|
By sonic7 - 5 Years Ago
|
OK ...
● I DON'T endorse this product, - and I've NOT tried it so cannot speak of it's reliability or success, however;
● The creators claim 100% success - plus 24/7 manned back-up if needed including internet access control of your PC if necessary to nail the job.
So what is it? - It's multiple products actually depending on you're needs - broadly called "Zinstall". In a nutshell;
● 'Zinstall WinWin' - for totally migrating to a new PC - that's *totally* - operating system, programs, settings, passwords, the lot.
● 'Migration Kit Pro' - for complex migrations ie: from 'external drives' from broken PC's etc.
● 'Zinstall Rescue Kit' - for rescuing systems from dead PC's.
These are *some* of the products they sell, each separate purchases (according need), so you have to thoroughly read what each can do.
Here's *some* of their claims:
● 'Zinstall WinWin' - transfers all of your stuff from your old computer to your new one: your programs, documents, music, pictures, favorites, emails, accounts, settings - and of course all of your files. Your new computer will feel just like the old one. Your old computer remains safe and unchanged, and nothing is erased from it. So if you are looking for a way to get from old computer to a new one (or even recover a broken computer), Zinstall is made for you. Your new computer will feel just like the old one. Zinstall works with Windows 10 (including Windows 10 to Windows 10), Windows 8/8.1,Windows 7, XP and Vista, any edition, 32- and 64-bit. You can transfer between two computers, on one computer - or even from just from the old hard drive. You can transfer in any combination, such as XP or Vista to Windows 10, Windows 7 to Windows 10 or Windows 10 to Windows 10 - or any others.
● 'Migration Kit Pro' - is the product to use where just Zinstall WinWin is not enough - such as:Transferring from external hard drives - Transferring to SSD drives
- In-place upgrade to Windows 7/8/8.1/10 on the same computer
- Transfers without a network connection
- Virtualized transfers
- Selective transfers
- Transfers to Apple Mac-based Windows environments (bootcamp, Parallels)
In all the scenarios above, Migration Kit Pro will copy your programs, settings and files from your old system to the new one, with no re-installs. And if you have any trouble or need assistance - our support team can resolve even the most problematic cases.
● 'Zinstall Rescue Kit' - No matter what happened to your old computer - lightning strike, dead motherboard, or maybe it just won't turn on - Zinstall Rescue Kit will help, as long as the hard drive is still intact. Zinstall Rescue Kit will extract the contents of the old machine onto your new computer, and you'll be able to continue working as before. This Computer Rescue software uses the state-of-the-art Zinstall technology, and takes your programs, settings and files from your old system to the new one, with no re-installs. And if you have any trouble or need assistance - our support team can resolve even the most problematic cases.
Again .... I'm not 'advocating' this software/service - but it *MAY* be an option for anyone experiencing difficulty like a PC melt-down or irretrievably corrupted file system, who doesn't want to go through the pain of re-installing, re-registering and re-tuning everything ......
Reference:
https://www.zinstall.com/products/zinstall-migration-move-to-new-computer-to-windows-7-with-all-your-programs-and-files-no-reinstalls?rf=c3a2-8&gclid=Cj0KCQjw753rBRCVARIsANe3o45MWe4aKYP3xWcyV6f2m0lWP2rQq1jPIzFonMc_Jf9f6sA9ZWEiPh0aAjpfEALw_wcB
What I found interesting, is the ability to re-install your windows *on your current PC* while being able to have all your programs (with settings) replaced where you left off! A clean windows install WITHOUT the need to re-install the programs ...
|
|
By wires - 5 Years Ago
|
I've been using Acronis for years, and haven't found anything that can beat it. Full Backup image, partial Backups. Boots from a CD and can store the Backups where ever you wish to have them, mine are all stored on an external drive that is only connected before booting with the Acronis CD. 
I would never trust internet access to anyone for doing a Backup, who knows just how many copies they make before getting the job done.
|
|
By TonyDPrime - 5 Years Ago
|
I use Acronis also. I like the idea of iCloud-type data backups, but I just like to hard-manage these things. You know, in case of the 'Applecollapse'.
|
|
By sonic7 - 5 Years Ago
|
@Dennis - yes I use Macrium Reflect for all my periodic mirrored backups - (generally fortnightly). I do a complete and total mirror of my C-drive which weighs in at around 70 GB. What I like about this 'Zinstall' approach is that they seem more geared towards "total salvage" and "true migration" (rather than scheduled backups). If I were to attempt to install one of my existing Macrium mirrored backups on new PC hardware however, I'd likely encounter all sorts of red flags regarding "changed hardware ID's". To me, this company seems dedicated to making migration and restoration (after failure) as painless as possible .... The only reason I posted was because of hearing horror stories some have experienced whereby they're facing a rebuild or O/S re-install. This seems to make it relatively painless .....
|
|
By justaviking - 5 Years Ago
|
Interesting. I would definetely need to do some research, but if I build a new computer, this could be a nice way to move stuff before I give my older PC to my son.
Curious, though, how something like iClone licensing would be addressed. I guess you'd have to go the the old computer (after the magic transfer) and uninstall iClone (while online) and then manually activate the license for the new PC.
Question - Can you do this all on a local network, directl PC-to-PC without involving "the cloud?"
|
|
By sonic7 - 5 Years Ago
|
@Dennis ..... I had similar questions myself - primarily regarding MS liscensing and by extension the point you mentioned. I don't really know how they achieve it - but they come across (via a fairly polished website) as though they'd have have legit solutions - I'd expect that *somehow* they'd dot all their "i"s and cross all their "t"s .... Apart from being of use for someone with a disaster on their hands, it seems a great fix for achieving a 'clean' windows install. So, if the O/S and programs all just end up back on the same PC - there's no issue since everything is as 'before' (minus the previously accrued rubbish and bloat). That seems a great way to do a thorough tidy up *if* it comes to that.
The other question I have is - if used to migrate your existing software environment to another PC - how do the new drivers get installed? I'd imagine that "what" drivers get installed is somewhat dependant on "what" software is migrated ....
|
|
By justaviking - 5 Years Ago
|
Regarding a "clean install"...
I remember in the past when "computer geeks" would recommend doing a full, from scratch, clean reinstallation of Windows about once a year. Mostly it would improve stability and performance, and I think that was largely a result of you having a clean Windows Registry again. Although Windows still isn't perfect, I don't think it's quite that bad anymore.
I've been trying to upgrade my Win7 Pro to Win10 Pro, but it keeps failing. Thankfully it gracefully rolls back, and the attempted upgrade doesn't do any harm. I just had my son do this on his PC (Win7 Home) and it was successful. He used a Win10 image direct from Microsoft, burned to a DVD (same one I was using), so it's all legitimate. He upgraded from Win7 Home to Win10 Home at no cost on August 28, 2019, with no shady purchases or hacks required.
I don't know why my upgrade fails (some registry setting or device driver might be causing an issue - the error I get offers no insight). I think I'll try a registry cleaning utility and see if that helps. This "Zinstall" tool to make my PC "like new" would maybe help my upgrade from 7 to 10 succeed, but own a copy of Norton, which I can install and it has clean-up tools, so I'll try that first.
Interesting information. Thanks for sharing.
|
|
By ian_11 - 5 Years Ago
|
|
Personally I would say nothing beats Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15 Professional
|
|
By sonic7 - 5 Years Ago
|
Hi Ian ....
Paragon is good. I've used it a lot in the past (20 years ago), but I get the impression that it still focusses mainly on backup/restoring/partitioning etc. I could be mistaken, but it seems like Zinstall is more specialized in 'migration and salvage' tasks (to new hardware) rather than backup and recovery (to the same hardware). I mean Paragon, Macrium, Acronis - they're all variations on a theme as far as I can tell. I'd be comfortable with any of those three - (I use Macrium) .....
Just re-checked Paragon's site - they DO infact handle 'migration' .....
They state:"Tools for expert users
Advanced users can create more sophisticated scenarios based on the provided set of tools. Define specific backup strategy, migrate system and data, perform secure disk wipes and generate detailed reports."
Reference: https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-windows/
Reading further into Paragon's site - I get the impression that Paragon's definition of "migration" is more to do with 'data transfer' between disks, whereas Zinstall's definition is more to do with 'data into a new host' (and all that this would entail) ...
|
|