Transfer installed applications to new application?

I am having a HP laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium. I am buying a new laptop with vista ultimate 64 bit oem version.

I dot want to install all the apps installed in my old lappy again in my new laptop. How should I seamlessly transfer all my software applications to new laptop without indivijually installing them.

If i can get vista ultimate 32 bit and add my old harddisk to new laptop and then finally change the windows product key to ultimate 32.Is that possible.

 

If things were that easy . Did you think this through? I mean, you would need to copy all the registry entries from the old lappy to the new one. You would need to do the exact things an installer does but on the new lappy. Bottom line, GHOSTING the machine does what you want but this process keeps the old OS and it does not offer a choice for the OS .


You have three options:

1. Ghost the old lappy, put ghost on new and have Premium and not Ultimate
2. Reinstall everything on the new lappy.
3. Option three, you buy a license and UPDATE Premium to Vista . Plugging in your old drive will corrupt the bootloader. This goes back to option 1.

 

Moving everything, lock, stock and barrel, including applications, from one computer to another is a very dicey thing to do - you'd generally be better off just doing a fresh installation of your applications because there's a really good chance that something will get muffed up during the transfer, and unwinding that knot could ultimately end up requiring that you do a complete reinstallation anyway (including of the OS).

That being said, there are utilities out there that claim to be able to move everything over, including programs themselves, for example, Laplink's PCMover; however, even Laplink acknowledges, in its Program Notices that

All in all, I'd say that you're better off just doing it the old-fashioned way (think of it as the opportunity to review whether or not you really need to keep some those dusty old apps you haven't used in years on your computer ); however, if you're determined to try it the new-fangled way, it can apparently be done - no guarantees, however, that you won't end up having to do it the old-fashioned way in any event, though.

 

You should be able to pop your Vista disc into your XP box and run the File and Settings transfer wizard. Gotta install all your apps again, but they should retain their settings.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Migrating-Vista-using-Windows-Easy-Transfer.html

http://www.lockergnome.com/it/2007/01/24/windows-xps-file-and-settings-transfer-wizard/

 

Lets change the scenario. I am using Vista Home premium in a Laptop I want to upgrade to vista ultimate. Can I not just buy ultimate key and change product key and insert upgrade disk and add features of vista ultimate.

Even if someone wants to upgrade from home premium to vista business or ultimate do they have to install them fresh instead of upgrading.

 

That'll do it, and without the need to do any pesky reinstalling - you do not need to do a fresh install in order to do an upgrade installation.

 

Not, if as you initial message in this thread implied, you intend to move the hard drive from your old laptop to the new one. The OS on the old drive is configured specifically for the hardware in the old machine. Unless the new machine is identical to the old one, the chances of the old drive booting in the new machine is somewhere between zero, zilch and nada.

Gary