How do I transfer files from my old computer to my new computer?

Question

I thinking of buying a new computer but I would like to know if I could transfer all my files over before I buy one.
If it's possible, please explain how.
Thanks.

Oh sorry, I forgot to add that.
I have Windows XP & the new computer will be Windows XP too.

Answer 1

what operating system is your old computer?

Windows XP = Belkin Transfer Cable
Windows 2000, 98, NT or below = IntelliMover Cable

Check out both of these sites for compatibility.

Answer 2

A program called ghostdrive does this. Your new computer will have a different motherboard and BIOS so you cannot copy the entire drive from one to the other or you will have driver issues.

I reformat my HD all the time and re-install Windows to keep it clean and running fast. Your directories and especially your registry will keep building junk over time that deosn't get removed automatically.

I save my profile so my settings don't have to be reset. Go into your control panel, create a new profile with admin rights, login as that profile. Go into your C: drive, Documents and settings, and copy your regular profile entirely onto a USB drive or other media. Also remember to copy anything that is not part of your profile, IE: things on partitions, documents saved somewhere else other than "my documents", etc.

This is how I do it, then when I re-install XP Pro I just copy the profile back to the documents and settings directory.

you will have to do some work afterwards, such as telling the computer where to find certain directories if you re-install software not on your new machine, but other than that it works fine. It even copies your e-mail stored in Outlook because that is all stored in your profile.

If you have a home network via router it is much simpler. You just plug in the new computer and copy the profile from the old computer to the new one.

You will have to create a profile with the same name on your new computer after you do this. Then you can logon and all will be almost normal again.

Like I said, some tweaking will be necessary but for the most part you will have copied your older system profile to the new system.

Answer 3

I found that a flash drive doesn't always work. Some sales people will tell you that all flash drives should work on all computers with a USB port. WRONG! I tried it.
I know I'm not answering your question, but when you try a flash drive make sure it works for both your operating systems.
I found this question looking for an answer for it too.
I want to transfer stuff from a Windows 98 to an XP, or at least to my old Me so I can burn CDs and then bring the stuff into my XP. Good luck.

Answer 4

To transfer documents & pictures you could use a portable drive that plugs into your USB port on your old computer and copy all of the files onto it & then just plug it into your new computer & cut & paste them on your new computer.

Check & make sure all files transfer over before deleting them from your old computer. Then repeat the process if all of the files did not fit on the portable drive.

The trickiest thing is locating all of the files on your old computer. You would want to move all of the files from "my Documents" & all of it's subfolders like "My Pictures".

Then depending on which programs you have installed on your old computer, there could be files you need to keep that are located in some of the program's files. Two examples are income tax programs & photo programs. Turbo Tax uses a .TAX file extension & Adobe Photo Deluxe is a PDD extension.

I would recommend you keep your old computer for a while, until you are sure you have all of the files you need.

And then after that you would want to make sure all of your files are completely removed from the old computer before getting rid of it. This is called reformatting the Hard Drive. There are programs that will do this for you. But once you do that, all files will be gone & you will not be able to start the computer, because the program will completely erase everything on the computer's hard drive, including the Operating System.

Answer 5

Burn the files onto a CD-ROM. Compress into a folder and save as a data CD. This also works with DVD-ROM formats.
Create a new connection from the old computer to the new computer. There should be a wizard if you have windows ansd a LAN setup for Linux and Unix (This includes the Macintosh OS)
Create a connection with a USB cord that will recognize the ols computer as another device.

Answer 6

several ways
IF the OS will be the same you can ghost your original
system harddrive. the program is called Ghost

that would be fastest method however if you have a cluttered
registry or issues with spyware or viruses the Ghost
option will also transfer those problems

You can establish a network with both PC's and copy
individual files or folders from one to other.
Programs dont get copied using the INSTALL directory
you need to re use the installer or CD
Means dont drag and drop C:\Program Files\My Game
it wont work the installer updates the registry

or you could use a service like http://yousendit.com
to export the files to place you can retrieve them from

Answer 7

If your current computer has a cd burner, burn all your pics and documents to CD'S OR DVD'S. If it doesn't, attach them to e-mails and send them to yourself! It is possible that you can connect the two computers together through a usb cable. If you can do this, locate your Drive D or whatever it is labled by looking at MY COMPUTER. Then all you have to do is double click on Drive D which will open it up. You can then drag all the items you wish to copy to the appropriate folder/location on your new computer.

Answer 8

Get a USB drive and plug this into your old computer. Copy the files onto the USB then take out the USB and plug it into your new computer. From there, extract the files to the new computer.

Answer 9

external hard drive, crossover ethernet cable, cd-r, dvd-r, email(which will be about the slowest of all possible ways), firewire cable(fastest but most pcs do not support firewire unless it is added) an external hard drive would be about the easiest way plus you will be able to have a backup of files incase your pc crashes.

Answer 10

Backup all your data. Then just put it on your new computer. You do have a backup, right? ('Cause computers break.)

Burn cds or dvds, get an external hard drive (easiest), or, if you don't have much data (under 4Gb), use a flash drive.