Migrate Win7 install from T400 to T410

[pjk]

I've been considering upgrading a T400 to a T410 because it seems to be the last T-Series Thinkpad with an available 16:10 screen and I like the built-in eSATA port, among other things. (and the price )

I figure I will have to re-activate Win7 which shouldn't be a big deal with the license I have. And while I typically like to start with a fresh install of the OS when I change hardware, I have spent a lot of man-hours installing and tweaking things on this device and I really really really don't want to have to go through all that again. (None of the "magical migration utilities" I've seen will migrate apps and settings for anything but really really common retail software packages, and it seems even when they claim to support an app, it doesn't necessarily migrate properly anyway, but dumps tons of crud into the registry and filesystem at the same time. Just went through this with PC Mover on someone else's PC.)

So I figure I might un-install some of the existing T400 drivers before doing the migration, to ease the transition - ie the video driver. (Since this uses that idiosyncratic "ATI switchable graphics" hardware.) And I have avoided installing Access Connections because in my past experience it does no good to migrate profiles to another hardware device because if it doesn't see the same exact network devices on the new Thinkpad none of the migrated profiles will work anyway.

Anyone have enough experience doing this sort of migration that they'd care to give me some tips to make the process as smooth as possible?

[jayton4]

It should work, but I would never recommend it. I always have found little things here and there that don't work exactly right afterward and eventually get fed up and reinstall anyway. Which type of license do you have?

If the esata is your main attraction, why not go with something like this (assuming your model has the ExpressCard slot):
http://www.siig.com/it-products/control ... scard.html

[pjk]

I have all sorts of ExpressCards, including various SATA/eSATA ones, but it's really handy to have it built-in, especially if you are booting an OS from removable media and never know what kind of ExpressCard support those environments have.

The license is a TechNet license, it's like a volume license. It's not locked to the hardware.

[jayton4]

I could try the hard drive from my R400, which is basically a T400 without the rubberized coating and without the ATI graphics, and put it in my T410 with Nvidia NVS and see what happens.

The license is a TechNet license, it's like a volume license. It's not locked to the hardware.

Nice.

[pjk]

I could try the hard drive from my R400, which is basically a T400 without the rubberized coating and without the ATI graphics, and put it in my T410 with Nvidia NVS and see what happens.

Whatever you do, I hope you make a good verified backup first.

[jayton4]

I know this is kind of old now, but swapping the drives worked perfectly fine. My Windows 7 Pro installation is using the generic Lenovo OEM license.

[pjk]

Fabulous news... glad you came back to report your experience.

I am still considering that T410 upgrade, still casually keeping my eye out for the model I want.

Thanks again.