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Transfer old stuff to new laptop

M

mr_phil

If it isn't broken, try harder
My current lappy is failing mechanically (principally the power socket is coming loose from the MB) and I will replace it soon with a basic machine, probably on Amazon Prime day. I would like to just clone everything from the old to the new, both will be / are Windows 10. Sam suggested using a Microsoft account (which I don't have) but I really haven't got a clue; I am a very basic user so please don't use big words, I will glaze over and loose the will to live.

Thanks, Phil
 
mr_phil said:
My current lappy is failing mechanically (principally the power socket is coming loose from the MB) and I will replace it soon with a basic machine, probably on Amazon Prime day. I would like to just clone everything from the old to the new, both will be / are Windows 10. Sam suggested using a Microsoft account (which I don't have) but I really haven't got a clue; I am a very basic user so please don't use big words, I will glaze over and loose the will to live.

Thanks, Phil
Click to expand...

If you are going to buy a new computer do it now then the simplest thing to do is remove the disk from the duff machine and connect it to the new machine using a USB to SATA cable. This approach means that you'll definitely have all your old data and can move it to the new machine at your leisure.

The above will also work if you decide to buy an Apple or run a Linux distro you'll still have all your data.

Altenatively you'll need a spare USB drive and if its large enough you can clone your existing disk using free utilities from the web. There are utilities built into Win 10 but they are clumsy and if you don't really know what you are doing you risk missing some of your data and thence losing it when you dump the old machine.


Cheers,

DV
 
Do you know where all the bits you want to transfer are? If the above suggestion doesn’t appeal/work for you, you could buy a usb hard drive of some kind, copy the files across to that, and then you’re ready to copy them back onto the new machine. This would work for files/folders/media, etc. Not sure about any programs you want to transfer, you may need to re-download and install those. This approach would give you a backup copy of everything in case the current machine dies on you, and gives you some time to wait for prime day.
 
You can do a system backup to an external USB drive then recover it to the new machine. Then your new machine will then be a clone of your old one. First backup the new machine to the USB drive so you have a fall back in case anything fails. I use this free utility which works well including optomisation for an SSD drive.
https://www.backup-utility.com/
 
If you take the cloning route, surely you lose the benefit of a fresh install ?

I would back up all the files & folders to a low cost USB drive & then import back to the new machine. Just make sure you have all your passwords, network login info etc before you wave goodbye to the old machine.
 
Agreed you lose the fresh install. But a lot of fresh installs include so much bloat ware it may not be a loss.
 
for a novice user all this talk of removing disks is way over complicated. Cloning is a poor solution as you lose the fresh install, there could be driver problems......

For a novice and for all our computing students we recommend Microsofts recommended migration solution http://pcmoverfree.azurewebsites.net/ yes depending on what you want to do, it costs money, but it just works...............

to the OP just make sure you back up all your data before attempting any migration.
 
If the new machine already has Win 10 installed, you don't want to clone the old drive, you simply want to copy your data from old to new.

If you can get both running side-by-side on your home network, then set up file sharing on the old machine, and copy/paste what you want to use on the new.

You should know what you want to keep (internet favourites? Music? Video? Audio? Word docs? Spreadsheets?)

If disposing of the old machine, take the HDD out and keep it. That way, if you find in a few months there's something you've forgotten, you can put it in a USB caddy and get it.
 
Thanks for thoughts. I can copy data etc but where are internet favourites, passwords etc stored???
 
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