Moving to a New PC

Getting a new PC is exciting and a pain. It's exciting because you get a faster processor, more storage and all the latest stuff even though it's outdated as soon as it hits your desk. The pain comes with re-installing all of your programs, re-customizing your preferences for programs, applications, and Windows, and transferring data to the new PC.

It can be simplified by using a bootable external drive or something similar and letting it load everything on the new PC. However, if you are like me, you probably had a few problems here and there that couldn't be found and fixed. So it's better to start with a clean slate.

I am getting a new PC at the office and my hard drive crashed on my laptop. There's nothing I can do about the laptop, but I kept it simple since it's a supporting computer rather than the main PC. I often used a remote application to connect to my desktop from the laptop. Therefore, the laptop had few loaded programs and data. I did try to make a backup of my user profile before the crash, but it was having too many problems and the backup didn't happen.

As for the work PC, here are the steps I took to prepare for moving to a new computer with the limited resources I had.

  • Ensured all my work was on the network server. I kept backups of important files on the hard drive as a safety measure after my past experience.

  • Deleted everything that I put on the hard drive.

  • Made backups of data files such as the password manager's file.

  • Took a screen shot of my Windows desktop, so I can rearrange things on the new PC to closely match the way I had things on the old PC.

  • Used Belarc Advisor to create a print out of what's loaded on the machine.

  • Changed my password to a temporary one that's nothing like my original so support could get in when I wasn't at my desk.

  • Copied the properties of specially-made shortcuts like the one I use to lock the computer with one click.

  • If you use Outlook, make notes of your preferences and options. Mine didn't get transferred.

  • If you use the Office toolbar (typically on the side or top of the screen), add the programs and folders back in based on the screen shot you took earlier. I could not remember how to change the icons in the toolbar, so here's how: right-click on the icon you wish to change, select Properties, and Change Icon.

  • Print the list of fonts loaded on your computer if you've added additional fonts.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail%3Fblogid%3D56%26entry_id%3D31195cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEyz7CcxtW5tAQcW7qbF_bQwnLiPAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=vCzzZwfrIP4Jimgurl=www.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/bottomline/2008/10/07/030110_RestorationHardware.jpg width=80 height=59 alt= border=1brfont size=-2San Francisco Chronicle/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-restoration8-2008oct08,0,6573262.storycid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNGGIAO5y32aIFrbVDb3qqgZY6WwJAFormer Restoration bHardware/b executive settles insider trading case/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fLos Angeles Times,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 8, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1A former Restoration bHardware/b Inc. vice president agreed to settle US regulatory allegations that he leaked inside information on a takeover bid to two b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.reuters.com/article/americasRegulatoryNews/idUSN0747408620081007cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNGJg_GMUMo_ZcLviOZiZrzhWxzj3gEx-Restoration bHardware/b VP settles SEC trading probe/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.mercurynews.com/docudrama/2008/10/07/sec-brings-insider-trading-charges-against-restoration-hardware-ex-vp-and-bay-area-friends/cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNGXyTDOGAAMUpFzokmZy2YJJzk_aASEC brings insider trading charges against Restoration bHardware/b ex b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSan Jose Mercury News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail%3Fblogid%3D56%26entry_id%3D31195cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEyz7CcxtW5tAQcW7qbF_bQwnLiPAInsider trading at Restoration bHardware/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSan Francisco Chronicle/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_10662456cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNG9yRHC__zce7D133OZ42olU6TySQnobrMarin Independent-Journal/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx%3FId%3D734127%26SMap%3D1cid=1255211689ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNFTTbkyxrjvM9wSUwpszwtAwfXAwwnobrRTT News/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255211689hl=ennobrall 13 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200810071416DOWJONESDJONLINE000681.htmcid=1255151611ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEfK5MUWYFOVrIkNmz6VyYKO-SRxQUPDATE: Brokers Cut Estimates For IT bHardware/b Firms/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNNMoney.comnbsp;-/font nobrOct 7, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1For several months, many of the leading bhardware/b companies were thought of as being largely immune to the fallout from the credit crisis as it was mostly b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/10/08/1008techstocks.htmlcid=1255151611ei=8iLySJOwGILg6AOD_I2-Bwusg=AFQjCNEw2_IisWqvjC6gSulAL7RmJ0-FYATech bhardware/b makers take a hard hit on Wall Street/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAustin American-Statesman/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255151611hl=ennobrall 16 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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