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I have a Dell 8700 with Windows 10 activated and various applications all on a 256GB SSD. I have purchased a used Dell 9020 with a new 256GB SSD with Windows 10 activated, and I want to use Macrium reflect to clone the first machine - applications and all - to the second. So the procedure will be:

  • Use Macrium to get image backup of first machine
  • Record 25-character Windows key from second machine
  • Restore the image backup to the second machine
  • enter the windows key in the second machine
  • restore any drivers

question 1: concerns the Windows license - will just re-entering it be sufficient?

question 2: are there any fishhooks to this approach in general, or is it safer to reinstall everything by hand?

rossmcm
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1 Answers1

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One possible issue: licenses for products will be duplicated verbatim, so those applications likely need new licenses.

Another possible issue: though similar, the machines are not identical, so you might need to update drivers to get it to work.

That said, it would not take long to test this transfer, safely:

  • Make an image of the new PC's drive before attempting anything else, verify it, and keep it in case you ever want to restore to as-purchased condition, e.g., for sale or return.
  • Then try cloning the original drive, as you outlined, to the new PC. Even with HDD's, that would take much less than an hour, and the SSD's should need just a few minutes.

If the clone works well, or just needs drivers downloaded from Dell installed, well and good... check out license issues; and if not, you've got a fallback.

DrMoishe Pippik
  • 37,887