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That is a pretty specific requirement. In that case, I would boot off of one the disk clone/recovery isos and clone the whole drive to another drive.
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yeah i would just clone the disk to another one
That seems like some very odd and specific requirements and really limits you to pretty much just cloning (though there may be something else idk about)
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Uh.
Saving documents and data is easy (there are many backup programs out there). Saving programs (which are installed and so tied to the installation)? Not so much.
What’s the end goal here? If it’s to be able to restore the whole system to a working state (from a certain point in time) then a disk image is the correct approach.
Or, just copy the entire disk contents to another disk. It meets the requirement, though “restoring” it probably won’t work as expected. 
Good advice given above ^^.
I do this frequently, and always use Clonezilla to image the drive first to a known good and much larger drive. Also specify that it should ignore surface/read errors when the source disk is having problems, otherwise it will be working at it for so long and may just stop anyway because the source is failing. Go hard and go fast.
And if the source is really nasty/clunking/weird noise /etc and refuses to work then wrap it in ESD bag, and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours first; that often frees it up enough to get moving.
The clonezilla image can then be transfered to a new disk or interrogated by any of the usual suspects for disk image mounting.
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I use this regularly. I keep my backup drive in the first bay and use the second bay for all sorts of things.
But, if i disconnect it from my computer and press the button - I slip in my redundant drive and make a clone…
Oh ya.
Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA I/II/III… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759567JT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
check smart health status of the old drive first, after this you may choose 2 different ways to proceed.
There’s great advice here. I have used this in Windows 7 and 10, and it has worked flawlessly. However! I’d look into it first to make sure it’s what you need to clone to another drive:
Then, there’s also this page that might give you some choices other than this:
https://www.easeus.com/backup-utility/free-windows-10-hdd-clone-software.html
If this is the option you’re looking for, I hope this helps.
We don’t mind what OS it is if we can help then we will. It’s pretty liberal here. Now to your question.
This is a big issue my friend if his computer is dying he has to move to a new system that would come with Windows 10 or with a Linux distribution. Windows 7 will have a hard time getting the matching drivers for newer hardware mostly WiFi, VGA, and LAN.
The shortest answer is to clone the drive to another hard drive some programs can do that in few clicks. But, this is a big but.
This part,
Is going to be a big issue. Windows 7 does tend to give the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) if it doesn’t install matching drivers for the chipset. Most of the time it just keeps restarting without showing the screen because that is how Microsoft dealt with that problem by hiding it.
The best way is to Sysprep the system then clone it to another drive. Sysprep generalizes the current install by removing system-specific information (Ex: drivers). You can clone the current setup without Syspreping it but if you’re planning to move to the newer system then you might run into driver issues. Or the worst case is you might have to reinstall everything.
As I said above you can use any free or paid backup software to achieve this. I personally have used this. It’s simple and the free version kind of has almost everything a home user needs. The software suggested by @Adam is also good peace of software but it’s free edition doesn’t allow cloning according to the feature list here (I also know by experience).
I’ve come across the scenario you’re describing many times due to my profession. Many users want to keep their systems unchanged when moving to new hardware or after full system failiur.
In this case, the best solution is to make the users understand that it’s not possible due to hardware and software restrictions. If he/she doesn’t yield or kept insisting we clone the system but before doing that we get into a verbal agreement and after explaining everything if the system fails it’s out of our hands. Or give the option to the user to get it done by another.
People who don’t understand computers that much think that everything can be copy-pasted. Which is not true in all cases. If you go through with cloning you will run into issues on new hardware because it’s 7. With Windows 10 I’ve not faced those issues unless I screw up badly.
Your best bet is to convince your father to upgrade to Windows 10 or better Linux (Zorin would be great for him.) or get him a Linux vendor system like slimbook or tuxedo.
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its “possible” assuming windows decides to play ball. You can give yourself the best chances by making sure to install the chipset drivers and such before attempting. Ive done it a couple times back when i used windows but youre right its 9/10 not gonna work. If the system you replace it with is close enough thats the best chance.
What is the reason he thinks his PC is gonna die? It probably isnt, if its from the past decade and of decent build the hardware should be fine and likely would just need either new ram, new storage, new psu, or just a tune up. The likelihood of the average user being able to push a system beyond its usable life completely is slim unless its been damaged or neglected to the point of catastrophe.
My laptop is 10years old and just needed a few parts replaced here and there and some basic maintenance. Granted it cost something like 4000$ when it was new but still.
It never decided to play ball with me 
.
It usually doesnt lol 
I use to do it when i switched systems every 2yrs and didnt wanna reinstall. Id get all the new drivers installed then swap over but i also was switching amd->amd->amd->etc. but when i switched to intel it obviously was a no go
This works, due to chipset drivers and other system info being similar.
Whenever anyone tries to do something like AMD → Intel W7 goes “Hell No”. It’s the chipset change mainly. This can happen with same CPU vendor but a totally new architecture with a brand new chipset.
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Your father definitely needs a new computer. 
Probably a software and hardware clean is needed. The best software cleaning is a fresh install of windows.
Like to suggest introducing him to a cloud file service like Dropbox or Mega (good free account space). Because the tendency to lose data is very minimal and if he does we can restore it from the cloud trash.
Anyway, good luck convincing him.
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