Cloning PC to Laptop

[MrBaker89]

Good Morning all,

 

So, I've got a PC at work Windows 11 pro, Ryzen system. Work have bought me a laptop and I am wondering whether it would cause an issue cloning my PC ssd to the laptop ssd so that my work PC can be repurposed.

 

The laptop I would be cloning to is an Asus Vivobook S15 i5-12500H running Windows 11 Home. Am I likely to run into any issues? Apart from the fact one is 11 pro and the other 11 home.

 

Is there a way to copy my user and files instead of the whole ssd?

 

[Dukesilver27-]

You can't clone OS and use it on a different system that has different hardware, especially between a PC and a laptop. Even upgrading a motherboard on the same PC and keeping the same old OS causes issues. The drivers are completely different.

I actually have tried this, PC SSD to laptop and laptop SSD to PC, both causes immediate blue screen on startup. 

[BiotechBen]

20 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

You can't clone OS and use it on a different system that has different hardware, especially between a PC and a laptop. Even upgrading a motherboard on the same PC and keeping the same old OS causes issues. The drivers are completely different.

I actually have tried this, PC SSD to laptop and laptop SSD to PC, both causes immediate blue screen on startup. 

Did this laptop to PC, coincidentally both AMD systems, still worked. Not impossible, but not recommended for vastly different systems.

[MrBaker89]

21 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

You can't clone OS and use it on a different system that has different hardware, especially between a PC and a laptop. Even upgrading a motherboard on the same PC and keeping the same old OS causes issues. The drivers are completely different.

I actually have tried this, PC SSD to laptop and laptop SSD to PC, both causes immediate blue screen on startup. 

Advise taken on board.

 

I was looking at Laplink PC Mover, does anyone have any experience with it? I just don't want to manually transfer stuff over or have to re-install everything.

[Sjaakie]

It's a bit hit and miss. Usually it works but you may run into issues. I use an ssd with windows that gets hooked up to different systems for testing, mostly it works.

 

Clonezilla is the go to cloning tool for me.

 

Usual method though if you're going to take it in use is to just do a clean install and indeed only move your user files / folders. You can hook up your old ssd to the new pc and copy the files to the fresh install.

 

 

[MrBaker89]

22 minutes ago, Sjaakie said:

It's a bit hit and miss. Usually it works but you may run into issues. I use an ssd with windows that gets hooked up to different systems for testing, mostly it works.

 

Clonezilla is the go to cloning tool for me.

 

Usual method though if you're going to take it in use is to just do a clean install and indeed only move your user files / folders. You can hook up your old ssd to the new pc and copy the files to the fresh install.

 

 

Thank you.

 

Does clonezilla copy everything or just the user and their data?

 

I was hoping to avoid manually installing or copying my files etc over as I have quite a lot on my work PC.

[Sjaakie]

3 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

Thank you.

 

Does clonezilla copy everything or just the user and their data?

 

I was hoping to avoid manually installing or copying my files etc over as I have quite a lot on my work PC.

Everything, it makes an exact copy of the drive.

[MrBaker89]

8 minutes ago, Sjaakie said:

Everything, it makes an exact copy of the drive.

Thanks.

 

Think I'm going to go with Laplinks PC Mover as it seems you have the option to just copy the user and their data and apps without cloning the whole drive.