Move all your files to a new PC

While a lot can be done to prolong the life of a computer, there will come a time when a replacement is needed. Setting up a new computer is not a time-consuming process but what about all the personal documents and settings from your old PC?

In this article we’ll reveal the easiest ways to ease the transition to a new computer ensuring that everything you need is transferred. We’ll also take a look at the options for reusing, donating or disposing of your old PC safely.

If your PC has been in use for some time, the hard disk will contain a large number of personal documents as well as settings for Windows and other applications. It is relatively easy to copy the majority of files from one computer to another, but the same cannot be said of settings. While these can be manually replicated on a new PC, this is a time-consuming process. Whether you are moving from a computer that has Windows XP installed to one running Vista, or both computers have Vista installed, there is a tool to ease the transition to a new computer.

To simplify the process, Windows XP provides a tool, the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard. While this is great for transferring files and settings between computers that are running XP or earlier versions of Windows, it is not compatible with Vista. A similar tool exists in Vista in the form of Windows Easy Transfer but this is not included with XP by default. Windows Easy Transfer Wizard can be downloaded and installed on a computer running XP, making the process of transferring files and settings as simple as possible.

Windows Easy Transfer cannot transfer full applications, such as Microsoft Office. These will need to be reinstalled from their original installation discs or downloaded from the internet. Drivers for any hardware that connects to the PC will also need to be reinstalled.

Get the right tools
There is a choice of transferring documents and settings using a network connection or removable media such as a USB memory key or CD. If you choose to transfer files to a network hard disk, it also has the benefit of backing up files and settings.

Data can also be backed up to multiple CDs or DVDs and the Easy Transfer Wizard will guide you through the entire process, whichever route you choose to go down. Once you’ve reached the end of the walkthrough, the wizard will present a number of options. You can transfer all the default files and settings for all the user accounts that have been created, or just the one that is currently logged in. Doing so moves only documents stored in the My Documents folder. For greater control over the process, click Advanced Options instead. Here you can add folders that are not stored in My Documents to the transfer ­ ideal if files have been stored in non-standard locations.

The Microsoft tool is a useful utility, but it is not particularly flexible. Among the alternatives is PC Mover. One of the key advantages of this program over Windows Easy Transfer is that all it is also able to transfer software between computers in addition to files and settings.

Another program worth noting is CA Backup and Migration 2009. This backup utility doubles as a tool for transferring data and for an annual subscription fee of £30 you can back up data and transfer files between computers.

But a third-party tool is not always needed to move files and settings associated with a particular program. Emails can be exported into a single file or folder on the old computer and then imported to the new one. Similar options are available for a range of programs, including web browsers, so it is possible to quickly and easily replicate a large bookmark collection on a new computer. We looked at Xmarks in a Workshop, that you can view at here (note that when we first wrote about it, the program was called Foxmarks). This is a handy add-on for Firefox that can be used to make an online backup of bookmarks along with saved usernames and passwords. The backed up settings can be transferred to a new computer in minutes.