PC graphics died... Dell parts backordered - Blue Iris on SSD that I removed - what about reinstalling?

[Sonnie]

We needed to update the ancient computer (probably ten years old) in our home office/study with a new PC, and I opted for the Dell Optiplex 7020 SFF Plus. The onboard graphics flubbed the dub, and the motherboard has to be replaced. I've owned a LOT of computers with integrated graphics, and this is the first one ever to die. Dell says it's on backorder with no ETA (which is hard to imagine, but I suppose it is what it is). Fortunately, it was within the 30-day return window, and I returned it for a refund.

Our new Precision 3460 will be here Monday. It's a little beefier than the 7020, even if I may not have needed it. It has a separate graphics card that will be easier to replace if ever needed.

I removed the SSD that originally came with the 7020, copied it to a WD Black 1TB SSD, and installed it in the 7020. This is where my Blue Iris was installed and running as a Windows service on the 7020.

I don't think I can install the WD Black on the new 3460 as the boot drive. It probably won't boot, or if it does, it may not be stable due to different devices, controllers, etc. I plan to use the WD Black as the boot drive, but I'll have to copy the 3460 factory-installed drive over to the WD Black. Before doing so, I'll obviously back up all the files and folders on the WD Black drive.

Can I install Blue Iris on the 3460 and then copy all the Blue Iris folders from the WD Black SSD backup while retaining all my settings, or is there a better way to accomplish this?

Thanks!

 

[abita_brewing]

We needed to update the ancient computer (probably ten years old) in our home office/study with a new PC, and I opted for the Dell Optiplex 7020 SFF Plus. The onboard graphics flubbed the dub, and the motherboard has to be replaced. I've owned a LOT of computers with integrated graphics, and this is the first one ever to die. Dell says it's on backorder with no ETA (which is hard to imagine, but I suppose it is what it is). Fortunately, it was within the 30-day return window, and I returned it for a refund.

Our new Precision 3460 will be here Monday. It's a little beefier than the 7020, even if I may not have needed it. It has a separate graphics card that will be easier to replace if ever needed.

I removed the SSD that originally came with the 7020, copied it to a WD Black 1TB SSD, and installed it in the 7020. This is where my Blue Iris was installed and running as a Windows service on the 7020.

I don't think I can install the WD Black on the new 3460 as the boot drive. It probably won't boot, or if it does, it may not be stable due to different devices, controllers, etc. I plan to use the WD Black as the boot drive, but I'll have to copy the 3460 factory-installed drive over to the WD Black. Before doing so, I'll obviously back up all the files and folders on the WD Black drive.

Can I install Blue Iris on the 3460 and then copy all the Blue Iris folders from the WD Black SSD backup while retaining all my settings, or is there a better way to accomplish this?

Thanks!

Try to boot it as it sits. Windows will do several hardware detections/reboots. The driver auto-installs have gotten quite good. Offhand, based on experience, I've give you a 80% chance it will be stable and work properly. You might have to download a driver or two manually, but I doubt it.

 

[Sonnie]

The 3460 came in today but would not boot with the other drive.

 

[MTL4]

The 3460 came in today but would not boot with the other drive.

I would just throw in your SSD of choice and do a totally fresh install of everything. If not it will almost assuredly end up corrupting something later on down the line. If Dell doesn’t come through on this one I’ve also had great luck with both Lenovo and HP machines (I use HP exclusively for work, mostly Zbooks). I’m not a huge Dell fan now, their older stuff was much better built. If you want a serious workhorse then I would have gone with something like a HP Z2 Tower G9 Workstation (just put one in recently and I was impressed, they also have an SFF version).

 

[Sonnie]

Yep... that's what I did, kind of. I used the SSD that came with it, added my second SSD, and cloned to it with EaseUS. I didn't have all that much of anything on the SSD of the other system anyway, so not really a big deal.