[quietronin]

Hi guys;

My father's old computer died, and so have purchased a prebuilt computer to replace it.

However, my mother seems unhappy with it, primarily due to the new computer using Windows 8 as opposed to Windows Vista on the old machine. In short, she was so used to the layout and positioning of the old computer that she would much rather prefer that it was there.

I wonder, is this at all possible?

Would it be possible for me to make a mirror copy of the contents of the old machine (from the hard drive) and replicate it within the new machine?

In other words, old memories, different body.

The new machine is a micro ATX case and I am not very confident about how the HDD is to be removed (or indeed, if it can be). However, if this was the case, then would I have achieved the same result?

 

[Vadigor]

This wouldn't work very well as the hardware the two systems are built on is too different. Migrating the HDD may or may not work depending on how different the drivers are.

I highly advise you to try and get your mother used to the new system, it's something she'll have to do eventually. Another solution would be downgrading the OS of the new system to Windows 7, which has an interface that's much more similar to Vista. Downgrading to Vista is not recommended.

(I'm assuming that you're talking about migrating the GUI, not the data.)

 

[sobeit]

if the operating system came with the old system, then it is oem and can never be transfer to another computer.

 

[Tyree]

It can't be done even if the PC's are not OEM.
The OS on the old PC is tied to the Mobo.
7 & 8 are not that different from Vista but they are better than Vista.
It is possible, as well as popular, to make 8 "look" like 7/Vista and make the transition easier.
Google "Make 8 look like 7"