Jenny recently wrote to me and asked an interesting question. She said she had searched to see how to best move her old Windows 7 computer to a new Windows 10 laptop. She went on to explain that she wanted to transfer passwords, bookmarks, etc.
There are several things I understood from her question. One is that she meant anything related to her Internet access, when she indicated passwords, bookmarks, etc. The other was that she did not seem concerned about her files or actual applications.
So, I will cover this as a three-part question since others may have questions about each area.
For the internet part, I have a couple of suggestions. Use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser. You may then set up a “synced” account. I use this for Chrome all of the time and it has been flawless for many years. Use your email account you want to associate with Chrome or Firefox, have your password ready and login into the respective account. Then when you use Chrome or Firefox on any other computer you log in to that browser and it will sync all of your data in the browser. This can include site names, login passwords, mailing addresses, all of your bookmarked sites and more. It will also sync your extensions/add-ons to use in a few minutes. So, there you have all of your internet related information on any computer.
The next step is to relocate your files and documents, including photos, to a new computer. In the olden days (pre-cloud storage) this was a real pain depending on how many files you had to move (disks). Today it is quite simple. First, find out how many files you have to transport. To find out, select all of your files, right-click on them and then click Properties. Choose the largest number and that is what you need. Now sign up for one of the many, free online cloud storage sites which will easily support the number of files you have. You may choose between my tested favorites from greatest to least storage; Google Drive (15GB), Sync.com (6GB with this link: dblclx.com/get-sync-now), Amazon, Box.com, OneDrive.com and (all with 5GB), Dropbox.com (2GB). You may also upgrade any of these accounts to a paid version for more storage space.
However, if you need to pay for more space, I suggest Backblaze.com for unlimited storage for $60/year. Just make sure you read about and understand how the one you choose works. Any of these will allow you to pull your files directly to your new computer. Keep in mind that if you have many GBs of files it could take a while to get them uploaded/downloaded. I tested with one of mine and it took about three days.
Last part, “transferring” your actual programs and applications to a new computer … don’t. It is a hassle for an individual. And even if done properly you will have some problems.
Although it is a long process make sure you have licenses for all of your software and install them from scratch on your new computer. You will have a much more successful interaction with your computer when you install apps as new. For you daredevils out there, you may want to either pay lots of money to have it done for you or try Clonezilla.org for free. I do not recommend either of those last two options.
For general, usually free, the software I recommend NiNite.com. At NiNite, you may check off the applications you want to install on your new computer. It will build you one installation file. When you download and run that file it will install all of the programs’ latest versions you choose. Once done with NiNite you delete the original file and all those programs will be ready to run on your new computer.
I hope this general breakdown helps you build your new Christmas computers quickly and successfully.
