Overview

Bought a new computer because the old one died or slowed down? The most common panic we see is a customer swapping machines, opening LightBurn on the new PC, and finding all their settings gone and the laser showing “Disconnected.” The good news: almost none of that has to happen. There are four things that make a computer swap painless — (1) carry your LightBurn setup over with a User Bundle backup, (2) transfer your LightBurn license, (3) install the correct driver for your machine, and (4) re-create your connection settings (especially if you use Ethernet).

This guide applies to Gantry Ruida machines (Nova, Nova Plus, Bolt, Odin, Mars, Mini) and the Aurora Galvo series, on both Windows and Mac. The bundle and license steps are the same on both platforms; the driver and connection steps differ, and each is called out below. Titan owners: the bundle and license steps apply to you too, but the connection differs — use the Titan connection guide for reconnecting.

Do these two things BEFORE you retire the old computer: export a User Bundle and deactivate your license.

Your material settings, cut libraries, and device profiles live on the old PC — not on the laser — and one of your three license seats is tied up on it. If the old computer still turns on, do Step 1 and Step 2 now. If it is already dead, you can still get running on the new PC; you will just be rebuilding your libraries from scratch and may need LightBurn’s help to free the seat, so it is worth every effort to use the old machine one last time first.

Before You Begin

• Know your machine type. Gantry Ruida (Nova, Nova Plus, Bolt, Odin, Mars, Mini) vs. Aurora Galvo — the driver and connection steps differ.
• Know how you connect: USB or Ethernet. Ethernet is not plug-and-play and must be re-created on the new computer.
• Have your LightBurn license key handy (it was emailed to you before your machine shipped) and internet access on the new computer to activate it.
• Have the LightBurn installer downloaded on the new computer.
• A USB flash drive or cloud folder to move the bundle file and your project files between computers.

Step 1 — On the Old Computer: Export a User Bundle

A User Bundle is LightBurn’s built-in way to migrate everything between computers in one file (requires LightBurn 1.6 or newer). On the old PC:

1. In LightBurn, go to File → Bundles → Export Bundle.
2. Leave every component checked so you carry over everything, then click Export.
3. Save the .lbzip file somewhere easy to find, then copy it to your flash drive or cloud folder.

A bundle carries your LightBurn settings, custom hotkeys, material test presets, image presets, devices (including camera calibration and scanning offsets), material libraries, and art libraries.

The bundle does NOT include your project files or SHX fonts.

Copy your saved project files (.lbrn / .lbrn2) and your SHX Fonts folder to the new computer separately — the bundle only carries settings and libraries, not your artwork or SHX fonts.

LightBurn’s official walkthrough: Moving LightBurn to Another Computer and the User Bundles reference.

The bundle replaces the older, tedious method of exporting each settings file (device, prefs, libraries) one at a time. If you are on a LightBurn version too old for bundles, or want to also keep individual backups, see Backing Up Machine and LightBurn Settings. Note: your DSP machine settings live on the laser’s controller, not on the computer, so they are not lost in a computer swap — but keeping a periodic backup of them is still good practice.

Step 2 — Transfer Your LightBurn License

Your LightBurn license is separate from the bundle and must be managed by you. Thunder Laser machines ship with a LightBurn Pro license, and that key allows 3 seats (installs) at once. Moving to a new computer means freeing a seat on the old one and activating it on the new one.

On the old computer — free the seat

1. In LightBurn, go to Help → License Management.
2. Use the Deactivate option to release the license on that computer, freeing one of your three seats.

On the new computer — activate

1. Open LightBurn, go to Help → License Management, enter your license key, and activate.
2. If all three seats are already in use and you cannot reach the old computer, use LightBurn’s license portal to deactivate a seat remotely, or contact LightBurn support.

Can’t find your license key? It was emailed to you before your machine shipped — search your email for it first. If you can’t locate it, check with your sales representative or email support@thunderlaserusa.com. Full details on Thunder’s LightBurn licenses, seats, and management are in The LightBurn License — Everything You Need to Know About It.

Step 3 — Install LightBurn and the Correct Driver on the New Computer

Install LightBurn on the new computer, then handle the driver. What you do next depends on your operating system.

Windows

When Windows asks whether to allow LightBurn through the firewall, say yes to both Private and Public networks — missing this is a very common reason an Ethernet connection fails on a fresh install. Then install the driver that matches your machine:

• Gantry Ruida (Nova, Nova Plus, Bolt, Odin, Mars, Mini) — FTDI driver. Re-run the LightBurn installer .exe you already have (no need to uninstall LightBurn), step through until you reach the prompt to install the FTDI driver, and check that box. Full guide: Connecting a Thunder Laser to LightBurn via USB.
• Aurora Galvo — LightBurn driver. The Aurora does not use FTDI; it needs the LightBurn driver installed or it will show “Disconnected” and never go Ready. Guide: Aurora Windows Driver for LightBurn — Disconnected / Not Ready.

Mac

Mac is simpler — there are no drivers to install:

• Gantry Ruida machines: we do not recommend USB on Mac. Connect over Ethernet instead (see Step 5). No FTDI driver is needed.
• Aurora Galvo: no driver to install. Install LightBurn and connect.
• If you connect over Ethernet, you will still need to re-create your network settings on the new Mac — see Step 5.

Step 4 — Import Your User Bundle on the New Computer

1. Move the .lbzip file to the new computer.
2. Open LightBurn and either drag the .lbzip file into the window, or go to File → Bundles → Import Bundle and select it.
3. Check the components you want to import; items already present are grayed out. (A conflicting device is kept as a duplicate rather than overwritten, and same-named libraries with different contents are copied in rather than replaced.)
4. Click Import to finish. Your libraries, device profiles, and preferences should now match your old setup.

Step 5 — Reconnect the Machine

USB (Windows — Gantry Ruida)

1. Plug the USB cable into the machine port labeled PC and into the new computer.
2. Optional check: open Windows Device Manager → Ports and confirm a USB Serial Port appears. If it’s missing, the FTDI driver from Step 3 did not install.
3. In LightBurn, your device should connect if its profile came over in the bundle. If not, use Find My Laser to create it.

Ethernet (Windows and Mac — the part most people forget)

Your laser keeps its IP address because that lives on the machine — but the network settings you had on the old computer do not transfer. You must re-create them on the new computer: either copy the exact IP configuration from your old machine, or mimic it so the new computer sits in the same range as the laser.

1. Connect the Ethernet cable directly from the new computer to the machine (no router/hub/switch in between for a direct connection).
2. Set the new computer’s Ethernet adapter to a manual/static IP in the same range as the laser. Example: laser at 192.168.1.100, computer at 192.168.1.101, subnet mask 255.255.255.0. (Avoid addresses ending in .0 or .255.)
3. On Windows, if the adapter shows an address starting with 169.254.x.x, no manual IP was applied — re-check the setting, then disable and re-enable the connection.
4. Confirm the machine screen shows “Lan On” in the lower-right. If it reads “Lan Off,” re-seat or replace the cable.
5. In LightBurn, add/select an Ethernet device and enter the laser’s IP manually. Find My Laser does not work over Ethernet — it is USB only.
6. On Windows, make sure LightBurn is allowed through the firewall on Private and Public networks (from Step 3) — on a fresh install this is the most common reason the laser pings but LightBurn won’t connect.

Full Ethernet setup and troubleshooting: Windows — Connecting via Ethernet · Mac — Connecting via Ethernet.

Reading the Results

In the LightBurn Laser window you want to see “Ready” above the Pause button. If it says “Disconnected,” right-click the Devices button to kick-start communication. Once it reads Ready, send a small framing job to confirm the machine responds. If it stays Disconnected, work back through the driver step (USB) or the IP and firewall checks (Ethernet) above.