Migrating Pyramix v9 to a different computer

[Rob]

Hi,

I currently run PMXx64 v9 on a bootcamp Mac partition with W 7 Pro installed. All is working well except I could use some more processing power when working with large track & plug-in counts. So I decided to install it on my latest MBP Retina machine (with 1TB of SSD!).

Since I already use Winclone (thanks for the tip Frank) I was wondering if I could save some time by trying to migrate my installation using this tool. They have rather detailed instructions for doing this sort of thing. Has anyone tried this migration? I'm interested in hearing if all went well or if you recommend doing a complete fresh install of W7, PMX, and all plug-ins.

Link to instruction:
https://twocanoes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... Winclone-4

Thanks!

[fl]

Because of the internal hardware differences between your two machines, there is a probability that you'll have problems just copying everything over - particularly hardware drivers, because the two machines have significant differences. On the other hand, Windows does have something like Migration Assistant on the Mac, so you might be able to do a basic Win7 install, install the suitable Bootcamp drivers, and then migrate everything else over from the old machine following that point. Just to be safe, you may want to deactivate any licensed software, so you can re-authorize it on the new machine. Pyramix won't give you any problems, thanks to the dongle.

[Rob]

Thanks for your input Frank. Winclone instructs how to deal with the different device drivers for the two machines. It involves running the Windows utility Sysprep which strips out the computer specific drivers and turns your installation into a 'generalized' version. You then migrate the generalized version onto your other Mac and instruct it to find it's new host computer drivers.

I might try this method if I could clone my bootcamp partition to an external drive and generalize it there. This would leave my original install intact as I would like to have it for emergencies. It does not look like I can do this with Windows 7 ( but it does look possible with Windows 8 ).

With this in mind and with your mention of having to re-authorize my third-party plug-ins anyway, I'm just going to bite the bullet and do a fresh bootcamp Windows install on the new machine.

[fl]

Winclone instructs how to deal with the different device drivers for the two machines. It involves running the Windows utility Sysprep which strips out the computer specific drivers and turns your installation into a 'generalized' version. You then migrate the generalized version onto your other Mac and instruct it to find it's new host computer drivers.

Russell at Winclone has always been a tremendous resource for us Bootcampers. He must be referring to Winclone 4, which I can't run until I update beyond Mac OS 10.6.8.

When I was changing hard drives in my laptop, I investigated Sysprep as an alternative to having to reinstall everything, but I could never get it to work. YMMV.

I might try this method if I could clone my bootcamp partition to an external drive and generalize it there. This would leave my original install intact as I would like to have it for emergencies. It does not look like I can do this with Windows 7 ( but it does look possible with Windows 8 ).

Except for the part about how you can only boot into a Bootcamped partition on an internal disk.

With this in mind and with your mention of having to re-authorize my third-party plug-ins anyway, I'm just going to bite the bullet and do a fresh bootcamp Windows install on the new machine.

Some companies are quite forgiving about reinstalling and reauthorizing. Izotope doesn't mind, up to a certain number, at which point you have to email them. Voxengo doesn't care. Eventide plugs, Melodyne Editor, and any Plug-in Alliance plugs should be de-authorized prior. Similarly, MacDrive, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit and Tune-Up Utilities, if you use them. Sonoris' DDP Creator cannot be de-authorized, so each re-install eats one of your allowed licenses, until you email Pieter to re-set your count.

[Rob]

Yes, I am using Winclone 4.

Except for the part about how you can only boot into a Bootcamped partition on an internal disk.

FYI: https://twocanoes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... nal-Drive-

[fl]

Very interesting - it all hinges on Windows 8's ability to run from EFI mode, rather than depending on a BIOS setting which Bootcamp emulates. That Russell guy, he's very clever.

Sadly, my aging hardware cannot run Windows 8, and as I've kept my Mac OS at 10.6.8, I cannot run Winclone 4, so I cannot test this. Would be handy.