I appologize if this has been answered, but I couldn't find it

My laptop is failing. A new one is less expensive than repair

I religiously back up with Ghost 15 (Windows 7)

Is there a way to "ghost" the new computer so I don't have to spend days reloading?

(And for sure...the hardware won't match, but I was thinking that after ghosting I culd re-boot with a CD or safe mode and re-load proper hardware drivers for lap Top...maybe a bad idea??)

Thanks

@ 9111


Quote:

Is there a way to "ghost" the new computer so I don't have to spend days reloading?

Sure can. What brands are the laptops? Model numbers? What part of your laptop is failing? Do you keep your Ghost 15 recovery points (images) on an external HD? How many partitions are on your laptop HD? Do you have a System Reserved Partition?

I have an HP Pavillion DV6704nr....I upgraded OS to Windows 7 Professional about 8 months ago (clean install...what a pain)

Haven't picked out a new lap top yet...probably Dell or HP (their customer service is very good)

The failing parts are loose USB ports (probably solder joints) on the mother board...I was told that the only way to fix is replacee board, so I probably will replace computer

My back ups are on an external drive...and yes the lap top hard drive has a small Drive "D" partition that held the original HP files for the DV6704...but obviously, it is a wasted partition and I never re-partitioned the drives when I loaded Win 7......the recovery point has drives "C" and "D"...but I can create a new back up with "C" only if this is needed. Not all of the USB ports are loose and I continue to back up almost weekly

I have not done a restore...but I do have it verify during back up

@ 9111

HPs have 240 heads CHS geometry. Dells have 255 heads geometry. It may be "impossible" to restore an image from one computer to the other so I recommend staying with HP.

Otherwise you sound on track. Your recovery points should have separate .v2i files for the two partitions. Could you check that is true? You only need the C: drive recovery point.

Have a look in Disk Management. Is the C: drive the Active partition?

Edit... IDE or SATA HD?

C is active, system, boot, primary

Drive is ATA  ST9160821AS

"D" drive is Labeled HP_Recovery and is listed as "healthy-primary partition)

Funny...today I have three .v2i files

PDW-PC_C_Drive.v2i   dated 8/2/10
PDW-PC_D_Drive.v2i   dated 8/2/10
PDW-PC_C_Drive005.v2i   dated 8/10/10

It looks like the last backup never did "D" drive unless I'm reading something  here

Also, the 240 head geometry...is that consistent across their product line...if not I'll start to seach and narrow down a choive

9111 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2010 at 8:05pm:

Also, the 240 head geometry...is that consistent across their product line...if not I'll start to seach and narrow down a choive

Not positive but I think so. IBM, Lenovo and HP are supposed to have 240 heads geometry.


9111 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2010 at 8:05pm:

It looks like the last backup never did "D" drive unless I'm reading somethinghere

Doesn't look like it but that doesn't matter. You don't need it.

Other info is OK.

When the new laptop arrives, boot from the Ghost CD and create backup images. Then swap HDs. See if the old HD boots in the new laptop. It may be easy. If it doesn't boot due to different storage controller drivers in the new laptop we can install those drivers to the non booting system.

One problem I might have...it looks like I did a 32 bit windows 7 prof install on the older lap top

The newer lap tops have 64 bit windows 7

That's not a problem. Your 32 bit OS will work fine in the new laptop.

Thanks Brian...selecting a machine soon

Last night I restored a WinXP image taken from one ASUS netbook to a different model ASUS netbook. The OS wouldn't load. It kept rebooting about 15 seconds after pressing the power button. All fixed after installing new AHCI drivers. Win7 is even easier to fix than WinXP.