Tim said:
I wish to transfer the entire contents (applications and files) of my
present computer to another machine that I have been given. Both are
running legitimate copies of Windows XP Professional. When this task
is completed then it is my intention to format the hard drive of my
original machine and dispose of it. Is the proposed transfer
possible and, if so, is it a relatively straight forward task that a
novice could undertake or will I need to engage a computer
technician?
Proposed transfer of what; the data or the computer to someone else?
Assuming you mean the data, I see a couple of responses that are a little
wordy, but mostly reasonable to do.
Since XP Pro is on both machines, the easiest way to do this is probably
with XP's plain old ntbackup.exe (Start; Programs; Accessories; System
Tools; Backup).
Back the files up to any location on any hard drive where you have the
room for them; you cannot backup to CDs or DVDs. If you don't have enough
room, you could back it up in sections at a time.
Then use your CD/DVD software to copy/burn the backups to CD or DVD.
Take the disc to the other machine and start backup again, and this time
use Restore to put the files back on the disk.
A problem with things like disk cloning and Acronis, Ghost, etc., is that
you have to have the same size partitions on both machines (same drive
letters and drive sizes). If not, those apps will give you some real
headaches until you learn the ins and outs of them. It can be a lot more
work; that's why I suggest ntbackup instead. It's already present and will
do the job nicely without having to purchase anything.
Also, just for info: Regular "copy" operations will NOT work for this
purpose because files that are in-use (system files in particular), hidden,
readonly, system, etc., are not necessarily copyable. This is very
important for the C drive you boot from. Thus, you need something that uses
"shadow copy" features, which ntbackup does of course. It doesnt' care
whether a file is in use, hidden, readonly, etc etc.
As a pensioner I would naturally prefer to avoid the
expense of the latter course.
I can understand that! No, you shouldn't need a technician but you might
need some outside assistance. It really depends on what "you" can do and
understand of the requirements; in other words, how savvy you are with what
needs to be done <g>.
In reality, you've given little information to go on here so if none of
the advice to date seems to be usable, come back and explain as much as you
can about the disk structure on both machines, whether you can burn CDs or
DVDs, do you have Roxio or some such for burning them, or do you need to use
XP's native abilities, what do you use now for backing up, things like that.
As for selling the old computer, its XP is probably OEM, meaning it came
with the computer, preinstalled and you did not buy XP separately at a
store. If so, then XP will only run on that or another identical
brand/configured computer most likely. So technically the COA and XP CD
should go with that computer since chances are it's not going to be useful
on any other computer. Technically: Per the licenses, only THAT specific
computer can use that particular XP CD. That might be good; you can add a
few dollars to the price for XP on the old computer.
Feel free to come back with questions and be sure to add as much detail as
you can.
HTH
Pop`
