i am buying a new computer, and i want to take all my files off the old one and put on the new one. what is the easiest way to do this???
2007-03-25 11:12:00 · 7 answers · asked by DarkLily 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
they sell a product that comes with a disc and the cable you need for about 40 at most electronic stores, this is the best and fastest way to do it, you can also find them online at sites like newegg.com
2007-03-25 11:16:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a lot of files AND are at least a little able to work on computer hardware I would remove the boot drive from your old PC (I will assume you are going from a PC to a PC, both using at least XP), set it as the "slave" drive (unless it's SATA where you can skip this altogether) and install it temporarily into your new computer (making sure to set the new computer's boot drive to "master" and using the same IDE ribbon cable - one connecter will be marked "Master", one "Slave", usually).
Next, start your new computer.(If your old drive tries to boot you installed it incorrectly. Stop and try again). Then, you should be able to "open" the new drive in a window from "My Computer" and using "My Computer" again, "open" the old drive, select the files you want to tranfer and either "drag-and-drop" or select "copy" and "paste" them to your new drive.
If you have SATA drives, you don't have to set anything on the drive, but you may want to check in the new computer's BIOS to ensure you're booting from the new drive and not the old drive from your old computer. If your new computer's drive is SATA and your old drive is IDE (also known as PATA), set your old drive to "slave" or "CS"(cable select) on the same cable as your optical drive. Backtrack to previous paragraph.
I know it seems complicated, but it really isn't. This method allows for the fastest file transfer rate. You do have to balance it with the time involved with the drive swap, but if you have a hundreds of Gigabytes to transfer, it beats using a 1GB flash drive or 4.7 GB DVD's.
Of course, installing your old drive into an external USB drive-housing requires maybe one jumper-setting, but the transfer rate is much slower unless you have an Firewire800 connection AND external drive. But, it's a pretty good way and a bit easier/faster than the drive swap method.
Amaze your friends, learn how to do some simple tasks on computers. You do not fear what you understand (at least not as much).
Oh, I forgot the Network option. It can be easier if you have a network already. It would be a matter of setting the software to enable your new computer to share files with your old computer. If you have a DSL modem, there might be ethernet connections in the back - in which case you need some Cat5(or up)cable, or wireless NET card(s) installed in your computers. (new computer might have built-in wireless).
2007-03-25 18:25:21 · answer #2 · answered by ron w 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on how many things you want to transfer. If its only a few gigs then just use a flash drive (usb pen for example), but if there is loads, then use an Ethernet cable and connect the two computers together and make a temporary network.
2007-03-25 18:18:10 · answer #3 · answered by Sabre 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Burn them to a CD/DVD, use a flash drive or an external hard drive. Even an iPod will work.
2007-03-25 18:16:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
using a flash drive. just save your stuff to it and then put it in the other computer and unload.
2007-03-25 18:14:52 · answer #5 · answered by Amskittle 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
use a software such as pcmover and it will move all your documents and settings to the new computer.
2007-03-25 18:15:18 · answer #6 · answered by dancing_queen :) 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
PAY FOR SOMEONE TO DO IT!!! Best Buy 100 bucks
2007-03-25 18:19:09 · answer #7 · answered by threeonspeed 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋