I have my eye on a new Dell computer to replace my DAW. But scared to death about how I get all my music and software licenses from current machine to a new machine. Is it really as simple as getting some clone software (Acronis True Image) to do a file transfer?

You quite likely have some software that is aware of its hardware environment and cannot simply be copied over. You may need to uninstall stuff from the old machine before installing on the new. Just keep both machines available until everything shakes out.

Well I am looking forward to this:
XPS Desktop 895012th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900 (30 MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)
32 GB, 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4400 MHz; up to 128 GB (add'l mem sold separately)
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

But not looking forward to that:


Thanks

Sounds like a nice machine, but as mentioned, it's very unlikely that cloning software will work unless the hardware and all related configurations are identical to the original (and I'll bet they're not ).

I suspect that you're going to have to install all of your current software onto the new system. Take note as you probably need to take special action to transfer the license(s) in some cases.

Dan.
Thats a very nice system…but at this budget level , (and i dont wish you to be annoyed at me) might i suggest before a final decision you talk to various custom builders of pc’s for high end recording studios ?. cos this is a serious investment.
I believe also this might address one concern ie installing your software ,....which some builders will do.
ie..you get literally a “turnkey” system ready to go.
Many such custom pc’s are beasts for track and plug in counts.
Huge track and plug in counts. Because high end studios demand such.

Also another benefit of above is the company building the custom recording pc understands lots of the nuances of a recording studio. ..as well as sound devices/win etc etc.

All i’m suggesting is you consider alternatives.
If you do decide to consider this route then the reaper and gearspace recording forums have lots of references on custom builders. Lots of info on google also obviously.

I’m jealous of you lol.

Another alternative i might suggest is to look at refurb HP Z and LENOVO desktop workstations.
These are beasts also , and have been gone over by a MS certified refurbisher,..and go for often around 600 bucks with 1 year warranties. Have ssd’s, loads of ram, and are built like tanks. Many refurbishers will also allow returns within a certain time thus allowing testing etc.
but in this case you will needed to do all installs of your stuff.

I dont know what your max track/plug in counts are anticipated ?

Best/happiness
om

I'm on the opposite side of OM. I like your Dell setup and I'm a hard core Dell fan. That should be plenty of good power for anything you'll need to do in music. All my Dells have been excellent machines and they do have great service if you have an issue. I've mostly bought Dell refurbs as they have all the same warranty as a brand new machine. You can check out the Dell Outlet for refurbs.

om
Thanks for recommendation. Yes, I am still concidering alternatives. The off the shelf dell is hitting $2500. I have not paid that much since the 1990's. But I just don't know who could build this for me.

By the way, this is what got me going on this idea.

Steve.
Maybe there's some misunderstanding. So i’ll clarify.
I have 2 refurb dell pc’s here, that have given me sterling service.
Not one problem. EVER.
One for the net, and one for song development/roughing out ideas on the go.
And certainly if dan considers refurbs dell also has refurbs that are beasts.
But i understand he was concerned bout installation of his stuff, thus the custom recording pc suggestion.

Dan.
ok with that budget that puts you in custom pc territory.
if were me i would go on gearspace.com and reaper.fm
and start a new thread with the title ...
need recommends on builders of custom recording studio
pc's....youll get a ton of replies/recommends.

it would be helpfull to know your max track/plug in counts you would envisage. and do you anticipate useing big sample/orchestral libraries like many big studios ?


best to you both.
om

Here is my current Reaper Project - all Orchestration midi. This should give you an idea...

Dan

FWIW, I think most software now installs on a new machine without too much trouble, but of course there are exceptions that show that's not a perfect statement.

PGM allows activation on three machines and you should deactivate an old license to activate on another machine. That's plenty for most, though I shot myself in the foot by replacing an activation without realising I was to do that. PGM were able to sort me out.

Pianoteq has three licenses, but they can be managed online if necessary.

All of the other music-related stuff I have has just installed and activated OK, including the various packages I have of this machine (Linux or Windows depending on what is my main task today). I presume they have some online verification at activation that allows them to spot gross abusers.

Software producers tend to use all sorts of thing from within the machine environment to verify ... host-name, CPU I/D, hard drive ID, LAN IP address, Ethernet MAC address and so on. I suspect they check that several match up to a maximum number of machines, before bouncing an activation. I also think they try to make that fairly user-friendly to avoid lots of "my software won't work" support calls. Of course none of that guarantees universal success.

Personally I tend to install on a new machine afresh and deal with issues if or when they arise. That means I install a new OS and avoid any legacy dirt, but it also means more work. YMMV.

Edit: All my music software is quite recent.

Dan.
As i’m vision impaired its difficult to tell.
Only bout 38 traks. Not huge…But if your using heavy cpu plug ins, makes a diff.
As i said i would go on gearspace and the reaper forums and see what people have bought custom pc’s say.
Heres one active vendor of many mentioned on recording forums.

https://www.adkproaudio.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwgYSTBhDKARIsAB8Kuktm4tLmEL5j31P7c6qrnnaR1A-wOySxZbPPIrp8kDs9FCJ1OGCWhLMaAjFxEALw_wcB

And another …..but there are many others….all normally have lots of customer references on their net sites.

https://silentpc.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwgYSTBhDKARIsAB8Kukt4pggtfbsK_jfoN1m0jmavUTfsYKD7om5A8pOEkxJviB7_rEUHSdIaAngxEALw_wcB

Best advice i can give you if you go the custom pc route is to clearly define your needs on paper regarding max trak and plug in counts, as well as the plug ins you want to use , and the sound device you use as well as other items of importance to you….and then share it with the builder so all is clear and unambiguous. Eg if you want the fastest boot rocket ship time…lol..tell them also. Make sure you get a good long warranty also.
Its sorta like when i used to spec out tech with end users, …identify needs, send spec to vendors and get back pricing etc etc. then shortlist and get user references etc etc.

Best
om
ps there are lots of pc daw builds on you tube and the reaper and gearspace forums as well google such.

Here's some more: +++ PC Audio Labs +++

+++ ADK Pro Audio. Com +++

+++ Slick Audio +++

+++ iNet +++

+++ Vision +++

+++ Sweetwater +++

I think not, the cloning of hard drives is done to replace only the hard drive. If you change your pc or specifically motherboard and cpu it is very sure that it will not work and you will have to do a clean installation. Each computer or motherboard has a unique physical MAC address and I think that makes it impossible.

" MAC addresses are made up of 48 bits, usually represented by hexadecimal digits. Since each hexadecimal is equivalent to four binaries (48:4=12), the address ends up being made up of 12 digits grouped in six pairs, usually separated by a colon, although there may also be a hyphen or nothing at all. Thus, an example of a MAC address could be 00:1e:c2:9e:28:6b.

These digits are not random. Three of the six MAC address pairs identify the manufacturer, and the other half identify the device model. For example, the numbers 00:1e:c2 in the address example always belong to the manufacturer Apple Inc, while the last six determine the device model.

If you are curious, you can find specialized search engines to find out the manufacturer of a device depending on the first six digits of its MAC."

Also tell you that if you like to ride and disassembling things, assembling a pc does not require much knowledge as before and you can save or invest more money in it. Surely many of us here could help you if you took the step to build it.
All the best

I just went through this to a brand new Dell, similar to your specs. I did a clean install of everything I owned, and I am glad I did as it allowed me to better organize all my stuff. Every single piece of software I own installed with ease and most of them didn't even need anything more than using my existing logins and passwords. I had a couple that were on a USB dongle, and that was as simple as moving the dongle over. I then took out the old hard drives from my old system and using USB docks connected them to the new system, just in case I needed something that I forgot to migrate over etc. Once I was satisfied with all that I wiped those drives and now use them for backup, and storage etc.

It was not difficult, just time consuming. Some of my huge libraries that were download types, I just started the download before bedtime. I have a 1 Gig fiber connection but even with that NI's KOMPLETE takes a few hours to download and install the huge number of instruments, same with IK's Total Max and so on. With IK, you have to keep the install downloads, because after 180 days you can't get them from their website after that time. I use an old PG Music external drive for that!

I am very, very happy with my Dell. I had been an HP guy for years, after I stopped building my own, but I think Dell is the way to go. Customer service is excellent as well.

Good luck!!

The system you are describing should run just about anything you want. The more RAM the better when it comes to loading VST Instruments. I have 64GB. 32GB should work just fine for as much as you want to do.

Reinstalling programs is a lot easier and faster if all of your data, sounds, pictures, etc, are on drives other than your C:/ drive. Just DL the program and swap out your data drive(s). Been there-done that.

You probably already knew this but just in case I had to say it.

Dan,
Don't try the clone approach. I ain't going to work (but you already know that). There are no shortcuts in what you need to achieve.

Thanks guys. BIAB, Toontracks, NI, Spitfire, MSOffice and on and on and on... (see picture for a few more examples...) This seems a bit challanging but I appreciate the encouragement. I will let you know.

You'll have a fun time. For me it's a matter of keeping track of all my vendor accounts as well as access keys, license, etc. As long as you are on top of that, you should be good. The good thing with starting from a fresh machine is that you can just install stuff as you need it. I do a dump from the old machine/old image of all the "Programs and Features" programs listed. Then when I build the new machine, I just check each program off as it's installed. The method has worked for me for quite a few years. If you use CCleaner Free or paid, you can export the "Programs and Features" as a text file. I import that to a spreadsheet and geek out..... LOL

Dan, I loved the icon display. I think you missed one, though.

For anyone in general, I have a folder named Downloads. In it are folders for each application. In each application folder are at least two or three files:

The install EXE file
A text file with registration codes and account info
Any tutorials, links, instructions, tips etc.

Any files in this Downloads folder are copied each time it is changed, to another computer and to a traveling hard drive.

I’m sure everyone has a similar system, and it’s critical when you need to reinstall.

Dan.
A further thought that might save the expense of a new machine.
(but maybe you want one anyway.)
Let me explain....and bear in mind when i7 was the only beast around/game in town big studios were getting impressive performance i understand.

A lot of studios using sample libs run at least 3 drives.
One for win, one to record/playback multitrack, and one for sample storage.
(Some big studios of course have huge rigs.)

Where sometimes one can get a performance hit IS if win is on same drive as One is recording to. and/or putting massive sample libs on same drive one is using
To record/playback etc. Now with coming of ssd’s its alleviated the contention syndrome somewhat…Depends on the pc config.

THUS if your not running the above 3 drive set up ,ie 2 , i would try a third drive solely for
big sample libs and see how much that affects performance via testing in reaps which has all sorts of performance stats built in.

To go further it might be best to get info on how your drives are set up now.
..WIN on its own drive ?
..Seperate drive for reaps recording/playback ie the tracks. ?
..Seperate drive for sample libs ??
..where do the biab real traks reside ? assuming you use them ??
..just midi with plug ins ?? most pc’s will eat midi alive…with light plug ins.


Heres another vendor of custom pc’s i found on reaps forums.
Notice the testimonials at bottom…

https://studiocat.com/opencart2/

Personally i really like the rack mount powerhouses that many big studios use.
Absolutely massive track and plug in counts…but often expensive.
If you go on gearspace or reaps youll see lots of high performance stats quoted.

Happiness.

om

Matt, I do the exact same thing. I store that data on external HDs, including the one in my bank's safe deposit box.

Yes, the sub-folders in my separately 'saved downloads' \Music\ folder on a separate drive, includes 40 main sub-folders which include IK Multimedia, Focusrite, BiaB (every version / release / patch / update since 2012), Native Instruments, Melodyne, M-Audio, Roland, Session Keys, Sonar and more currently consists of:
2,366 files, 345 folders, and takes 310Gb or storage
(and many of these are just the licenses to download the full products)

Matt/Mario/Trevor - Same here. I back up all that stuff to external USB HDDs too.

Yep. Nothing new here, just appropriate preventative care.

+1 to this. It is vital to keep the important stuff!

Love all the advice. Thanks guys.

I generallly have the original downloads for everything, until I go looking and can't find something.
Otherwise, Regarding HDD Space, not something I currently have a shortage of. But I am looking forward to the SSD in the future.

For backup of my downloaded installation files, I actually prefer using a hard disk to an SSD. I think it might be more likely to last longer with failing. That could be wrong.

I had a non-boot SSD for data some years back. It Failed! Today I have the 6TB HDD - with USB 3.1 Type-C port for external backup. Provides data transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps. Nevertheless, I am planning on a SSD boot drive and hoping things have gotten better.

Hello!

Our license states that you can only have Band-in-a-Box installed on one computer at a time. However, we understand that customers often have multiple computers, get new machines, or need to travel, so your activation code is good for installation on three personal computers. If you want to free up an activation, we recommend releasing it from the old machine if you won't own it or use it anymore.

As a general rule of thumb, I don't typically recommend copying any program directory to a new location. For a lot of programs, that won't work, as there's usually files stored elsewhere on your computer that tell the program its a legitimate install, but also files or aspects of a program may get installed to different paths or locations that you may not always know where to look for. Some programs even have protection against copying things to prevent sharing it with friends who haven't paid.

In our case, files get installed into different locations, so to ensure that you have a complete and proper install, it's best to install from your original media, be it downloads or a physical copy like a harddrive or flash USB stick. That way you know everything is where it should be.

Years ago, I did an upgrade on my business computer. I used cloning software and to my surprise, almost everything came up running nicely. One or two programs required me to reinstall or reactivate with my serial number key.

As with Band in a Box.... quite a few software programs allow you to have only a certain number of activations at a given time. Several other programs I have are similar. You have to go in and manually release the activation in order to reinstall and activate it on a new machine. I forget which program it was but due to issues I was having, I had uninstalled it a reinstalled it several times and I ran out of activations. I had to contact that company and they were able to reset my activations to zero so I could install it and get it running.

It's always best to do clean installs and enter the activation key. If you're over the limit, you can always go back on the original older machine and release that activation cleanly.

Good luck.

If you move your NI libraries to an external drive, the Native Access app has a very nice feature that allows you to find your libraries if you move to a new machine. It saves a lot of download time.

Thanks for that info. I do believe I have seen that option in the past if I tried to move a library. Good to know it may be my best option come the big transfer.