How do I clone a hard drive

[+and-then]

I have 2 older laptops. One is HP with XP. The other is Toshiba with Vista. I want to make the Toshiba identical to the HP. Can it be done? How is it done?

Thanks in advance.

[Eldorado]

Hi, and then.

Do a google search and you'll find step-by-step tutorials and free software to complete the task.

An example:

http://www.guardian....dows-hard-drive

BTW... the two will never be identical because they have different hardware configurations. And they need "activation" again which isn't always possible if the operating systems are OEM versions (tied to the computer)

Edited April 16, 2012 by Eldorado

[Alienated Being]

Follow Eldorado's instructions. However, the utility you're looking for is known as "Backup and Restore", which is found in the Control Panel. You will want to create a "System Image".

I wish you the best of luck.

[BiffSplitkins]

I have 2 older laptops. One is HP with XP. The other is Toshiba with Vista. I want to make the Toshiba identical to the HP. Can it be done? How is it done?

Thanks in advance.

Using a system image from the HP and expecting that to work on the Toshiba will not work. Chances are you have different hardware and drivers on each laptop. Cloning can get tricky if you don't know what you are doing with sysprep etc.

The Toshiba has Vista, it runs pretty slow, that is why you want to downgrade it to XP correct? That is a whole different issue in itself. Downgrading a Toshiba from Vista to XP can be an tedious experience just trying to find the correct XP drivers. It can be done, but don't expect to find the drivers on the Toshiba driver and downloads page.

[questionmark]

Your problem in cloning the system will be that all drivers are very likely to be incompatible, So my suggestion is that you copy all data, programs and make a registry backup. Copy that to the target system and at the registry content to the target system's.

[+and-then]

Thanks to everyone. The HP is set up with all my preferences and some software I'd like to keep so I thought I'd just make an image of that and put it on the Toshiba. Wish me luck, I hope not to go from 2 pc's to none

[danydandan]

I use clonzilla. download it in form of an ISO image or ZIP file and burn the image to a CD or load the files onto a USB flash drive or hard drive .then reboot the computer from that medium you created, which may require going into the BIOS and allow booting from a CD or USB device.

Its easy enough to use , just use another hard drive or an extrenal one ,

[SolarPlexus]

I used Clonezilla as well to great success. Back at my old job we used to clone 500-600 disks in around 11-12 hours

[BiffSplitkins]

Thanks to everyone. The HP is set up with all my preferences and some software I'd like to keep so I thought I'd just make an image of that and put it on the Toshiba. Wish me luck, I hope not to go from 2 pc's to none

You are going to be disappointed. I am an IT professional and I'm telling you, you can't just clone a hard drive and throw it into a completely different computer and expect it to work.

You are going to run into SSID issues etc.

[Eldorado]

You are going to be disappointed. I am an IT professional and I'm telling you, you can't just clone a hard drive and throw it into a completely different computer and expect it to work.

You are going to run into SSID issues etc.

[danydandan]

You are going to be disappointed. I am an IT professional and I'm telling you, you can't just clone a hard drive and throw it into a completely different computer and expect it to work.

You are going to run into SSID issues etc.

I disagree , it easily worked around

And you can just chance your ssid

[SolarPlexus]

The problem here are disk file systems involved (NTFS, FAT) and your OS data signatures (x32, x64), and even if they're compatible it might still not work due to MBR (Master boot record) settings. Such things are often a gamble. Cloning works best when working with clean disks and identical OS's. I don't think SSIDs have anything to do with it whatsoever. If you ask me, I'd agree with Biffsplitkins. I doubt this one will work out for you.

[questionmark]

The problem here are disk file systems involved (NTFS, FAT) and your OS data signatures (x32, x64), and even if they're compatible it might still not work due to MBR (Master boot record) settings. Such things are often a gamble. Cloning works best when working with clean disks and identical OS's. I don't think SSIDs have anything to do with it whatsoever. If you ask me, I'd agree with Biffsplitkins. I doubt this one will work out for you.

I have to agree, won't work, the only possibility I see is to backup data and programs along with the registry and write that on the target system. That could work.