# New laptop has arrived! What do I need from the old one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479 "2012-12-19T01:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/1 "2012-12-19T01:58:22Z")
I recently made the not-particularly-surprising discovery that spilling several ounces of breastmilk on a laptop keyboard is Very Bad. So it turns out that my early Christmas present to myself is a new computer. Given that my documents and pictures are in Dropbox, my games are on Steam, and I was planning on getting a new laptop in 2013 anyway, I’m not super broken up about it. So now, the new laptop is here, and the old one is dying but not yet dead. What does the changeover process look like? What (if anything) do I need to get from my old laptop? Is there anything I need to do to tell Steam and BigFish that the laptop is dead, long live the laptop? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/2 "2012-12-19T02:00:40Z")
Licenses from software on the old one! Find license text files in the program folders, and open any old apps that require this to release internet keys. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/3 "2012-12-19T02:46:22Z")
What kind of software has licenses? I’ve been using AVG free for virus protection, and OpenOffice/ LibreOffice for productivity. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/4 "2012-12-19T03:05:05Z")
Save and copy your browser information from the old system to the new one. Bookmarks and saved passwords, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/5 "2012-12-19T03:25:51Z")
[Download, install and run the Belarc Advisor](http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html): > [@](#): > > The **[Belarc Advisor](http://www.belarc.com/Programs/advisorinstaller.exe)** builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, network inventory, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, security benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server. You would be surprised what hardware/software you have installed. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/6 "2012-12-19T04:09:40Z")
If both laptops run Windows XP or higher connect them via net cables thru a router (or if you don’t have a router you’ll need a crossover cable) and run Windows Easy Transfer. It works very well. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/7 "2012-12-19T15:13:27Z")
Once I’ve done the preliminary setup and transfer of stuff, I generally take the drive out of the old laptop, put it in an enclosure with a USB connector (i use Accomdata because I’ve had good luck with it, but there are plenty of others), and then I can get anything I’ve forgotten to transfer just by plugging the old drive into a USB port of the new laptop. It shows up as a USB device just like a flash drive would. Since the old laptop is going under, this might be a useful thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-laptop-has-arrived-what-do-i-need-from-the-old-one/644479/8 "2012-12-21T05:27:49Z")
Do make sure that Big Fish has all your games. I had a problem with that for my Dad. The game he bought last year wasn’t on there. After that, there’s no worry, as Big Fish Games actually has a very liberal license, allowing you to install and use any purchased games on any number of computers. Steam is not quite so liberal, so you’ll probably want to deauthorize your laptop. From what I read online, you can do this quite easily in Settings \> Steam Guard options \> Deauthorize all other computers now (tick) \> next. Of course, if you have other computers that you run Steam on, you’ll have to reauthorize them. Saving and copying your old browser information is a lot easier if you just use the browser’s built in synchronization function. If you have trouble figuring it out, just google “Chrome Sync” or “Firefox Sync,” whichever is appropriate. If you use Internet Explorer, it will be copied over when you use Windows Easy Transfer.