Ubuntu – Clonezilla – disk to disk clone from HDD with Ubuntu to HDD with Windows on new machine

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I bought a new (used) laptop with Windows 7 installed. and now I am in need to port everything I have in my previous laptop with Ubuntu on it.

I don't really need dual boot, I just want to stick with Ubuntu alone on the new machine as well.

If I use Clonezilla to clone the HDD with Ubuntu from my old laptop to an external HDD (disk to image) and then, use this image to perform a disk to disk cloning onto the new HDD with Windows, will this do the trick?

Obviously, the external and new HDD have enough space for storing what's on the old HDD. Is it a good idea to do this or would you suggest to perform a fresh Ubuntu install on the new machine and using the deja-dup application to perform a restore of files and folders, given that then I would need to reinstall all the programs I need?

If it might be of interest, my new laptop is a ThinkPad T440p.

Best Answer

Installed Ubuntu systems are portable

I have some installed systems in external drives (USB and eSATA), and they are portable between computers. So it should work to do what you want. You can even move your current drive to the new computer (connect it internally or via an external box) and test how it works before you start cloning.

If you have installed proprietary drivers (typically for graphics and wifi), it is a good idea to uninstall them and use the built-in linux drivers, when you clone and start using the system in the new computer. Later on you may or may not install suitable proprietary drivers depending on the hardware.

Cloning works

  • if the target drive is at least as big as the source disk (not one single byte smaller, it is not enough, that the nominal sizes are the same), and

  • if the physical sector size in the target drive is the same as in the source drive. (I am not talking about the intermediate drive, where you store the Clonezilla image.)

    You can check the physical sector sizes with

    sudo parted -ls

    The classic physical sector size is 512 bytes, and some new drives have 4096 byte size.

    Even if it might work if you clone anyway, there will be performance issues, so you should really avoid it.

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