is a laptop with only one slot, you will need a connector for cloning. It can USB-to-SATA adapter, dock, or enclosure, depending on the disk interface.
✔ Backup files on the destination disk. If your disk has any critical files, please backup files to external hard drive or other storage device in advance. Because the cloning process will delete files on the destination disk.
✔ Employ a reliable cloning software. Choosing one reliable cloning software is necessary to ensure the cloned drive is bootale, your programs run properly and the data is safe. AOMEI Backupper Professional is a great choice, released by AOMEI, the leader in data protection.
- No bundled software and 100% clean.
- Bootable clone OS or entire disk (e.g. Disk Clone) in 3 easy steps.
- Intelligent clone large HDD to smaller SSD, such as clone 1TB HDD to 500GB SSD.
- Optimize the performance of SSD disk to boost a computer faster.
- Handle the partition size and partition style issue well while cloning.
- Restore system to dissimilar hardware (using Universal Restore) in Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 without driver issues.
100% SecureClone Windows 10/11 to different hardware in 3 steps
If your new computer is Windows 10 or 11 or has similar hardware, try to clone Windows 10/11 to different hardware. For server users, try AOMEI Backupper Server
Now, free download reliable cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional to start.
If your computer doesn't start, you can still create a bootable disk and clone the system or disk without loading Windows.
Step 1. Select a cloning method.
Connect your new HDD or SSD and be sure it's recognized. Launch AOMEI Backupper Professional after installing it, click Clone and System Clone.
Step 2. Select a destination partition.
Select the connected SSD as the destination path and click Next. It can be any SSD disk brand, such as Samsung, WD, Toshiba, Seagate, etc. So you can use it to clone HDD to Samsung SSD or other brands easily.
Step 3. Set up and clone OS to dissimilar hardware.
Tick SSD Alignment to further improve the reading and writing speed of your SSD disk as well as prolong its lifespan. Then, preview the operation and click Start Clone to clone system to dissimilar hardware.
After cloning, you need to test if the cloned SSD is bootable.
- Just disconnect the cloned SSD from the current computer and then install it on the new computer.
- After that, start your computer and boot from it.
- If it does not, you need to change the boot priority in BIOS first.
Backup and restore Windows 7/8 to different hardware
If you are using old systems such as Windows 7, 8, 8.1, Vista, and XP, your computer may not boot from the cloned drive due to incompatible drivers.
At this time, it will be a better choice to backup and restore system to different hardware with AOMEI Backupper Professional. Its Universal Restore feature will install all necessary drivers to start a Windows. Of course, this method also applies to Windows 10 and 11.
By using this method, you need to make some effort before restoring as follows.
- Create a system image backup or disk backup with this software, it depends on the items you want to retain. Here take System Backup as an example.
- Create boot repair USB to boot bare metal computer or when it's unbootable. Go to Tools and choose Create Bootable Media.
- Prepare an external device to store the backup image.
Steps to perform dissimilar hardware restore
Once the preparations for the different hardware restores are ready, you can then connect the backup drive to the new computer to get started.
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For a bootable computer: install AOMEI Backupper Professional on it and activate it with a license key. Then, launch it.
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For a bare metal or unbootable PC: insert the created bootable USB, access BIOS, and set it as the first boot option. Wait until you see AOMEI Backupper Professional.
Step 1. When accessing AOMEI Backupper, click Restore > Select Task.
Step 2. Select system backup and click Next. If not, please select the backup image manually by clicking the Back button and choosing the Select Image File option on the previous page.
Step 3. Tick Restore this system backup and Restore system to other location. Then, click Next to continue.
Step 4. Select the prepared new disk and click Next.
Step 5. Tick SSD Alignment to accelerate the reading and writing speed of the SSD disk & prolong its lifespan (if it is). Preview the operation summary and click Start Restore to begin dissimilar hardware restore.
- By default, the Universal Restore feature is checked if it detects different hardware to install the necessary drivers for starting Windows.
- Other drivers, such as sound or video card drivers, NIC drivers, display drivers, etc., will not be installed by default. You need to install them manually after restoring them.
In addition, this software also helps to deploy images to multiple computers simultaneously. Its AOMEI Image Deploy feature (supported by Technician or TechPlus edition) requires a system image and supports booting multiple computers at a time from a network.
Wrapping things up
You can choose to clone or restore to dissimilar hardware in different situations. The previous one is easier and quick but limited to Windows 10 and 11. And it's really useful when you want to replace a laptop HDD with SSD without reinstalling Windows.
The second one is more compatible, you can use it on all Windows systems, especially when considering the long-term data protections and batch image deployment. For bare metal restore to dissimilar hardware within one company, AOMEI Backupper Technician or TechPlus edition will be a better choice.
Anyway, it's suggested to keep AOMEI Backupper installed on your computer.
FAQs on cloning to dissimilar hardware
1. What is dissimilar hardware?
2. Can you clone a hard drive and use it on a different computer?
3. Is it better to clone or image a hard drive?
Both cloning and imaging create exact copies of a hard drive.
- The cloning copy is one-to-one snapshots (for current data) at a point in time while the imaging copy can be scheduled.
- Also, the cloning copy offers easy access to your data and the imaging offers continuous data protection.
It doesn't mean which one is better, but whether it meets your needs at the time.