Installing Windows 10 using a clone

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We are setting up a number of HP – ProBook 14″ Refurbished Laptops having – Intel Core i5, 8GB Memory, and Windows 10 Pro.

The only differences between the machines is that some have 480GB Solid State Drives while others have 256GB SSDs.

We have now setup one of the 256GB SSDs PCs.

The setup involved:

• Installing Windows while offline,
• Installing and running Acronis True Image for Western Digital to clone the C Drive for safe keeping,
• Using HP’s Support Assistant to identify, download, and install driver updates,
• Updating Windows 10 Pro,
• Installing VPN software,
• Installing Firefox,
• Installing Revo Uninstaller,
• Installing Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016, and
• Uninstalling bloatware using Revo Uninstaller.

It took several hours to set up the first HP ProBook.

Now it is time to setup a second ProBook that has a 480GB SSD.

We would like the setup of the second ProBook to mirror that of the first.

When making a clone Acronis offers three options:

• A clone to use to restore the drive being cloned,
• A clone to be used on another computer, and
• A clone of data files only.

If we choose the second option, to make a clone for use on another computer, can we use the clone to setup the second ProBook?

If we use a clone to setup the second computer, will Office 2016 install and be ready to run without putting in the license # etc?

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Kathy Stevens wrote:

Now it is time to setup a second ProBook that has a 480GB SSD.

We would like the setup of the second ProBook to mirror that of the first.

I am not a proponent of cloning, so I am not qualified to answer your question directly.  However, these are different sized drives. I would use drive imaging instead, which I have used many times without failure.  When I upgraded the hardware on my daily driver, three of my new drives were NVMe.  I restored the drive images from the SATA SSD’s that were being replaced to the NVMe’s, and when I rebooted everything just worked.

Kathy Stevens wrote:

will Office 2016 install and be ready to run without putting in the license # etc?

Unlikely, but on the fringe of possible.  My Microsoft 365 was installed on one of those, and it just worked without any fiddling.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Kathy Stevens

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I’ve only ever create OOB images for deployment so I can’t comment on how well cloning works.
Make sure your image software creates the disk as the same type – I assume GPT.
And make sure you change the licenses for Windows and Office post imaging.

cheers, Paul

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Kathy Stevens

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We are struggling to install Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016 on the computers.

The software was originally installed on workstations that have been taken out of service.

One installation went smoothly. The others not.

We have product keys but once installed we can not login to a Microsoft account to complete the installation.

We were hoping that a clone would circumvent the login problem.

 

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Kathy if you can get to the MS account that was originally used to register the office installs you “should” be able to deactivate on the original machines to free up for the new. If not, you might try calling MS and explaining the situation, I actually had a good experience doing so about a year ago and it immediately activated.

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Kathy Stevens

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If these are in a domain cloning may introduce an issue with duplicate SID (security identifiers) on those devices.

 

From a friend in case this helps?

“So if you have a domain joined machine, you installed Office 2019 retail on it, and let that install expire, you cannot activate it with a legal license at all, no matter what you do, no matter how often you remove and reinstall.

Only logging in as a local admin allowed us to finally activate the Office. It does show up in the ms account at tab devices. However, the ospp is still not showing the license, and in Word, Account page you won’t see the “product is activated for email”.

What exactly it is in a domain that is blocking the activation, I have absolutely no clue. Disabled AV totally, only run the basic GPO’s, which do not block anything whatsoever. It left the machine thinking that the grace period expired and would not think otherwise.”

Are you logging in as a local admin to activate that Office?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Kathy Stevens

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I give up.

We have multiple copies of Microsoft Office 2016 in storage and have been unable to match  product keys with accounts.

Had an unused copy of WordPerfect Office 2021 in storage. Popped the disk in the DVD drive and it installed with no muss, no fuss, no bother. Now have a word processor and spread sheet that is sufficient for our needs.

Will now download and install Thunderbird for email and move on.

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Susan Bradley wrote:

may introduce an issue with duplicate SID

It’s a myth. Don’t try to change the SID.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-blog-archive/the-machine-sid-duplication-myth-and-why-sysprep-matters/ba-p/723859

cheers, Paul

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