When it comes to transferring files from your old computer to your new computer many people have a ton of questions. Is it easy? How to do it? things like that. You might not be aware but from Windows 2000 SP4 on their is software installed on Windows thats called Windows Easy Transfer Wizard. It's not as easy to use as the name applies but still for being free it works.

How to transfer files from 2000 to Vista
For Windows 95, 98 and anything pre 2000 SP4 there will be no transfer wizard you can use. If you want you can still transfer over th files manually. To do this you will need to be networked to the new computer or have external data backup device. Please note that anything prior to Windows 98 SE2 willl not have USB support.

File Transfer
When it comes to transferring over the data from your old computer to your new computer the easiest way is to use PCMOVER from laplink. The down side is it cost money for the program. If your broke the the Windows Transfer Wizard will work just fine. Microsoft has a few guides for using it but basically you go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Easy Transfer Wizard. Start the Easy Transfer Wizard on your new computer first. Follow the on screen prompts. When asked select this as the new computer you want the data trasnfered to. You will be asked to create a file. Browse to your external storage device or burn the file onto a disk.

Next you will need to insert the disk or external storage device on the old computer. Once done Open the file you were asked to place on the disk or external media. This will start the transfer wizard on the old computer. Select the files and settings you want to transfer over and burn them to a disk or copy them to your external media device. If you have a network setup this makes it much easier.

You can not transfer over programs using the windows transfer Wizard. The only program to transfer programs over to your new computer is the Best File Transfer Software called PCMOVER. You can however transfer over user accounts, settings, personal folders, outlook accounts, and custom settings like your background. And yes all your itunes music and pictures.

For more detailed instructions just click on any one of the links in this article. We have step by step guides for tranferring XP to vista and all other OS's to other OS's. Not to mention some great data backup tips that help you protect your data.

Tags: DHCP, networking, Mac