Moving Windows 11 intact to an OEM computer

I’ve got 2 desktops. A very old one, with lots of data and installed programs, running Win11 Pro on a full retail licence linked to my account and a newer one, fully Win11 compliant and with a big-enough SSD, running Win11 Pro on an OEM licence in a fresh state not linked but activated. (I can link it if that helps.)
I’d like to copy the intact system from the old computer onto the new SSD computer . Then junk the old computer.
But I’d like to use the new computer’s OEM licence and keep the old computer’s full retail licence unused.
Is that possible? I’ve got several hard disks for a transfer. I use Veeam (free Windows version) to backup the old computer to itself.
Winver:
Old 22000.1098
New 22000.978

For info only-not recommended. Use at your own risk. How to Move Your Windows Drive to a New PC

Personally, would never do this it myself because of all the problems having a bunch of old incompatible drivers on the drive can cause, especially graphics driver and storage controller drivers. Any old unused driver left on the drive can come back to bite you in the butt at any time. Also, if you have licensed software on the old computer that is tied to it's hardware ids, you will end up with a mess because it will be unlicensed on the new computer.

I almost always do a clean install even though installing all the software is a pain. The very few times I have not done a clean install, I made a system image of old system with Macrium Reflect Workstation. Then I restored that image to the new computer using Macrium's "restore to dissimilar hardware" feature called REDEPLOY or universal restore. This feature is not available in the free version of Macrium nor in any other free backup software that I am aware of. I know nothing about Veeam as I've never heard of it.

As far as licensed software, I always uninstall it and unregister it from old computer before I re-install it on new computer and re-regester it

Are they running the same version of Windows? For example, are both Home versions or are both Pro versions? If they are the same, you could swap the drive or use a program such as Macrium Reflect to Image the old computer then restore the image to the new computer. Backup the drivers on the new computer first. Windows 10 and 11 are very forgiving about switching from one computer to another and the necessary drivers. The driver backup is just in case a driver doesn't get loaded.

pat100 said:

I’d like to copy the intact system from the old computer onto the new SSD computer....

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glasskuter said:

Personally, would never do this myself....

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I did do just that, my System One's Windows 10 was copied across from my old unsupported machine to a new supported one in order to get the Windows 11 upgrade offered.

The method I used was to make a system image of the old PC with Macrium Reflect. I then clean installed Windows 10 on the new PC (a necessary step as the old PC was a legacy bios/MBR machine and the new one a UEFI/GPT one). After that I deleted the C: partition on the new PC and replaced it with the C: partition from the Reflect system image.

The only registered software I had to worry about was Macrium Reflect. I unregistered it on the old machine before making the system image, then re-registered it after the system had been transferred.

@Winuser, unforgiving but not infallible. I guess it depends on how clean one wants their system to be.
@Bree I didn't say it can't be done, just that I wouldn't do it. For the same reason I gave Winuser, just a risk I do not want to take, but that's just me. My clean computer OCD syndrome won't let me.

To my knowledge you can't swap a SSD into another pc with windows installed as it could... (not boot, BSOD, Etc) "there are many other factors but those are the top". As stated above a clean install is best. Always back up files on a separate drive internal/external as I do

glasskuter said:

@Bree I didn't say it can't be done, just that I wouldn't do it. For the same reason I gave Winuser, just a risk I do not want to take, but that's just me. My clean computer OCD syndrome won't let me.

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That's fine, in my case I'm a serial upgrader by inclination.

I had some software that came with the original OEM install of Windows 7, the initial OS for my old 'main machine', and that would have been impossible to re-install. Office Starter 2010 in particular.

As for the risks, my other supported device got a clean install of Windows 11 last October. I really cannot find any differences between the two installs as far as stability or 'cleanliness' are concerned.

glasskuter said:

unforgiving but not infallible. I guess it depends on how clean one wants their system to be.

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I remember a time when there was no way possible. I'm not sure what version made it possible. I do know that with Windows 10 and 11 that you can change computers and the OS will not only run but load the necessary drivers that are needed. It's not a 100% guarantee and that is why I said to save the drivers from the computer they are moving the OS to.

WAI said:

To my knowledge you can't swap a SSD into another pc with windows installed as it could... (not boot, BSOD, Etc) "there are many other factors but those are the top". As stated above a clean install is best. Always back up files on a separate drive internal/external as I do

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Your knowledge would be outdated. There is a very good chance that an SSD with Windows 10 or 11 can be moved from one computer to another and Windows 10/11 will just install drivers and continue to run like nothing happened.

pat100 said:

But I’d like to use the new computer’s OEM licence and keep the old computer’s full retail licence unused.
Is that possible? I’ve got several hard disks for a transfer. I use Veeam (free Windows version) to backup the old computer to itself.
Winver:
Old 22000.1098
New 22000.978

Click to expand...

OEM v. Retail license no longer matters. Just change the installed Windows 11 Pro product keys to VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T and you will end up with a retail digital license.

My 2 cents on the matter...

First, I agree wholeheartedly with NavyLCDR in that I believe that there there is a very high probability that it will simply work.

However, if I understand correctly, your intent is to COPY the drive from the old system to the new one, not actually move the drive, is that correct? If that is the case, great!. You could simply use a program like Macrium Reflect to backup from the old system, then restore to the new system. Reflect includes a feature that they call "Macrium ReDeploy" which is specifically designed to restore to dissimilar hardware.

NOTE: I know that ReDeploy is not included in the 30 day free trial, but I am not sure if this feature is included in the free edition or not.

In any case, my suggestion would be to try something like this:

1) Make a backup of the OLD system.
2) Make a backup of the NEW system.
3) Restore the backup from the OLD system to the NEW system.

Is everything working? If so, you are done. If not, you could perform some troubleshooting, or, if absolutely unable to get it to work, you could simply restore your backup of the NEW system to get right back to where you were before.

I agree 100% with glasskuter
There is nothing like a clean install.
You can copy the old computer drive into the new computer with all the trash it accumulated over the years. It is a workaround. Nothing like a clean install.

Megahertz said:

with all the trash

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And it is definitely there...old unused drivers, old files, old registry entries, old leftover files that uninstallers didn't remove. If one thinks all that accumulated junk doesn't affect a computers efficiency and performance, you're fooling yourself. Just because it works, doesn't mean it can't work better, especially on a brand new system. (shudder) See, I told you I had clean computer OCD syndrome. It's incurable.

Megahertz said:

You can copy the old computer drive into the new computer with all the trash it accumulated over the years. It is a workaround. Nothing like a clean install.

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glasskuter said:

If one thinks all that accumulated junk doesn't affect a computers efficiency and performance, you're fooling yourself....

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I really have no issues I can find in more than seven years of doing it

glasskuter said:

I told you I had clean computer OCD syndrome.

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So do I - but it manifests in thoroughly cleaning up my systems on a regular basis, not in doing clean installs.

Bree said:

I really have no issues I can find in more than seven years of doing it

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But aren't those upgrades done on the same computer. The OP's situation is entirely different.

glasskuter said:

But aren't those upgrades done on the same computer. The OP's situation is entirely different.

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No, the OS (and all its installed apps) was moved to a completely new and very different computer in September 2021 so that it would be running on a supported device, ready to be offered Windows 11 at launch. The old machine was a Legacy BIOS/MBR machine with Intel cpu and Intel HD graphics, the new one a UEFI/GPT machine with an AMD processor and AMD Radeon graphics.

Like I said, I'm not saying windows won't find the correct drivers and keep on trucking. Normally, it will, but there will be leftover junk. I know that Windows is much more intuitive with drivers than it used to be. It may work for the OP as it did for you, but it could also just as easily BSOD on him immediately or at some time on down the road. I doubt most folks are as consciencess as us old-timers in thoroughly cleaning up their systems on a regular basis, just as they are not as proficient at knowing what to do if they do BSOD.

I know many of you disagree with me, and I respect that. We all disagree on a regular basis around here. I look at this way. When it comes to old useless drivers it would take a lot longer trying to clean them up than it would to clean install. As to the registry, unless we want to resort to using one of those dangerous third party registry cleaning tools...or our name is Brink... we can't clean all the useless registry entries nor can we clean out all the old dlls that aren't used anymore. This stuff accumulates, just as the dirt in our case. Does windows still work, Sure, but there's nothing quite like a clean install to make it lean,mean, and more efficient.

The OP did not give us the specs on either system. If his new system has any Intel 11th or 12th generation CPU (and most 10th generations as well) it will NOT boot without the Intel IRST driver pre-loaded. You can't even clean install on these systems without using the f6 drivers during install because it won't recognize the disks.

I always find it interesting how much of a preference people have for one option or the other (clean install vs upgrades). I fully admit that I include myself in that.

However, if there is one thing I have learned, it's that flexibility is the name of the game. It pays to have a good grasp on how to perform either an upgrade or a clean install and to have a good recovery plan in place for whatever procedure you elect. In the event of a clean install it is helpful to have a good plan in place in advance. For example, I organize all of my data in a very specific manner so that if I need to restore specific data from a backup I can grab the important bits very rapidly. Also I have a single batch file that completely customizes Windows, installs all drivers, and all apps. I can do a clean install from start to finish with everything installed in probably 30 to 40 minutes, max.

glasskuter said:

The OP did not give us the specs on either system. If his new system has any Intel 11th or 12th generation CPU (and most 10th generations as well) it will NOT boot without the Intel IRST driver pre-loaded. You can't even clean install on these systems without using the f6 drivers during install because it won't recognize the disks.

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Could you educate me on this? I admit I'm a bit ignorant on IRST. Under what conditions is the IRST driver needed? My primary desktop is an ASUS MB with an 11th Gen Intel CPU and I have never ever installed the IRST driver on that machine. What exactly does the IRST driver buy me?

It is funny how the "clean install" brigade's opinions are largely based on experience dating back to days of Windows 7 when transferring os from one hardware to another was very hit and miss, and they also neglect to tell you of the hidden time overhead of getting all settings back to users personal taste.

As @NavyLCDR, @hsehestedt says there is a very good chance that simply "cloning" OS from old device to new device will work on W10/W11.

The main issue is if the new pc has nvme drives and old one does not.

I make a custom install.wim of old pc (using dism), create a usb installation drive replacing install wim, inject nvme drivers of new pc into boot wim and install.wim, and install. If I have an working version of windows on new pc, I export all drivers for injection into install wim.

It works every time. Then a quick check in device manager for any unresolved drivers

Sounds complicated - I have batch files to do all the hard work They are all based on @Kari's tutorials.

I actually use the above even when a simpler cloning might work, simply because injecting drivers means minimal work in device management.

I transferred from AMD, SSD , no TPM laptop to Intel, NVME, TPM both with competely different graphics, audio, ethernet, wifi drivers and it worked first time.
The only tricky part was creating custom iso as it sometimes falls over on OneDrive. I just temporarily uninstall it old old pc first, then create install.wim and then install OneDrive on new pc.

I then sometimes use DriverStoreExplorer to remove unwanted drivers. However it does not harm anything leaving them. Of course, I make image backups with Reflect first.

In the end, there is no harm in trying to move an existing OS to new pc Worst case is you waste a bit of time, and end up clean installing later.

I do not buy the clean up argument - that just means user has not properly maintained old device.

I have never done a clean install of my main installation from W8 through to W11, now on my 3rd laptop. My pc still idles around 1%.

It is garbage to worry about some detritus of old versions in registry. It makes no difference to performance.

So, "Clean Install Brigade", move into the 2020s and put all your outdated prejudices to the dustbin of history.