Best way to Transfer Files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bonnie van Bergen
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Bonnie van Bergen

Please forgive me if this question has been asked and answered. I have a
new HP computer being built and I am trying to get ready for the big job of
transferring everything over to it when it arrives. I know that XP has the
FAST program but I have heard people talk about problems with it. There are
also several programs on the market to choose from. Here again, just when I
decide which one to buy, I make the mistake of reading the reviews. Some of
them are scary. Ironically, one person will put the program down and say it
is a piece of you know what and the next person gives it a 5 star rating and
raves on about what a wonderful program it is. My head is literally
spinning from all the research I have done and I need some help. Please
share your knowledge and experience with this chore with me. Thanks.

Bonnie
 
Bonnie,

I have done this several times with my desktop, laptop and with
client's computers. The best way for me is to purchase an external hard
drive enclosure and mount the old hard drive in the enclosure.
Alternatively, the old hard drive could be mounted in the new computer
as a secondary drive.

If you are using Windows XP, there are problems with users and
passwords that I have found ways around also, but are a little
annoying. My proceedure for making a transfer is usually:

1. Create a new folder on the old computer. C:\Backup is what I usually
use.
2. Transfer all the files from My Documents, the Desktop, etc.
Everything that you need to transfer gets stored in the new folder. If
yo uuse Outlook or Outlook Express for email, you can backup the email
folders also using the program, or simply find the email file and copy
it also.
3. Write the contents of the backup folder to CD or DVD in case of a
hardware crash
4. Install the old drive as a secondary in the new computer or in an
external case.
5. Move the files over.

This has the benefits of a. bypassing any username/password problems
and b. you can access the files and folders anytime you want, and c.
You can use the old drive as a backup, provided you don't need to use
it in the old computer.

You will have to keep records of where the files came from on the old
computer and you will need to install software and set up users etc. on
the new computer BEFORE you transfer data, but the nice thing is that
as long as you copy the data and not delete it, you have a backup to
try again.

I generally stay away from programs, because of the costs of the
program, the need to install a program, and the risk of data loss if
something goes wrong. Most programs create a big file for all your
data, if something happens to that file, your data is usually lost. By
staying away from programs and sticking with hardware transfers, you
are eliminating one point of failure. Also, you do'nt have to buy
anything except the enclosure if you choose to go that direction.

I hope this helps, it is my opinion and should be taken as such, but it
has worked for me.

Best of luck!
 
Not a bad idea but about installing a secondary hard drive in the new
computer, wouldn't that nullify the warranty?
 
I have never heard of expanding with a second hard drive to void a
warranty, but that is something worth considering. It might be worth a
call to HP to find out. IF you are worried about it, though, just
install the drive in an external case and hook it up to a USB or
Firewire port. It will work about the same way and can't cause a
problem with warranty.

I have used Acronis for a backup, and it works well, as long as you
have lots of time and lots of media. If you have a DVD-RW with dual or
double layer capability, it might be worth it, BUT - Acronis is a
backup program, not a file transfer program. It works great for backup,
but you CANNOT pull individual files out of the image. Therefor, it
will be absolutely the wrong program for what you are trying to do,
since the Acronis image would replace the hard drive image from the
factory, including the OS, drivers, etc. Probably not something you
want to do to your new computer.

You may be able to back up only specific files with Acronis, in which
case it would probably work for you, but why spend the money for a
program to do the same thing you can do without the program?

Good luck!
 
I transfer customer files to new computers several times a week. I almost
always use FAST with a USB flash drive or USB hard drive. It works very well
if you use it as it's designed and don't try to get fancy with it. Always
run it from the Windows CD. Never pick removable media when offered a choice
of where to put the files but create a folder called transfer and have it
put the files there. Do not overwrite your old files until you know
everything got transferred to the new computer. Make sure you know all your
passwords because they don't get transferred.
 
If we used FAST we were going to network the old computer to new computer.
We already have 3 computers networked (hard wired) so doing that would be no
problem. That's hubby's job. May I ask why you say to run the program from
the Windows CD? I happen to have the CD so that is no problem. Problem
might be finding it on the CD?
 
Networking is a little slower but it works great and you don't have to worry
about where to put the files or creating a transfer folder. I usually don't
use the network transfer because I am being paid by the job. If I finish
quicker I can get more jobs done. I would actually recommend the network
transfer fro someone not used to using FAST.

I recommend using the CD because one of the problems with FAST is if you
have different versions on the source and target computers FAST will fail.
If you run it from the CD then you will be using the same version on both
computers. The CD will autorun. I can't remember the exact wording but you
will find it on the menu under something like Perform Other Tasks.
 
I finally found a site with instructions about using the CD as you
suggested. However, he uses the CD only on the old computer. I will follow
your instructions and use it on both old and new. Since this program does
not transfer applications I guess I should install such programs as
Microsoft Office, etc. on the new computer before performing the transfer
operation?
 
May I now ask your opinion on partitioning software? My husband is a
"bigger is better" type person. He ordered our new computers with 160 GB
hard drives. I am 74 years old and will not live long enough to even begin
to use that amount of space. Guess I will have to start downloading video's
and mp3's?? I definitely want to partition this hard drive. Partition
Magic seems to pop up a lot. Do you have any recommendation?
 
Partition Magic is good. Acronis Disk Director is another good choice.

http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=sp&pvid=pm80

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/

There are many other equally good programs for managing partitions. Some of
them are even free.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=partition+manager&btnG=Google+Search

With all of these types of programs there is a chance that something will go
wrong when resizing or changing partitions. Make sure you have your data
backed up before using any of them. Personally I don't see a need for
partitioning a drive for most people. The reason for parititoning is usually
to make make backups easier if you use disk imaging software for backups. If
you use a file based backup program then organising your data with folders
works just as well.
 
Well I certainly thank you for that advise. I have always been under the
impression that partitioning and separating important stuff from incidental
stuff would speed up hard drive access, especially with such a large drive.
The other argument was that if something went wrong with the primary
partition only you wouldn't lose all your data because it would be on other
partitions. I would just as soon not have to mess with it. I think I will
just leave it be for now. You have been very helpful. Thank you.

Bonnie
 
There are reasons other than for backups to create and use partitions. With
current computers and hard drives the speed is such that for normal use you
won't really see any performance gains. Separating the data and programs
actually can slow things down in some cases because the drive may have to
move the heads farther. The speed increases would come because you can keep
the system and program directories defragmented. As far as corruption
affecting only one partition that's certainly possible. It could just as
easily affect the data partition as the system partition. It's a complex
subject and no one solution fits all cases. For most people it's easier to
just leave it as it came from the factory. Whatever you do, even if you
don't modify the partitions, make sure you have a backup of any important
data. I'm sure other people will chime in with other opinions.
 
I am very good about backing up. I back up my MS Money after every use.
Daily backup some other Excel documents. Do an incremental backup of all
files once a month. I backup to a second hard drive. I plan to use this
backup drive as an external drive in an enclosure with the new computer. I
just had a friend lose everything when his computer crashed. He had backed
up his financial program about 3 months previous to that, but hadn't backed
up his address book or anything else. His comment was "well how often do
YOU back up"? He didn't like it when I said "Daily". So tonight I have
been researching and pricing enclosures. I think I will forget about
partitioning right now. I had just finished reading a report from a man who
is a firm believer in partitioning but why take a chance of messing
something up. I am worried enough about doing the transfer.
 
Bonnie said:
You recommend using the CD for both gathering and then installing the
files on the new computer. However, Microsoft and 2 other sites I
have read say to bring up the program on the new computer by going to
Accessories, etc. Can you unconfuse me?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293118/EN-US/
Click to expand...

Either way will work if you have the same version of FAST on both computers.
If you have installed some optional Windows updates or if the versions of
Windows have different service pack levels then the versions of FAST may not
match and the transfer will not work. If you run it from a Windows CD on
both computers then the version used on both computers is the same.
 
The new computers arrived today. I am off to a bad start using the FAST
program. I inserted the XP CD as instructed. When the program came up I
indicated "old computer" Next screen came up to choose a method of transfer.
Home or small office Network was dimmed out. I then brought the program up
on my computer and made that selection. Got the please wait message and
then a message came up saying "The Wizard cannot locate your new computer.
Make sure the new computer is turned on and that your network is working
properly". Of course the new computer was turned on and the network is
working properly. After doing a Google search I read that others are having
this problem and that there was a patch available from Microsoft. Your
input please.
 
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