9 replies to this topic

[JALabrecque]

I finally have to make the move to a new laptop with Windows 11 ( oh the horror).  The current laptop has all my astro equipment software, drivers, ASCOM, etc. and not much else.  Looking for opinions on whether a direct transfer of everything will be ok or should I look forward to reloading all the apps, software and drivers.  If a direct transfer is deemed acceptable I will likely have it professionally done.

 

John L.

[scanner97]

Cloning a hard drive works in some situations, but it would involve everything including your current version of Windows, which is not the point here.  I think you're going to have to re-install everything on the new machine.  Interested to see whether the tech gurus here have a better answer!

[Darkblade48]

Unless you want your new laptop to have the same OS as your current laptop (which I take to not be Win11), then cloning is not recommended.

 

Furthermore, cloning may not always work, depending on what hardware differences there are between your new and old laptops.

 

Reinstalling everything, while painful, is probably the best way to go.

[JALabrecque]

By reinstalling as recommended do you mean go out to the original sources and obtain/purchase new or just copy what is on the current laptop, move and reinstall on the new laptop?

 

John L.

[oldphotonm]

John --

 

Most modern softwares cannot be simply copied from one machine to another unfortunately. There are typically driver files installed into windows locations, configuration files loaded into the user profile and in most cases, beaucoup registry entries made in the windows registry.

 

Your best bet for making your new laptop work as best as possible is to locate all your current software installation media - be it disk-based or a downloaded installer package, and install them from scratch on your new laptop.

 

I have to assume here that you've kept your installation media?? If you have, then you shouldn't have to re-buy anything.

 

In any case, once you've got all your software installed on the new laptop, you can use your old one as a reference for the detailed configuration settings you'll need to make on the new one.

 

As others have already suggested, disk cloning is not an answer either.

 

Good luck with your upgrade!

[LPHawaii]

Install the required apps on your new laptop as long as the app is Win11 compatible.  My recommendation is based on my past experience as a retired IT SME.  Use your old PC as a reference guide to determine any custom settings that you used in the past (e.g App Setting, OS Setting) and test the settings on the new laptop to make sure they work.  The app settings in most cases will work unless there is/are permission issues (file/user account/application/firewall).  Do Not clone.  There are too many issues with cloning unless you are using the same hardware and OS.  The only time I would consider cloning is to increase the size of my disk partition.  Another item to keep in mind are the drivers used to communicate with the actual AP hardware.  In a lot of cases the generic drivers supplied with Windows will work but you need to verify the device driver is communicating correctly with the hardware.  Use "Device Manager" to verify your hardware does not have any driver issues.  Windows built-in "Firewall" might cause an issue and you would need to tweak the firewall rules to make an application execute correctly.  For account and permission issues the best tools (in my opinion) are secpol.msc and gpedit.msc.  If you are really brave and you know what you are doing, settings can be modified by using the app REGEDIT.  A application might not install correctly during the initial install.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you create "Restore Points" on your new laptop as you adjust settings and before you install an application.  If you experience multiple issues or error message you can restore your laptop back to Factory Settings.

[scanner97]

@John..

 

At least most applications are downloadable these days, but yes, even if you saved the downloadable, there may be newer versions of things and you'll want to go get them.  When I do a changeover, I start by making a list of the things I know I can't live without, followed by probably will  want.  You'd be amazed how much stuff doesn't make either of those lists.  (Although might not be true for Astro apps.)  I don't even try to figure out if I have a current downloadable for things; to check that and copy takes more time than to just go to the site and grab it again.  With paid stuff, after re-installing, you should just need to re-enter your license key to get it working.

[Darkblade48]

By reinstalling as recommended do you mean go out to the original sources and obtain/purchase new or just copy what is on the current laptop, move and reinstall on the new laptop?

 

John L.

 

As others have mentioned, if they're free software, I'd go to the website to download the latest version. There might be (but there shouldn't be) compatibility issues between Win 10/11 versions of software (but don't assume that to be true).

 

For paid software, you should be able to download the installer, and then re-enter in your licensing key.

[rhaskins]

I just did this, went from a 15 year old Lenovo business class laptop to a new Lenovo business class laptop. I had Win11 (yeah!!! I like Win11) on the old one with OneDrive logon, so the new one picked up all the software to be installed as line items in the App menu. All I had to do was go to each line, select install and it went to the Internet and found the downloadables - Including ASCOM drivers. It was about 3 hours from start to finish. And it all worked at the end. My background is as a System and Network Engineer so I am used to customized installation files to install everything, but this was a really interesting way by Microsoft to get that done. There are a few apps, like Astroskerret (sp?) that had to be done separately. Made the switch in laptops and everything worked and, as stated above, I had the old one as a reference if I need it.

 

Piece of cake.

 

Rick

 

Edit note: Microsoft synched the apps through my logon so I did not have to keep track. Really helped.

Edited by rhaskins, 18 March 2025 - 07:26 PM.

[JALabrecque]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

John L.