- MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER HOW TO
- MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER INSTALL
- MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER DRIVERS
Some enthusiasts have tried using “sysprep /generalize” on a Windows installation before attempting to move it to a new PC. Moving or copying a Windows image to a different computer without running sysprep /generalize is not supported.” The next time you boot the Windows image, the specialize configuration pass runs… Any method of moving a Windows image to a new computer, either through imaging, hard disk duplication, or other method, must be prepared with the sysprep /generalize command. The sysprep /generalize command removes unique information from your Windows installation, which enables you to reuse that image on different computers. “If you intend to transfer a Windows image to a different computer, you must run sysprep /generalize, even if the computer has the same hardware configuration. It isn’t designed for average Windows users or enthusiasts, though, and it won’t run at all on an upgraded copy of Windows–only one that was clean installed.
MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER INSTALL
An organization might use this method to deploy a Windows image with various settings and software installed on all its PCs, or a computer manufacturer might use this trick to install its customized version of Windows on its computers before selling them.
It’s designed for large organizations and PC manufacturers, giving them a way to create a Windows image and then duplicate, or deploy, it on a variety of different PCs. Microsoft makes a “System Preparation,” or “ sysprep,” tool for this very purpose. it requires a bit more tweaking, isn’t guaranteed to work, and generally isn’t supported by Microsoft. The Result: Moving a Windows Installation Is ComplicatedĪll that said, moving a Windows installation to another computer is possible…in some cases. Thankfully, you can just re-enter your activation key. The Windows activation process is designed to make sure you only install that copy of Windows on one PC at a time, so changing a computer’s motherboard–or even some other bits of internal hardware–will result in the Windows system becoming deactivated. If you purchase a retail copy of Windows and install it yourself, things aren’t so bad. These preinstalled versions of Windows are OEM (“original equipment manufacturer”) copies, and are designed to be locked to the hardware they were originally installed on. Microsoft doesn’t want you to be able to move those OEM copies of Windows to another computer. Most people get Windows preinstalled on computers they purchase. Windows activation is another hurdle in the process. RELATED: How Does Windows Activation Work? The Licensing Problem: Windows Activation
MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER HOW TO
When Windows boots on different hardware, it doesn’t know how to handle that hardware and won’t boot properly.
MOVE CYGWIN INSTALLATION FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER DRIVERS
The drivers for the storage controller, which allows the motherboard to communicate with the hard disk, are particularly important. That’s because when you install Windows on a computer, it sets itself up with drivers specific to that computer’s motherboard and chipset. You may see an error about problems with the “hardware abstraction layer” or “hal.dll”, or it may even blue-screen during the boot process. If you actually try moving a Windows drive to another computer and booting from it–or restoring a Windows system image backup on different hardware–it usually won’t boot properly.
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