I have a dell M6400 precision w/ 8GB ram set up exactly as I want it.  It's running Windows 7 64bit. It includes one program for which I don't quite have a license.  A friend got this program to work by doing something with a loopback that made the program think it was running on a machine w/ a different mac address.  The M6400 is a powerful but ridiculously big and heavy machine.  The power supply alone weighs 4 lbs.  I'd like to clone my hard drive onto another computer so I don't have to carry the m6400 around.  I have Norton Ghost 15.  I don't want to buy another M6400, but I will if I have to.  I've been reading posts about driver and other incompatabilities associated with cloning onto a different computer, and it seems like these issues are solveable (albeit possibly not by me - I would pay someone to help me w/ this if I had to.)  So my question is, can anybody give me suggestions about the cheapest computer I can buy that maximizes likelihood of cloning success?  I know I should match memory but what other parameters should I try to match?  Could I get a desktop instead of a laptop?  Thanks.

@ serendipitydoo


wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:45pm:

I'd like to clone my hard drive onto another computer so I don't have to carry the m6400 around.

Well, most people do not attempt this--because there are so many *variables* that can cause the whole process to fail.  Anyone who does attempt this is either *desperate* and has no other option to proceed with (other than starting over)--or they have way too much free time and nothing better to do than experiment--and even those folks probably would not think of this project as one they want to try  ;) !

The main use of imaging software for most folks is to have a back up of their OS that they can restore if something goes haywire with their system's software (i.e. the OS), or they want to replace a failing HDD, or want to upgrade to a larger HDD--on the same system.  Manufacturers use *cloning* to transfer a baseline image to new machines on a production line--but, the image is created in a special way (Goggle *Sysprep* if you like *lite* reading) from a system that closely *matches* the destination production machines--and the software is *set*--it's not being changed from one week to the next--and when you fire up the machine for the first time--Windows goes through its setup routines to make sure everything gets registered and is talking correctly with the OS software.


wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:45pm:

I've been reading posts about driver and other incompatabilities associated with cloning onto a different computer, and it seems like these issues are solveable

It really depends.  The more *different* the two systems are from each other, the more likely you are going to come across one of those *variables* that will make the process fail.


wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:45pm:

I know I should match memory but what other parameters should I try to match?Could I get a desktop instead of a laptop?

That's probably the least important parameter to match.  The most important will be HDD controllers and their drivers.  But, basically all the hardware on a system is run by software drivers--and on each system, those drivers have embedded information about how to interact with the Windows OS in the system's Registry.  Transferring a system OS from one machine to another does not alter the source's Registry settings, as part of the imaging process, so that the destination machine will know what to do.  Something else has to happen.  On WinXP, I had success one time doing a *repair install* after restoring an image to a different system.  But, the process also failed on a second attempt on a different machine a couple years later.  I have not seen anyone post a success story using Win7.


wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:45pm:

It includes one program for which I don't quite have a license.A friend got this program to work by doing something with a loopback that made the program think it was running on a machine w/ a different mac address.

There's no way to *guarantee* that a system *hack* will correctly transfer from one system to another--the *mac address* of the NIC is unique on every NIC--so that hack may have to be *customized* to each new system it is attempted on.


wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:45pm:

So my question is, can anybody give me suggestions about the cheapest computer I can buy that maximizes likelihood of cloning success?

If you have read this far, I think you might have your answer--no one can guess at what might be a reasonable suggestion--even attempting this on an *identical* machine (no two systems are *identical*--for example the NIC MAC address will always be different between two systems, HDD ids will be different, manufacturers even change the embedded chips on the motherboard during production in some instances) can be difficult, at best--but that will be the *most likely* to succeed.

mr. serendip,

sorry, shit, i just deleted you and another guy.

it gets mechanical if you're not careful, which i wasnt.

you were on the same page with the new guys.

you can rereg with same email and user name.

make a post, any post soon as you reg.