PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant

What is included in PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant?

OS-Independent Restore – Restores an old image without overwriting new Windows.
Auto Application Installation – Selected programs are reinstalled and ready to use.
Full Selectivity – Pick programs, folders, file types and user profiles.
Dead PC Rescue – Pulls content from an old non-booting hard drive.
Core Capacity – Restores from one or several mounted image drives.
Important – Image creation and Windows Server support are not included.

What are the main benefits of PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant?

PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant is a Laplink migration tool that restores programs, files, settings and user profiles from an old Windows disk image or old hard drive onto a new Windows PC. It is the only PCmover edition built purely around this restore path, and it leaves the new PC's operating system in place instead of rolling the old system over it.

No Reinstall Marathon – Old programs arrive installed, no installers needed.
Different Windows Versions – An XP or 7 image restores onto Windows 11.
New PC Protected – The new operating system and settings stay untouched.
Undo Available – A completed restore can be rolled back.
Free Transfer Assistance – Certified migration experts help around the clock.
Selective Restore – Leave old junk, bloatware and stale profiles behind.

Data loss is expensive: How backups help you avoid outages
For more background on backup planning, read our guide

What does PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant do?

It restores the contents of an old Windows PC – applications, files, settings and user profiles – from a disk image or an old hard drive onto a new PC that runs a different version of Windows. Laplink calls this Operating System Independent Restore: normal imaging software can only write back a complete image including the old operating system, which would overwrite the new Windows installation. The old image or drive is mounted on the new PC, the wizard analyses it, and you start the restore. Most transferred applications land installed and ready to run, so old CDs, downloaded setup files and serial numbers are usually not needed.

Can it recover data if the old PC no longer starts?

Yes, as long as the old hard drive itself still works. Laplink's own use case is a crashed PC: remove the drive, connect it to the new PC with a USB-to-SATA/IDE adapter or transfer cable, and restore from it – the old machine never has to boot again. The same applies to a stolen or physically destroyed PC if a complete disk image of it still exists. This is the practical difference to a plain backup restore, which would need working hardware with the matching old Windows underneath.

Does it create disk images, and which images does it accept?

No, it creates nothing – it only reads. Laplink support states clearly that PCmover cannot read any image format natively: the image must first be mounted as a drive letter, either by Windows itself (for VHD files) or by the imaging software that produced it, such as Laplink DiskImage, Macrium or Acronis. Partial or file-level backups that are not a complete image of the old drive, and images that cannot be mounted, will not work. Check before buying that you actually have a full, mountable image or the physical old drive; if you only need a backup tool, this is the wrong product.

How does it compare to PCmover Home and PCmover Professional?

Image & Drive Assistant covers exactly one scenario – restoring from an image or an old drive – while Home is built for a direct old-PC-to-new-PC move and cannot use images at all. Professional includes the image path plus File Based Transfer, so it is the broader tool; Image & Drive Assistant is the cheaper choice when the old PC is already dead, sold or wiped. Both Professional and Image & Drive Assistant handle multiple user profiles and domain users, which PCmover Home does not.

What is not restored to the new PC?

Antivirus and anti-spyware programs are not restored, and hardware-specific drivers are not carried over either – both are correct behaviour, since old drivers on new hardware are a classic cause of instability. Files and applications with DRM or hardware-fingerprint copy protection may need to be deactivated on the old system and reactivated on the new one with their original key. Laplink also advises installing all pending Windows Updates, including .NET, on the new PC before starting the restore, and removing trial versions there if you own the full product on the old PC. Very old programs from XP or Vista may simply not be compatible with current Windows, no matter how they are migrated.

Who is PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant best suited for?

It fits anyone whose old Windows PC exists only as a disk image or as a loose hard drive, and who wants the old programs back without hunting down installers and license keys. Repair shops and IT staff use it after board or drive failures, when the customer's machine is gone but the disk survived; private users reach for it after a crash or when a new PC arrives and the old one has already been dismantled. If the old PC still boots and sits next to the new one, PCmover Professional is the more flexible purchase. Server operating systems are outside the supported platform list, so domain controllers and file servers are not migration targets for this edition.

Frequently asked questions about PC Mover Image & Drive Assistant

Does the old and new PC need the same Windows version?

No. Restoring from Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 10 onto a current Windows PC is exactly what the product was built for, and the new Windows installation is not overwritten during the process. Supported platforms are desktop editions of Windows from XP through Windows 11.

Can a restore be reversed?

Yes, an Undo function is included, so a completed restore can be rolled back on the new PC. That makes a trial run with a limited selection of applications realistic instead of risky. Reboot the new PC after the transfer finishes, as Laplink recommends.

Can several images be restored in one pass?

Yes. The wizard offers the option to restore from multiple images mounted as drives, so a system disk and a separate data disk from the same old machine can be combined into one restore run. Each source must be mounted and visible with its own drive letter first.

Is help available if the restore does not go as planned?

Free Transfer Assistance is included: certified Laplink migration specialists can walk you through the transfer by phone or take over remotely, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is worth knowing before you start pulling drives out of a broken PC, because the mounting step is where most restores fail.