Is Macrium the right tool to migrate a Win 10 system to a new Win 11 PC?

[Cynthia Moore]

We have 2 computers, a Dell Latitude E5470 and a Microsoft Surface Book 1. The Dell started getting the BSOD a couple of months ago. A local tech diagnosed the problem to a recent Windows update. He backed it out and the machine started working again. He then disabled uopdates until January. Well, it;s now January and it's getting the BSOD again. I spent over 2 hours on the phone with Dell. OIt no onger gets the BSOD, but now it cannot connect to the Internet. (sigh)

It's over 5 years old, so we have decided to just get a new Win 11 machine. But I am worried about transferring everything over to the new PC. Is Macrium a good tool for this? If I take an image backup of the old machine, can I load it onto the new machine? I am a little confused, because I thought that an image backup was an exact copy of a system includsing the OS. I don't want to overwrite Win 10 on the new machine.

I would appreciate any help understanding how to use this tool or if it is even the right tool for the job.

Thanks

 

[britechguy]

There is no way to image a system with one OS and transfer it to another machine with a different OS, and that includes Windows 10 to 11.

You are going to want to take a backup of your user data using the technique or tool of your choice. Unless you're using the paid version of Macrium, file and folder backup is not available, but nor is it really necessary. You can just go to C:\Users and copy the folders there on to an external USB drive for any users that are active at the moment. That's your user data backup. Then run a utility such as Belarc Advisor to get a list of the software you have installed, and how recenty you've used it, so that you can collect any installers you might need to install those programs onto the Windows 11 machine.

And you are not confused about what a full system image backup is. It's precisely what you think it is - a complete snapshot of your computer, including the operating system as well as all user accounts and their data wrapped up in a tidy package so that you can restore it precisely as it was at the moment the backup was taken in the event of all sorts of possible failures on the machine it was taken from.

If you want a dedicated user data backup and restore utility, but it's not free (except for the trial version), then have a look at Fabs AutoBackup. It makes transferring files, folders, and settings from one computer to another far less labor intensive. Though if the only account you have is your own, and you have not placed data outside your own user account folder structure, it's not all that labor intensive to use a simple "copy to backup drive on old system and then copy to new account in the same locations on the new system" manual approach.

 

[Cynthia Moore]

There is no way to image a system with one OS and transfer it to another machine with a different OS, and that includes Windows 10 to 11.

That's what I was afraid of.

You are going to want to take a backup of your user data using the technique or tool of your choice. Unless you're using the paid version of Macrium, file and folder backup is not available, but nor is it really necessary. You can just go to C:\Users and copy the folders there on to an external USB drive for any users that are active at the moment. That's your user data backup.

The Windows file structure with all of the "shortcuts" is a little confusing. And it looks like some applications have stored data outside of the \Users folder.

Here's a summary of the folder structure:

This PC
   3D Objects (empty)
   Desktop (a few shortcuts)
   Documents (most, but not all, of the user data)
   Downloads (a lot of files)
   Music (dozens of subfolders)
   Pictures (20-30 subfolders)
   Videos (9-10 subfolders)
   Local Disk (C:) (20 subfolders including several with data)
      ... several data folders and a few I don't recognize, some are empty
      Program Files
      Program Files (x86)
      ProgramData (31 subfolders)
      Restored from Carbonite
      Users   
         Default
         Public
         username (this is where most of the data is)
            .MCTranscodingSDK (empty)
            3D Objects (empty)
            AddIns (one Excel add-in, gthe main add-in is somewhere else)
            AppData (each of these subfolders has a bunch of subfolders)
               Local
               LocalLow
               Roaming
            Contacts (empty)
            Desktop (same as above?)
            Documents (most of my data)
            Downloads (same as above?)
            Dropbox
            Favorites (some stuff I don't recognize)
            Links (2 shortcuts)
            MicrosoftEdgeBackups (severel levels of subfolders)
            Music (same as above?)
            NCH Software Suite (a bunch of shortcuts)
            OneDrive (My files on OneDrve)
            Pictures (same as above?)
            Saved Games (empty)
            Searches (???)
            Videos (same as above)
      Windows

Why are there so many "data" folders outside of C:\Users? Should I move then there? Or are they already there and Windows just shows them twice?

Then run a utility such as Belarc Advisor to get a list of the software you have installed, and how recenty you've used it, so that you can collect any installers you might need to install those programs onto the Windows 11 machine.

The main one is Office 365. But I will have to reinstall all software again, right? And I suppose none of my settings will be preserved. I have a bunch of Word templates and Excel macros plus keyboard shortcuts. How do I carry those forward?

And you are not confused about what a full system image backup is. It's precisely what you think it is - a complete snapshot of your computer, including the operating system as well as all user accounts and their data wrapped up in a tidy package so that you can restore it precisely as it was at the moment the backup was taken in the event of all sorts of possible failures on the machine it was taken from.

Well, at least I got something right.

If you want a dedicated user data backup and restore utility, but it's not free (except for the trial version), then have a look at Fabs AutoBackup. It makes transferring files, folders, and settings from one computer to another far less labor intensive. Though if the only account you have is your own, and you have not placed data outside your own user account folder structure, it's not all that labor intensive to use a simple "copy to backup drive on old system and then copy to new account in the same locations on the new system" manual approach.

I also have Carbonite. But I don't think it is complete.

Thanks for the help. But what a headache. It seems like there ought to be an easier way.

 

[Corday]

I use a paid program that does that, but I'm not going to recommend it even though I've used it multile times, because after the transfer, I've learned that there are some files that really shouldn't be on the receiving computer.

 

[philc43]

Macrium Reflect (the free version) is a very useful tool. I use it to make regular system backups and even the free version will allow you to explore the backup file created and you can then copy any files from the backup to any location you choose. This provides a neat way of doing what you want.

Firstly, you make a full system backup of your old computer and keep it on a portable SSD drive.

Then, on the new computer on which you have clean installed your new Windows 11 system make sure you install Macrium Reflect and then attach the portable SSD drive and start browsing the backup file from your old computer for any files and folders you need. Simply copy the files/folders you want and paste them into the corresponding folder on your new system. Note: do not attempt to restore from the backup - you are simply copying files that you need in a manual operation that you have complete control over.

In order to browse the backup image Macrium lets you mount the system drive C: (or any other drive) from the backup image as a temporary drive on your new computer. When you do this also check the box to "enable access to restricted folders".




When you click on OK you get the option to accept the drive letter assigned to this new mounted drive and it will then open up File Explorer to allow you to browse all the files which were backed up from your old computer. You then copy and paste any you want to transfer.

This method requires that you are familiar with your file system and know where to look for your files and where you want to place them on your new system. It is not a method I would recommend for anyone that has no working knowledge of the Windows File system and user file locations.

Hope this helps!

Reference: Browsing Macrium Reflect images and backups in Windows Explorer - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

 

[britechguy]

It is not a method I would recommend for anyone that has no working knowledge of the Windows File system and user file locations.

And, to be perfectly honest, that's why I didn't recommend it.

I stand by my earlier recommendation for the uninitiated that they simply copy off the appropriate C:\Users folders for active accounts to an external backup drive and use those to restore via either a cut/paste or copy/paste from the backup drive to the respective same locations for the same user accounts as they are created on the new machine.

Here is what C:\Users looks like on the machine I'm typing from in File Explorer:



The folder for my own account (which one might guess from my user name right here on Sysnative, is the 5-character truncation of "britechguy" that Windows uses for the folder structure). If I copy this folder off to an external backup drive, almost every file I've ever created goes along with it, since I keep the majority of material I create under that folder. The rest of it is under the Public user folder, and if you're someone like me who uses that, it should be copied, too. If I wanted all of the actual active users' data then every one of those folders except Default would bet copied off for later copying back on the new system.

Unless you, or someone else, has intentionally placed data you've created somewhere outside your own set of folders/libraries (Documents, Music, Videos, etc.) then anything you have ever done will be in the C:\Users folder that corresponds to your own user account or the other users' accounts, respectively.

Any programs you routinely use would require you to reinstall them. And that includes Office, where if it's a single machine license you will need to uninstall it on the old machine after you're sure it's installed correctly on the new one.

 

[andrewlen]

I've done a similar process a couple of times, albeit using Acronis True Image. It too has the same capabilities that Macrium does to install needed drivers before transfer. Whilst the transfer was successful, the remediation steps needed post image restoring was both long-winded and troublesome, often taking a day or two before some problems were realised. Using Macrium would not have had any positive effect on the issues I encountered in my opinion.

As a result, my view since has changed to it being best practice to clean install Windows, and then copy back data, reinstalling any third party programs needed. Much less troublesome in the long run.

 

[britechguy]

As a result, my view since has changed to it being best practice to clean install Windows, and then copy back data, reinstalling any third party programs needed. Much less troublesome in the long run.

I'll also add that for anyone who is using Microsoft 365 and gets something like 1TB of storage space on OneDrive, you should by all means use it as your primary storage. Windows 10 and 11, at least, are set up to "look to OneDrive" by default, and if you have the storage why not use it.

What you have been accessing frequently and recently will be synced to your machine, so were you to have a period where internet service were not available it's not as though you have zero access to your files. And you can tweak OneDrive settings with regard to how much recently accessed material is kept locally and for what period of time before it gets purged.

It makes life so much simpler when it comes to either doing a completely clean reinstall or getting a new machine and getting on it. All of the hoops one jumps through to get user data moved are just gone. Setup the same Microsoft Account linked Windows User Account and, *poof*, everything you've ever been doing and saving to OneDrive is automagically back and instantly available.

Cloud storage is a boon if you have enough of it to handle what you need to be handled. I'll also add that even if you don't use M365, for files that you are constantly working with and tweaking it makes sense to keep those on your OneDrive for the duration of the frequent activity. I, myself, just recently had an SSD go belly up right before my next cyclical monthly full system image backup. There were several files that I had been working on furiously over the prior month, and I had those stored in one place: on my machine on that SSD. They were gone because the system image I restored had the versions from about 30 days earlier. Having something backed up in the cloud when you're furiously making changes to it until the "furiously making changes" time passes, is a good insurance policy.