Windows 7 Upgrade

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I was planning on doing a manual upgrade to my internet PC to Win7 from XP and my desktop decided not to wait on me and its power supply exploded this morning (yes literally) taking out the motherboard and processor in the process. (Switching power supplies ) So rather than spend a week trying to track down a still produced motherboard/processor that would fit the old case and every possible issue that could arise from doing that, I just sprung from a mid-level pre-built gaming-geared computer pre-loaded with Win 7 64bit. Both of my old hard drives are fully intact with all the data (already checked them out), so what I want to know is there an easy way to carry over programs and settings from the old drives to my new system? There are several programs I want to install and then erase the old XP OS partition to use for storage. If it's not possible, is there some kind of system switching environment for Windows 7 that I can use to boot up from the old boot drive to access all my old stuff the way it was?

  BTW for anyone still using IDE, stuff, I have two VERY lightly used OEM non-branded Sony(?) DVD burners for whatever it costs to ship them only. Just PM me.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

...and on that note, the new machine has a 450 watt supply but not enough SATA power taps to accommodate both the old hard drives and the blu-ray burner transplanted from my old system. There ARE two standard 4-pin power sockets unused and maybe I can get adapters. I have plenty of SATA data ports, just not enough power. Should I upgrade the supply or just get some adapters (can you even get 4-pin to SATA power adapters)?

 The old beastie had a supply over twice what was necessary just to try and give it some added longevity, 850 watts, and kept running for almost two days after one of the supply caps blew (I heard it blow but thought it was bubble wrap) because the demand was so low relative to the capacity. Cat hair-clogged extra cooling fans are what I guess to have killed the supply along with its fan. The fans must have taken it all and wrapped them in the motors, because the inside of the computer was dusty but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, but the fans, including the supply fan, were near-seized and I never had a clue and I vacuumed it regularly. The CPU fan was dusty, but otherwise completely functional. I purposefully overbuilt the power supply and cooling systems, and they did their job. When they died, the CPU/motherboard was the only unexpected casualty.

The final system will be an AMD Athalon II Quad core 640  DVD burner at 3 GHz, 8 GB Ram, a dvd burner, a blu-ray burner, and three SATA drives, two 500 gigs and one 320 gig, along with a pretty hefty video card.

[the mojo hobo]

The best option for you would be to find the disks or download and install the software on your new system. I have tried migration programs in the past and ended up with some stuff that worked and some that didn't, and you have the added challenge of going from 32 bit to 64 bit.

You can install your old drive and boot from it. There should be a message on boot to tell you which F key to press for the boot menu. You will have to find XP drivers for your new hardware and Windows might have activation issues because of all the new hardware.

According to http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/PSUEngine your power supply is adequate if you have on board video. Yes, you can get 4 pin to SATA converters probably from Startech. They do: http://www.startech.com/Cables/Computer-Power/Internal/6inch-4-Pin-Molex-to-SATA-Power-Cable-Adapter~SATAPOWADAP

I just built a new system for myself a couple of weeks ago, and spent a whole weekend re-installing software. I keep all the disks for each computer in a separate box, and always save a download if it is something I bought. Makes it easy.

[Highlander]

Going through some interesting slightly left of your field issues...

Jackie's been running some accounting packages that went back some years but ran fine on XP (QB2002) and a bunch of other XP progs so with the impending cliff [chickenlittle] XP support is ending...! XP support is ending...! [/chickenlittle] in the road ahead I took a different angle with a Win7 Pro machine and a NAS with matched RAID1 drives (mirrors all saved files)...
Win7 Pro has a copy of XP Pro hiding inside it and can emulate some progs back to Win95; not all work, but it means an easier transition for her, and me...
I run 2 Win7 laptops and Roshina runs a Win8 laptop...

So, I went for a Zylex NSA320 and loaded it with paired WD 1.5TB sata drives, and off I went... that was two weekends back...

During the multiple processes to setup various backups and reload J's new/old software (one of her clients bought her the newest Quick-Books, as they invoice in more than one currency) on the new machine, and back-up the various machines, this laptop had been noted as "playing-up" and whilst running CHDSK gave me the DST TEST FAILURE (dearly beloved, we are gathered here today), which almost certainly means the HDD has serious, if not fatal, issues, so out the beast came and into an old WD passport-drive case, and in went another HDD, and more software reloading...

Now, in answer to your question, there are some software platforms that can carry over the previous system from a HDD to a new disc but I've never had a lot of luck with them - used Norton Ghost some time back which was fussy but the most successful; most of it is reliant on an existing BUD or working machine... I know it can be done, but

I'm in the final throws of reloading my software now and the files I had backed up anyway (I've had my fingers burnt by HDD failures more than once...)

I've done some hunting but nothing has leapt out so far... do we have an IT wiz here that knows a tried-and-tested method...?

The trouble will be with registering the existing software with the new hardware, as the licence is to the chassis and not the disc, but there's loads of ways round that, I guess...

Personally, I'd do a full rebuild, then transfer files from the HDD via an internal SATA (prefer), or if you have a case for a SATA drive with a cat5 socket - WIN7Pro prefer too...

Side note pm'd...

PS Win7 Pro can/should run 32 and 64 bit software...

edit... Mojo noted boxing software up... I still have my Win3 floppies (plus a bunch of other junk - I had my Win2 5 1/4" floppies somewhere round here too) and I use old 10 pack CD/DVD boxes to keep the carefully labelled software discs and licence numbers, plus dozens of old pre win7 stickers I've removed from XP pro carcasses...

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I have as many installation discs as exist, as well as saved downloads. I figured a straight migration would get me nowhere. Unfortunately, it's 7 Home, not Pro, and it was preinstalled, so I can't do an XP environment within 7. I can fix this; I was just hoping for a faster/better way if anyone knew of it. Yesterday was NOT a fun day.

[Highlander]

I've seen some 7 Pro discs knocking about fairly cheaply, with licences, on greedbay from time to time...

I've been off for the last five days and fixing the PC's has been it... going back to work for a rest...!

[Pilgrim]

I bought an upgrade from Home to Pro for about $70 by Ebay searching.