changing computers ?

[B2 Addict]

Ok, this is probably an easy question to some of you, but to the computer illiterate like myself it is quite the task -

Simply put... I am changing my computer out for another totally different one that is newer & way faster. I just need to know can I move my pics & stuff to the other one & if so how in the heck do I do it? Is it super complicated?

 

[wrecking-crew]

you can get a memory stick that goes into the usb port. then you drag and drop the pics and such in the stick then just plug it into the new computer

 

[B2 Addict]

you can get a memory stick that goes into the usb port. then you drag and drop the pics and such in the stick then just plug it into the new computer

Preesh, I will look into that.

 

[Mark_88]

My sister-in-law gave me a 4GB usb drive recently...and they were in a pack of 3 for $16at a local computer store...that should give you plenty of space to move all your files...if not...get an external HD that you can plug into a USB port...they're fairly inexpensive and can be used as a boot drive if your computer gets wonky...

 

[superdave1984]

If you want to move everything including programs look into PC Mover by Laplink. Works great. http://www.laplink.com

 

[mjonesjr]

My sister-in-law gave me a 4GB usb drive recently...and they were in a pack of 3 for $16at a local computer store...that should give you plenty of space to move all your files...if not...get an external HD that you can plug into a USB port...they're fairly inexpensive and can be used as a boot drive if your computer gets wonky...

Almost all off the shelf external hard drives are FAT32 style drives. You can't boot to a FAT32 drive, it has to be a NTFS file system. You can convert or format any external hard drive to a NTFS file system though. Follow the steps below to do this conversion.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/advanced/ntfs.mspx#2

If you want to move everything including programs look into PC Mover by Laplink. Works great. http://www.laplink.com

Mover software sucks and is expensive for what it moves. It will not move any programs like it states. For what Laplink moves, it would be cheaper to buy a flash drive or an external hard drive.

Yes I have tried Laplink and I still don't like it.

 

[fastpakr]

Huh? Where did you read that you couldn't boot to a FAT32 stick?

 

[mjonesjr]

Huh? Where did you read that you couldn't boot to a FAT32 stick?

You can't use any file on a FAT32 drive larger than 4GB. I have never seen a bootable operating system smaller than 4GB.

This is from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/154997

At this time, Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows Me are the only Microsoft operating systems that can access FAT32 volumes. MS-DOS, the original version of Windows 95, and Windows NT 4.0 do not recognize FAT32 partitions, and are unable to boot from a FAT32 volume. Also, FAT32 volumes cannot be accessed properly if the computer is started by using another operating system (for example, a Windows 95 or MS-DOS boot disk).

 

[fastpakr]

You can't use an individual file larger than 4GB, true. The entire partition can be much larger (several terabytes IIRC). There are many bootable OS configurations that use far less than 4GB, regardless.

 

[Psychopete]

I have never seen a bootable operating system smaller than 4GB.

Yes you have!

Pete

 

[superdave1984]

Mover software sucks and is expensive for what it moves. It will not move any programs like it states. For what Laplink moves, it would be cheaper to buy a flash drive or an external hard drive.

Yes I have tried Laplink and I still don't like it.

I beg to differ. I have used it at work and it performed perfectly. Moved every program and all of them worked exactly as they did on the old machine. Even moved our entire payroll server.

 

[B2 Addict]

I appreciate all the suggestions, I will dig into it all & figure it out. I'm not going to be doing it until this weekend anyway. Maybe I can use this opportunity to learn a little more about these damn things.

 

[brandonwh64]

sometimes if you want to do a HD clone just use maxtors max blast

 

[monkey19]

you can pop the old hard drive into the new workstation as slave it and copy the files over....or a Mem stick will do.