PDA

View Full Version : Moving an install to a different computer



aipforum
02-09-2006, 12:19 AM
I currently have Knoppix 4 installed on hda8 of my laptop.
I've spent a lot of time customizing it and adding the software I want/need.
And some of the software didn't install easily :)

With it all working fine, I would really like to install it on my desktop as well.
I've made an image of the installed partition using Acronis TrueImage, and what I would like to do is use that image and copy everything to my desktop computer.

I know there will some issues ... one of them being the fact that on my desktop, the hard drive will be hdb1 instead of hda8.

So the main question(s) is:
Once I restore from the TrueImage, can I boot using the live CD then edit files using VI or Kedit and change any references from hda8 to hdb1 ?
And if so, what files would need editing ?

If that isn't possible...
Then my 2nd option would be to do a fresh install on the desktop and copy the stuff I've customized over from the laptop to the desktop. What I don't know is what files/directories would need copying. My /home of course. /opt? /usr? I guess what I'm asking here is when installing using apt/dpkg/synaptic, what directories are files copies to?

TrueImage will preserve permissions, so I don't think that is an issue.
Any other things I should be prepared for ?

And since this isn't a production install, I can tinker with things until I get it all right. In fact, I kinda want to so that I learn about this. I'm not scared getting my hands dirty, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to know what I need to do to get the thing running enough to fix everything that will need fixing.

Thanks a bunch for your help.

-- Brent

OErjan
02-09-2006, 06:14 PM
try, should work ok, /etc/fstab must be edited and such, you will get erorr messages...
if you find a problem ask here, we will try to answer.
i have copied many installs from disk to another.
mostly get some minor trouble easily fixed, usualy, by editing /etc/fstab /etc/modules... and reinstaling grub or lilo (or ading install to the bootloader already there)most occasions this has worked well (one install had some trouble with the kernelconfig).

UnderScore
02-09-2006, 07:02 PM
Moving to a different computer is just about the same as moving to a different HD the same machine. Yuo will have to edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab files.
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19389