transferring files

[ranchmom5]

Hi,

I had a thread going on the Off Topic forum about my crashed computer. I ended up purchasing another Dell of the same model and installing my old Hdd, as a secondary. My information is all still there, but I don't know exactly how to transfer it over to the primary drive. The new computer is running Windows 7 RC. For things like Quicken and MS Office, do I have to load the software onto the new Hdd first? Do I just drag and drop or should I go in and ask the computer to "move" the files? Or...some other way?

How about iTunes and all the music? Do I need to download the iTunes software first?

Thanks,
Sharie

[mgo]

Hi,

I had a thread going on the Off Topic forum about my crashed computer. I ended up purchasing another Dell of the same model and installing my old Hdd, as a secondary. My information is all still there, but I don't know exactly how to transfer it over to the primary drive. The new computer is running Windows 7 RC. For things like Quicken and MS Office, do I have to load the software onto the new Hdd first? Do I just drag and drop or should I go in and ask the computer to "move" the files? Or...some other way?

How about iTunes and all the music? Do I need to download the iTunes software first?

Thanks,
Sharie

If your new machine does not have Quicken and MS Office already installed, then yes, you need to install those programs first. Then the data files for those programs can be copied over from your old drive. Same for the iTunes.

[Brad]

What I do in a situation like yours is create a folder on the new systems hard drive and copy everything. I usually call the folder something like OLD HDD. Then as I build up the new machine and install all the software I use I simply copy the data from the OLD HDD folder to where the newly installed program needs it. Depending on the room you have available on the new system's hard drive you may need to move the files but with the sizes of today's hard drive it should not be a problem. This way you still have an original copy of your data just in case.

Brad

[DataCabbitKSW]

RanchMom, there are two things really here for transferring data. Programs and User Data. User Data includes the actual songs (and the library database) for iTunes, or your Quicken data files, or Word documents and PowerPoint slides. Your stuff that you created or media files for playback. The programs are everything else. iTunes is the program for playing your songs. Quicken opens your Quicken data files. Microsoft Office opens all your Word and PowerPoint files. Some small or intelligently engineered programs may support just dragging the program to a new place and it will self-repair. Most do not. Any large application (and many small) will need to be reinstalled. Once you download and install iTunes again, you can then use it to import your iTunes library and your songs off the old drive. You will need to reinstall Quick and Office and all the other programs. All the stuff in your "My Documents" and "My Pictures" and stuff on your desktop should be moveable no problem. Any program should be reinstalled. Also as good news for you, Microsoft has made it so you can do an upgrade from the Windows 7 RC to the final version, so when you go to switch over, no need for reverting the system back to Vista or XP. More info on that over at the official Windows 7 RC Support Forum located here http://tinyurl.com/9fhdl5