Cloning a hard drive from one laptop to a new laptop

No cables are used. Instead, you copy the hard drive from the old computer and restore it to the new computer. It's that simple, except that there is one very important 'gotcha' to know.

First, some terminology. There are two ways to make an identical copy of a hard drive: an image and a clone. An image excludes the empty sectors of a drive, while a clone includes everything. A clone is used by law enforcement to study the contents of the drive. You only need an image.

To create an image, and to restore it later, you need disk image software. Of course, you'll have to spend some time learning how to use it.

Now for the big gotcha:

Your existing Windows installation includes drivers for your existing hardware. But you're going to be restoring your image to a computer with different hardware, and that can result in big problems that are impossible to predict in advance.

To deal with this, your imaging application needs to be able to do a hardware-independent restore. That's where the image is restored with generic drivers that will suffice to get the computer going. Then you'll have to remove the incorrect drivers and replace them with proper drivers.

Are you referring to a system drive, as in cloning a system drive from your previous laptop to your new laptop so that your new laptop will have the same OS and installed programs?  If this is the case, you're going to run into major problems, as in it probably won't work, not only because of the Windows license, but also because the old drive is set up to run on your old laptop, not the new one.    

Cloning a system drive normally refers to either cloning for a backup, or cloning a system drive to a new drive that is going to go into the same laptop, like if you are upgrading to an SSD or upgrading to a larger size drive.

Hopefully I am using the wrong terminology.   I have been told by many people that I could move all my information on my old laptop onto the new one, including programs (such as Microsoft office), including macros....   Also my desktop would all be the same as on my old computer.   

Is this possible?   suggestions?

AHHHH.  Okay.  I see what you're saying.  

Sometimes I see people thinking that they can clone the entire drive.  Like if someone were to build a new desktop, then want to clone the system drive from the old desktop to the new one so they don't have to buy an OS for the new desktop.  Almost like taking the system drive out of the old and putting in the new and expecting it to work. 

And I know most laptops come with a preinstalled OS, but sometimes people buy them without such and install their own, which is what I was thinking might be the case here.   

I'm not at all familiar with the procedure to do what you are talking about, but I believe that you can.  I have so little on my desktop that when I build a new one or buy a new laptop to replace my old one I just transfer my programs and files from the old to the new using a flash drive, or if I can't, I just reinstall what I need, though I still have to buy an OS (for the desktop), or at least the license/product key for one and install from a disk I already have.   

I hope you have luck in being able to do what you want to do.

"No cables are used. Instead, you copy the hard drive from the old computer and restore it to the new computer. It's that simple, except that there is one very important 'gotcha' to know".

This is the part that completely confuses me.  HOW do I get the information from one computer to the other without a cable....   

I do believe you are right about image, vs clone..  When our computer guy at work did this, he did say image.  Also he removed the hard drive and moved all the information to a new one, then installed the computer.  So it did not go from one computer to another.  

How do I remove the incorrect drivers, will the errors pop up?

THANKS for all your help.

Hopefully I am using the wrong terminology.   I have been told by many people that I could move all my information on my old laptop onto the new one, including programs (such as Microsoft office), including macros....   Also my desktop would all be the same as on my old computer.   

Is this possible?   suggestions?