How to Migrate Your Data From an Old Computer to a New One

When you buy a new computer, you start with a clean slate, which is great, but you don't have any of your documents or settings from your old computer. Luckily, it's very easy to transfer all your files and settings from your old computer to the new one?whether you're on Windows or a Mac. P

If you're migrating from Windows to Windows or a Mac to a new Mac, you can use your operating system's built-in tools to migrate your data. If you're moving between platforms, you can still do it, you just won't be using any tools. In general, however, no matter what kind of computer you use, you'll probably need an external drive to pull this off, so if you don't have one, go pick one up. Once you're done migrating your data, it works great for backing it up in case anything happens.

Migrating from Windows to Windows with Windows Easy TransferP

Windows 7 has a great tool built-in called Windows Easy Transfer, that can grab your data from an old computer?even one running Windows XP?and transfer it to your new machine with an external drive. To set it up, plug in your external drive and hit the Start menu on your new machine. In the search box, type "Windows Easy Transfer" and click on the shortcut when it pops up.



If you're running Windows XP, you'll need to install the Windows Easy Transfer files to your external hard drive first. Hit Next at the first window, then hit "An External Hard Disk or USB Flash Drive". Then click "This Is My New Computer" and hit "No" at the next screen. Click "I Need to Install It Now" and pick your external hard disk when prompted. Windows will copy the necessary files, which should only take a minute.

hen it's done, unplug it and plug it into your old computer. If you don't get an autorun prompt, head to My Computer and double-click on your external hard drive. From there, it'll ask you if you want to install Windows Easy Transfer on your Windows XP machine. After it does, it will scan your computer for data to transfer.



Once you've moved your user data from your old computer to the external drive, head back to your new computer and plug the external drive back in to your new computer. If you closed the Easy Transfer Window, open it back up and navigate through the steps again, this time picking "Yes" when it asks you if Windows Easy Transfer has already saved your files to an external drive.

Select your drive from the list and check the users you want to transfer over. Wait as it transfers all your data (again, this could take a few minutes). When it's done, your computer will restart, and you should see that all your files and settings are available on your new machine.

Note that this won't migrate any of your programs, just your settings and documents. It will, however, let you know what programs you had on your old computer so you can write down a quick list of the programs you'll want to re-install.