I bought a laptop with windows 11 instaled in its 256gb nmve ssd. I want to install linux but I want to first create an image of the ssd and store it in an external 4tb ssd with a ext4 filesystem (that I use for different backups) so in case I want to sell the laptop later I can restore windows 11 to the same ssd from the image. So what i’m planning to do is:

  • dd if=/dev/drive_device of=external_ssd/images/windows11.img

for creating the image and swapping if and of for restoring. My question is if creating the image of a drive with a windows 11 filesystem and storing it in a ext4 filesystem is possible or can have any issue. I ask this because I read that in the case of cloning the target drive will end up with the filesystem of the source drive in case they are different, which caused me some hesitation.

  • @catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
    3•11 hours ago

    OEM license keys have been stored in the BIOS for several versions now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Locked_Pre-installation

    For 99% of drivers, the on-disc ones are enough to get up and running, and as long as you have an Internet connection you can download any that aren’t on-disc. The remaining 1% can be obtained directly from the OEM. Modem Windows is very good about this.

    • @ReversalHatchery@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0•9 hours ago

      For 99% of drivers, the on-disc ones

      op will wipe the disk

      as long as you have an Internet connection you can download any that aren’t on-disc

      if windows update can guess correctly what kind of device you have

      The remaining 1% can be obtained directly from the OEM

      I did not have that experience last time with an acer laptop