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I guess this is not 'best practice' but I was hoping to make it work. I created an image of my old Win7 system, then wrote that image to a new SSD. (used Macrium reflect and booted into WinPE to write the image, if it matters)

This new SSD booted fine in my new hardware (Ryzen system). But none of my USB peripherals worked. USB works fine in BIOS. I tried every USB-related setting I could think of. I was at a loss how to troubleshoot because I can't use mouse or keyboard. I don't have any old PS/2 stuff. I also don't have an optical drive.

I eventually gave up, installed a copy of Windows 10, and ended up reinstalling windows + programs. Probably better in the long run, but could I have made the cloned drive work somehow?

I know Macrium Reflect has a "redeploy image to new hardware" feature for the paid version. Does it work easily/reliably? Does anyone know how to do that 'manually'?

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A cloned drive is an exact image of the original, containing the same files, including drivers specific to the hardware. When Windows or other OS is installed, during that process, the appropriate drivers are selected from a multitude on installation media, or even downloaded over the internet.

If you install a clone in identical hardware, it should work, but even computers of the same model sometimes have physical differences for later revisions, such as using a different USB controller if the original chip becomes unavailable. That your computer booted from the clone at all was a matter of luck.

By going to Windows 10, though, you now have an OS the Microsoft still supports. Yes, it is a nuisance to reinstall all applications. It might have been possible to upgrade from Windows 7, even without working USB, to Windows 10, but that path may no longer be available.

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  • I had the impression there's a way to somehow 'inject' or replace the incorrect drivers from the old system, with drivers on the new system. I seem to remember someone posting that you could prepare windows to be cloned (on the old system) by deleting the driver cache and essentially making windows think it was running the first time on new hardware. Then it would install (or prompt for) the necessary drivers. I can't find the post but is that possible?
    – CreeDorofl
    Apr 28, 2021 at 20:18
  • While that's possible, you'd need the Windows 7 ISO to find the drivers, rather than cloning. The needed new drivers are not on the old Windows 7 instance.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Apr 28, 2021 at 20:24

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