Basic info:
- I have a six-year-old Dell PC, running XP.
- I just got a new Dell PC, also running XP.
- All the home computers are rigged up on a network using the software Network Magic (desktops and laptops).
- I have an external hard drive but don’t have this drive backed up onto it because I don’t have backup software.
- I use WordPerfect for transcription work, and have been personalizing it for years. It would take me several weeks to recreate all the personalization I have in that program, so I really, really don’t want to have to start from scratch with it on a new computer.
- I don’t want to do anything that would void the warranty on the new computer.
Having collected stuff on this old desktop for six years, I would like to not have to reinvent the wheel with a new computer. So what is the best and easiest way to transfer everything to the new computer? Would backing it up onto the external drive and then reloading it from there onto the new computer work, or can I do some kind of direct computer-to-computer link?
Can someone please give some suggestions? Even if they’re beyond my technical expertise, I’m sure my husband will understand it. Thanks!
If they’re networked together, it’s easy. Run the “Files and Settings Transfer Wizard” (you can find it in help), and it will let you pick exactly what you want to move from one computer to another – including application settings like your WordPerfect preferences.
A couple options that come to mind. You’ll want to do take some inventory on the old PC of just where the files you wish to grab are located.
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Fastest, but most technical. Pull the harddrive from the old PC, and install it in the new PC. Once installed, copy contents to new PC harddrive. This would require some comfort level and messing with hardware, possibly some BIOS work, etc… And may constitute voiding the warranty (not sure, though since old drive would only be installed temporarily).
This will allow for the fastest transfer of files.
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Networked PCs. I don’t know what “network magic” is, but I’m assuming you can allow the two PC’s to “see” each other. A) Allow “sharing” of entire old drive on old PC, B) “map network drive” old drive on new PC, C) copy files to new PC harddrive.
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External drive. Attach external drive to old PC. Copy files to external drive. Attach external drive to new PC. Copy files from external drive to new PC. You should not need any special “backup” software to use external drive (assuming it is a basic USB drive). You should be able to just drag-copy from Windows Explorer from the old drive to the external drive.
This will be a slower option as you’ll be copying your files twice. However, does have the added benefit of creating a “backup” on your external drive as part of the process.
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Burn to CD/DVDs. Similar to using an external drive, you could burn your files onto CD (or DVD, if possible) on the old PC. Then read in the CDs/DVDs on the new computer. Again this will be a slower process, and it may require multiple CDs/DVDs depending on how much you have to copy. But again, as a side benefit, you’ll have nice backup CDs/DVDs.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, guys. Those are both great suggestions. And I finally dug my way through the difficult-to-find-what-you-need documentation to install the XP backup program. So either your option, TimeWinder, or your #2 or 3 options, cormac 262, look like they’d be good ones.
I’ll talk to my husband this evening and see if he has a preference. I know we can share files/folders through Network Magic, so that may well be the best way to go about it.
I appreciate the help!