From One Laptop To Another

[cabinetman]

I might be replacing my laptop due to charging port damage. I would want to transfer what I have on the old one to the new one. I do have a new 500GB HD backup still in the box. The old laptop has XP and so will the new one if possible.

What I'm interested in is moving the following items:

"My Documents"

"My Pictures"

"Bookmarks", and what's in "Bookmark Toolbar".

Any program applications that I may need

What's involved with doing this? Can this be done without much hassle, or should I have our tech come in for the task?
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[radhak]

For the easiest and most-peace-of-mind way, you should clone your hard drive onto the new machine. Cloning gives you a new machine exactly like your old one, down to smallest quirk too. You don't need to install any software, not even the Operating System (XP).

Norton's Ghost has been a well know product for this job, but I have used Acronis TrueImage and my jaw dropped when I saw how well it did it. You pay for it but since you'd use it for regular backups et al, that cost is quickly forgotten. I bought mine 3 years ago and it still works!

And yes, don't buy it at their site for $50 - Amazon sells it for much cheaper, $30 IIRC!

Of course, if your other laptop already has the OS installed that you don't want to tamper with, you could just backup/restore your user/data files, also easy. But then, this is an easy functionality that many other software should also offer.

[cgallery]

I'd yank the hard drive from the old machine, and image it (like Ghose or whatever) to the new machine. Then try booting it and see if you get a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).

If not, you can pretty much install the appropriate drivers for the new machine and off you go.

If yes (you DO get a BSOS), it is typically "inaccessible boot volume." In that case, you can boot from the WinXP CD and perform a repair install.

Once you're done w/ that, you can apply all the appropriate drivers for the new machine and off you go.

Those steps will assure that all your applications, settings, etc., transfer over.

If you can reload yous apps, then just restoring your data from the backup to the appropriate locations would be easier for the average user.

[JSUPreston]

Ghosting the OS most likely won't work if it was the OEM preload and the new laptop isn't the same brand. Personally, and at work, I've used the FAST wizard with fairly reasonable success. Only gets personal files and settings (no apps). At work we have to add the .PST file and a few folders manually, but not that big a deal to me, especially since I don't have to do it much anymore.

Unless you have old apps or devices that aren't supported, you should give Win7 a try at least. Most folks that I know that have tried it like it a lot better than Vista.

Now to rant: Why the **** can't MS make it easier to move between machines? For example, SWMBO's first Mac was a Pismo (Powerbook). When it started acting up, we got her an eMac, booted the old Powerbook up as an external Firewire drive, and within a couple of hours, EVERYTHING was on the eMac. The only manual thing was to re-register her Adobe CS suite. When she got her new Macbook in '08, we booted the eMac as an external Firewire, redid the exercise, and Voila', everything moved over perfectly once again.

I know it would be a little more difficult on the MS side, but I don't see why the couldn't make a client to load on the old computer that a new box sees and basically perform the same function via USB 2/3 or over a network. Then again...if it were that easy, I might lose my side job.

[cabinetman]

Radhak & cgallery

Thank you for your replies. I read both of the replies many times. I'm a woodworker, not a computer whiz. Maybe it's the terminology, but I might need a step by step process. Is there a website for ninnies?

I'm envisioning having the two machines side by side, and waving my hand and it's done. I know that's impossible. The questions I have I might need simpler language.

At this point, do I download from the old onto CD's and run them into the new?

Do I download a free program, or buy a program that gets loaded in one/both of the machines?

I've tried taking this laptop apart and it was a no-go. The new LT will have a larger capacity than the old, so it's not that it will get the old HD installed, as I understand.

I think my problem is understanding the exact procedure, by that I mean, the physical sequence of what to use and how to do it.
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[crokett]

I would download a bootable CD image called Gparted (google it), burn the CD, put your new HDD in a USB enclosure, plug it into the old machine, boot the CD and copy the partition or partitions from the old drive to the new one. Then take the new out of the enclosure, put it in the new machine and away you go, less any driver updates you would need. Then take the HDD from the old machine, put it in the USB enclosure and keep it around for backing up data.

Gparted is free and one of my favorites. I used it last week to move my home desktop from a 300GB SATA drive to a pair of RAIDed 500GB SATAs.

[JoeyGee]

I know I'm old school going back before PNP, but ghosting from one PC to another with much different hardware sets off alarms for me. The new LT will have a configured OS for that LT as it was meant to be from the factory. Why mess with that?

If you ghost your current setup and put it on the new machine, you are also carrying over all problems. I always want to start fresh. I would just copy all the folders you want to the external drive and copy them to the new LT from that drive. To me, that's the easiest way to do it.

I always like seeing if I really do miss anything from the old PC. Most people don't realize how much they just don't use any more (if ever at all) once they start on a new PC. You will still have the old one to "stare and compare" settings if you need to.

Now, just don't get me started on the bloatware on new PC's...

[crokett]

Joey, my installs are all custom. that is to say I've never bought a PC that had an OEM install on it. I've spent a lot of time tweaking to get an install the way I like it - SW, Explorer, reycle bin settings etc and it is much easier to move that install from PC to PC than have to deal with removing all the crap on an OEM install.

[LinuxRandal]

Question for you guys (Windows users).

As a laptop, didn't they used to have a sync feature for directories, LIKE my pictures and my documents?

Here is my thinking, if so.
Set up the new laptop, with the same user name/password.
Go to the bookmarks menu and export the bookmarks into my documents.
Use either a hub or a crossover cable between the two laptops. Sync the directories.
Then go to the bookmarks menu and import the bookmarks on the new laptop.

Of course all this would depend on the old one working long enough (battery life?) But I thought at least ask.

[JimD]

Cabinetman,

Some basic comments from somebody else that lost interest in details of how PC's work a little after hard drives became common.

It sounds like you have an external or portable drive. An external drive plugs into a USB port of either laptop and has it's own power cord. A portable drive does the same thing except no power cord. With either, you can copy all your files from one laptop to another just by putting them onto the portable drive and then onto the new laptop. Moving files I do by simple copy commands. It is the same as copying to a DVD within the laptop. That works as long as you know where they are on the old laptop hard drive and where they go on the new one. I have Vista at home and use XP at work and I find that while the menus look different, the names of the directories where things go is pretty consistent. So even if the new machine is Vista or Win7, I think you will be able to put your files into the same place you took them from on the old machine.

I will second the idea of keeping the old machine for at least a few weeks, preferably longer. I had virus problems on my work laptop over the holidays (apparently our mandatory IT upgrades missed one) and I think they ghosted my laptop or something to fix it (they talked about making an image). It got rid of my virus problems but I also lost some files and things like temporary internet files (which were not a big deal but I had to look up passwords to places like this website). I have my personal files backed up on flash drives and some on DVDs - which is always a good idea - so the files should not be permanently lost.

So I would backup your old laptop, then move the files you can think of to the external or portable drive, and then load them to the new machine. I'm sure there are better or at least faster ways but this is what I can understand so it is what I would do. Vista has a backup utility which I use on that machine but on my work laptop, I use second copy (you can google it, you can try it for free and it's $30 if I remember right to be legit) and have it do it's thing daily to weekly depending on the directory. So I have those files if I ever need them.

Jim

[cabinetman]

So far, I'm appreciating all the replies and information. I think my confusion with the details is in the terminology. So, if push comes to shove and I decide to "get it done", like at Best Buy, or my private tech, what would it cost...roughly?
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[radhak]

CM,

How are you getting the new laptop - are you purchasing brand new with XP installed, reusing an existing one with XP installed, or using a laptop (new or old) where you will need to install the operating system?

(a) If it's new, I'd advise you get it with Windows 7, not XP.

(b) If it needs you to install XP, then the cloning method could turn out to be better than the alternatives, but as Joey reminds us, it might need work; but Acronis or Gparted have good reputation and we should be able to hold your hand thru the process.

(c) If XP is already installed on it and it works fine, then you don't want to mess with the OS. You should just transfer the settings, files and documents you mentioned. In this case, you will need to just buy a crossover cable from Radio Shack. This assumes both machines have ethernet jacks - look like phone jack, but fatter (If not, there are other ways). Then you need to read

(i) Using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard in Windows XP
(ii) Moving Files and Settings to a New PC

Between these two pieces, I can't think of anything missed out; should be easy to follow.

In essence, they tell you to connect the two machines with the crossover cable, then turn on the 'File and Settings Transfer Wizard' (found in Programs > Start > Accessories > System Tools) on both machines, and click your way thru.

Mind you, this still does not transfer installed application programs. IOW, your Microsoft Word, Excel, Acrobat Reader, etc will need manual installation - so you need to take inventory of what is/ain't installed on the new machine.

I am not aware if TrueImage or Gparted will allow backup/restore of just the installed programs and not the OS (probably not). Maybe somebody could chime in with suggestions?