Hi everyone. Our current PC is several years old, and we run Windows 2000. Looking at getting a new one, which would run Windows Vista. What's involved in migrating stuff from the old PC to a new one? I'm talking about email (Thunderbird), tax returns (QuickTax), LimeWire, Word docs, Excel sheets, photos, etc. Many thanks, Neil
The fastest way? Just slave in the old HD to your new PC then copy/import/migrate at will. If your new PC is using a serial ATA HD then you might need to buy a power adapter to slave the old HD. Or, plug the ribbon cable from the DVD into the old HD. That way you don't need to fiddle with the master/slave/etc jumpers. Don't forget to look at your apps; with some you can simply copy the data into the new folder whereas some might require the data to be "imported". Outlook works better with importing, for example.
Does your old PC have a USB port? If so, get a big external hard drive. Copy everything to that. Then to the New PC. Keep using the external HD for backup. I reformat my computer a few times a year. This makes it a much simpler process. People are still using Limewire? Be careful copying anything over related to that.
+1. Make a backup of all your data BEFORE starting anything. External USB's are pretty cheap nowadays, and way cheaper than losing all your data. Or if you don't have too much data use a flash drive/SD card. I've had drives go bad during the removal/installation process. Been there, done that.
Sorry, mine was the "no-cost, do it now" solution that most of my previous clients demanded. My explanation reflected that as well since they werent interested in the specifics, just the results. It was an equitable relationship.
Torrents. Been using that protocol since 2003ish. Wikipedia will give you the basic gist of it. I don't know how limewire is now, but from what I remember of it (long ago) it installed spyware and a lot of what was on it was laced with viruses and so forth. In my spare time, I occasionally update computer setups for small businesses and individuals. That's the method I use to transfer data. One thing to keep in mind, a lot of your old software may not work or work correctly if you go over to Vista. I encounter a lot of people who were using really old versions of quicken or quick books or other similar financial or planning software. While the data can be easily transferred it requires updating to their newer software. Unless you love Vista for some reason, might want to consider sticking with XP until Windows 7 comes out.
If you are buying a new pc it will likely have Windows 7 not Vista. Windows includes a feature for transferring files and settings from an old pc to a new one. In Windows 7 it is called Easy Transfer. You purchase a special data transfer cable which is USB to USB and readily available in Staples or any other large electronics retailer. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/windows-easy-transfer.aspx
Torrents are also a major source of virus and trojan infection. Torrent downloads are also tracked by the RIAA and others. Anyone using a torrent d/l program such as Vuze should also look into protecting themselves with something like PeerGuardian. Edit: Pscott's (non) post bumped this up and I didn't notice I was replying to a thread that was a year old! Arrrgh.
