I dread replacing or upgrading computers more than any other computer related chore, since, in the past, it has been so time consuming and frustrating. But I had to do it. My Dell XPS 15 9570 computer was just too slow for 4k and 8k video editing and even DXO PL 6 was slow rendering large highly processed Sony A1 raw files. The nearly 5 year old computer was just becoming irritating. I received a fully optioned out Dell XPS 17 9730 Win 11 computer Monday night, checked it functionally and turned off most of the irritating notifications, made some backups of the old machine, then bought a license for the Zinstall migration utility. My thinking was to try it, and if it worked as well as advertised, I would be a very happy new computer user maybe by Tuesday evening.
I bought the Zinstall version which uses an intermediate external USB SSD to store the full migration file from the old computer and then load it to the new computer in a separate operation. This way, I had the use of one computer while the other one was tied up. It took a some time for Zinstall to build the migration file and store it on the SSD. 1.5 TB took about 3 hours. Nothing was changed on the old computer. I estimated maybe 3-4 hours for Zinstall to migrate everything--and I mean everything except the OS and virus software--to the new computer. I started the operation and went back to my old computer to continue work. Surprise, surprise! The migration took less than 2 hours and I got a message saying restart the new computer. When it restarted, all of my icons were there, Firefox worked perfectly, all of the utilities worked, passwords were not lost. Fantastic. Everything on the new computer looked and acted like it was the old machine with an upgrade to Win 11. Even the printer worked.
So the real test. Start DaVinci Resolve. It came up quickly but wanted the Studio version license key, which I expected, and when entered, I got a message saying the copy on the old computer would be deactivated. Fair enough. Started Cyberlink Power Director, same thing, I easily activated the new copy on the new computer, and the old copy on the old computer would be deactivated. Went to the AVG site and installed all VPN and security software (these were not transferred by Zinstall), and they all started up and ran perfectly. I couldn't believe it. I spent the evening and early this morning running all the applications I normally use, and they ALL work fine. I am nearly 75 years old, have used notebook computers professionally and as a hobbyist since first available, with nearly every version of Microsoft OS, including DOS, and have never ever had any fun upgrading a computer. This was fantastic. I'll upgrade again four or five years now, God willing, and I bet it will be even easier. Unless I get a Mac. Just kidding.
I bought the Zinstall version which uses an intermediate external USB SSD to store the full migration file from the old computer and then load it to the new computer in a separate operation. This way, I had the use of one computer while the other one was tied up. It took a some time for Zinstall to build the migration file and store it on the SSD. 1.5 TB took about 3 hours. Nothing was changed on the old computer. I estimated maybe 3-4 hours for Zinstall to migrate everything--and I mean everything except the OS and virus software--to the new computer. I started the operation and went back to my old computer to continue work. Surprise, surprise! The migration took less than 2 hours and I got a message saying restart the new computer. When it restarted, all of my icons were there, Firefox worked perfectly, all of the utilities worked, passwords were not lost. Fantastic. Everything on the new computer looked and acted like it was the old machine with an upgrade to Win 11. Even the printer worked.
So the real test. Start DaVinci Resolve. It came up quickly but wanted the Studio version license key, which I expected, and when entered, I got a message saying the copy on the old computer would be deactivated. Fair enough. Started Cyberlink Power Director, same thing, I easily activated the new copy on the new computer, and the old copy on the old computer would be deactivated. Went to the AVG site and installed all VPN and security software (these were not transferred by Zinstall), and they all started up and ran perfectly. I couldn't believe it. I spent the evening and early this morning running all the applications I normally use, and they ALL work fine. I am nearly 75 years old, have used notebook computers professionally and as a hobbyist since first available, with nearly every version of Microsoft OS, including DOS, and have never ever had any fun upgrading a computer. This was fantastic. I'll upgrade again four or five years now, God willing, and I bet it will be even easier. Unless I get a Mac. Just kidding.
