In With The Old!
(January, 2006)
So you got yourself a new PC, and now you’re wondering how to get all the “stuff” from the old PC to the new PC. Space constraints will not allow me to provide a definitive answer covering all situations, but let’s see if I can at least offer some guidance.
We are dealing with two issues: how to physically move the “stuff” between the two machines, and how we need to treat data files differently from program files. At the physical level, we need to know if and how the machines are connected. If you have an in-home network, wired or wireless, then hanging both machines onto that network and transferring files through the router is the best option. But what if you’re not networked? Then basically you have two options: purchase a special data transfer cable made for just this purpose, or resort to moving data by what is euphemistically referred to as ‘SneakerNet’, that is, copying the files onto a CD or diskettes, and walking the data from one machine to the other.
Data versus Programs
On the software side, once you’ve determined your physical mode of transport, moving data files can be done with relative ease. Picture files, music files, and the contents of My Documents can be copied and pasted from one machine to the other using standard Windows Explorer techniques. But program applications are another story. Most Windows programs must be reinstalled onto the new machine from their original source installation files, be they on CDs, diskettes, or downloaded from the web. This is because the installation process writes certain bits of data to something called the Windows Registry, which is a special data repository Windows uses that controls settings and functions. You cannot copy over the necessary settings from one machine to the next without special software, so you must reinstall all your applications. Once that is done, if the data files for those programs are kept somewhere besides My Documents (as is the case with Quicken files, for example), you’ll need to find those data files and copy them over manually. Some programs, such as Quicken, create a data backup file. You can copy that over to the new machine, and do a ‘restore’ from within the program to recreate the data files.
Third Party Relocator Programs
There are certain program
offerings in the marketplace that claim to be able to move your data files AND
your program files. I have no personal experience with these, but they’ve been
in the market for a number of years, so they must work for some folks. But note
that customer reviews of these packages are very mixed, ranging from
'great' to 'worthless'. The programs usually provide a confidence level
indicator that will tell you how successful the program thinks it will be in
moving a specific program from one machine to the next. I maintain that you are
always better off reinstalling apps onto a new machine, but if you no longer
have the source disk or want to try the automated route, you can look into these
PC relocator programs, of which perhaps the best known are Spearit Software’s
Move Me at
http://www.spearit.com and the oddly named AlohaBob at
http://www.alohabob.com (Aloha means both Hello and Goodbye in Hawaiian –
goodbye old machine, hello new machine, perhaps? I still haven’t figured out
the 'Bob' part yet.) These programs will set you back between $30 and $70
depending on the version you buy, and they may include the necessary data
connection cable to hook the two PCs together if you are not networked. There
are different types of data connection cables available depending on what you
need. 
Slower ones are based on
serial or parallel port connections, and the fastest are based on hi-speed USB
port connection. Normal cables will not work; you need one made for data
transfer. An example of a USB data transfer cable can be found here:
http://www.dvd-supply.com/usb20neca.html. Such cables come with file
transfer software, and are a way to connect two machines that are not
networked. The linked cable above costs about $25 delivered.
Transferring Email
Discussion of transferring email and address books could require a whole article in itself. Suffice to say that you can try using your email software’s Export and Import functions to try and move your settings and data, try Windows XP’s File and Settings Transfer Wizard, or you can use an automated approach. I like to recommend the software available from www.ajsystems.com. They offer several levels of programs, from the less expensive Express Assist, which will backup and restore (or move between machines) your Outlook Express settings, address book, and email, to the more expensive Easy Backup, which backs up and restores data and settings from numerous email programs (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.) plus it can backup and restore Quicken files and everything in My Documents. You can ‘restore’ the backup file to a new machine, in effect moving the data. But again, you must first install your application programs.
Moving your precious data and programs from old machine to new is not the easiest job in the world to tackle. My intent here is merely to show that it can be done, and your approach is going to depend on how your machines are configured, how adept you are with such things, and if you are lacking the expertise, whether your programs and data are important enough for you to spend money on somewhat risky relocator programs for automated help. Of necessity I’ve discussed this at a fairly broad level. If you have specific questions, feel free to email me. And do check out the following document from PC World, which was a key source for this article: