Posted 15 December 2023
Help transferring data to new laptop
The battery has suddenly died on my windows 10 laptop so have just bought a windows 11 one from deal on here.
Please can someone tell me how to make an exact mirror image of my original laptop.
My knowledge is very limited so please can someone either point me to a reliable website or tell me how to do it.
Thanks
Please can someone tell me how to make an exact mirror image of my original laptop.
My knowledge is very limited so please can someone either point me to a reliable website or tell me how to do it.
Thanks
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29 Comments
sorted byDo you backup your data/files regularly? ('m guessing not) Are all your data items/files/photos etc held in a logical/structured way? Or, in other words, can you find everything with ease - you know exactly where everything is on your hard drive?
Who provides you with email services? In what way do you access your emails? Do have a smartphone and use it to access your emails? Do you have a Microsoft account?
Other than your ISP who do you spend money with for IT services and what are they?
Once we have these answers then we can suggest the best way to proceed, but as somebody else said a period of dual running is a good idea. Oh and too late now, I know, but buying a replacement battery might have been better and also having a written strategy and plan all ready for when this sort of thing happens. (edited)
AOMEI Backupper Pro
can clone & restore according to comparison table referenced below,
and that Pro version is currently zero-cost via a HUKD deal at
hotukdeals.com/dea…811
ubackup.com/fre…tml
MS wants you to do everything in 'the cloud' and pay yearly for doing so. Then your data is (theoretically) independent of your hardware, and carries across to any new kit you may buy.
If you can learn a little, most of the data you wish to transfer can be moved (via a USB memory stick) from one machine to another. Or you could try to set up a cloud account, and sync your data between the two machines.
It should not be like this. It need not be like this. But, sadly, it is (maybe it's better on Apple's ecosystem). For normies, it is a nightmare. For those of us with tech understanding, we never allow our data to become machine dependent, and we never rely on MS's horrid apps. Portable software, wherever possible, is the way to go.
With stuff like printer settings, try having both machines running and try to duplicate the settings on the new machine.
Where would I learn how to transfer the data by usb?
Would all my excel and office documents reappear when I log in to office on new pc?
"clone to dissimilar hardware"
can be accomplished by numerous free or paid commercial software,
where "dissimilar" consideration is critical otherwise the original operating system may object to unexpected hardware when dumped onto a new (dissimilar) device's drive.
Explaining why this is critical would be very dull, it just "is".
Probably best to bypass any limitations of freebie solutions as one of the best commercial cloning options is strangely zero-cost and zero-restriction in boot disk format direct from the developer:
Acronis bootdisk (about 650MB in ISO format) at dl.acronis.com/s/A…iso
Simplistic summary procedure for most / all cloning solutions:
create image of old device's drive
reinstate content of image on new device's drive.
Will need to readup on any solutions' procedures as too rambling for an already rambling post.
The old MS W10 licence on new hardware may not be liked by MS licencing - depends on the source W10 variant.
Assuming no restrictive security on donor device...
could alternatively:
manually copy data files no issue;
similarly manually copy browser profile(s) to retain bookmarks, passwords, etc.
Not sure what OP means by "printer settings" so don't know if unknown settings can be easily copied/restored.
I think a version of cloud backs up but I don’t know what data.
Most of my photos are old ones of my son when he was young so they are in folders.
Files haven’t been changed since I set this laptop up. I don’t do much on it apart from emails, eBay odd document and excel spreadsheets.
Email is through Google on laptop only although I do have a separate Google email that isn’t linked on my iPhone.
I have a Microsoft account with a couple of extra years set up on it when there was an offer on.
I pay annually for avast antivirus which is managed by a company that bought out my son’s business years ago. I don’t think I have any other IT services.
I didn’t think the battery was replaceable because it’s built in.
I do have the option to upgrade my windows 10 to windows 11 on laptop as long as battery will keep running whilst plugged in.
Thanks
is assumed to mean Gmail accessed via (any) web browser, so not relevant to any copy-to-new-machine consideration, presumably similar with MS a/c.
Avast AV isn't required, so don't bother with it, or have the "managed by a company" company install&configure to degrade the new machine's performance. Nice.
Could c&p your browsers' profiles if you want to retain web bookmarks, pw, etc.
Built-in bat is unlikely not to be replaceable, but likely of no relevance now.
Assuming batt = L16L2PB2:
say about £25 inc VAT upwards,
plus about 5min 13seconds labour to fit,
and good luck trying to find a flexible tech that charges part-hour.
Random generic L16L2PB2 example at about £27 fulfilled-Amazon via the 5% discount checkbox not mentioned on Keepa:
keepa.com/
With the best will in the world any reply you get explaining what to do is only going to confuse you more.
The suggested 5mins 13secs to change battery is directly lifted from realtime vid below.
Personally I would have dropped the occasional frame so that the headline title could include
... change battery in less than 5 minutes
youtube.com/wat…jXU
Check if model & simple multiple screw fixings is similar to yours, and if so:
prudent to remove rear panel to check batt model number prior to any order.
Not much to go wrong unless the
have-a-go-herocompetent technician cannot operate a screwdriver without attacking other parts of lappy.... and note the cable appears to be simple push fitting (gentle pull/wiggle removal).