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Question

Replacing old laptop with new one

May 7, 2018 1:47AM PDT

Hello all, I have a 10 yr old Dell Inspiron N7110 laptop that has Windows 7. I just purchased a new HP laptop with Windows 10. I am not exactly tech savvy so I'm wondering if there are any special set-up involved in switching to the new laptop? I have Broadband through my landline phone and using a modem or router box. The laptop is connected to the box with an ethernet cable. So would it be as simple as just unplugging the old laptop and plugging in the new one? Maybe I'm making too much out of this, but I'm not that confident about what to do. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: laptop
May 7, 2018 3:24AM PDT

That's exactly what you have to do to get Internet on your new laptop. But maybe you want more than having access to Internet? Then you need to do more.

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Re: laptop
May 7, 2018 8:34AM PDT

I forgot to ask this question. I bought the new laptop off QVC just yesterday... it was an impulse buy. The HP has AMD instead of Intel. I read a review about the HP laptop that said AMD wasn't as good as Intel. Is this something to be concerned about? I only use the laptop for gaming and social media, and sometimes Net surfing. So it's not going to be used for any really important until next tax season. I install tax software from H&R Block and do my own taxes. Appreciate your help!

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(NT) No reasons at all to worry.
May 7, 2018 11:30AM PDT
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Answer
Re: laptop
May 7, 2018 8:25AM PDT

Kees_B - Thanks so much for your quick reply. Okay, now I have another question. How do you go about transferring data from the old laptop to the new one? Is it as simple as using a USB cable? What is the procedure once you have the two connected? I have never done this before and I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Thanks!

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Re: copying
May 7, 2018 11:38AM PDT

Using a USB cable is not the way to do it.

Three common ways:
1. Restore the files you want from your backup.
2. Copy them to a USB-stick or external hard disk on your old laptop, and copy them from there to your new laptop. All you need to use: File Explorer (as Windows Explorer is called in Windows 10). The nice thing about an external hard disk is that you can use it for future backups.
3. Connect both laptops with an Ethernet-cable to your router. Enable file sharing on the new laptop. Now you have a home network. Then on your old PC connect to the shared folder on your new laptop and copy what you want. The nice thing: if you do the reverse you can use the hard disk of your old laptop as backup medium for the new laptop. But maybe setting up a home network is somewhat to difficult for a not so tech savvy.

My advice is to spend 50 to 80 dollars for a external hard disk.

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Transfer
May 7, 2018 11:43AM PDT

Perhaps the easiest method is to get a usb flash stick.

Plug it into the old laptop and copy out your files.

Then plug it into the new laptop and copy in your files.

Note files are things like pics/docs/vids.

Programs don't transfer you will need to install those on the new laptop.

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All good answers....
May 7, 2018 12:30PM PDT

Just wondering..... I have some never used blank CDRom disks. Can they be used to copy data from the old laptop to the new one?

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Re: CD-ROM
May 7, 2018 12:40PM PDT

A CD-ROM is read-only (that's the RO-part in the name). So you can't write anything to it. You need a CD-R or a CR-RW to be able to write files to it. Did you ever do that? Do you know how to do it? Does your new laptop has a CD-reader built in?

How many data do want to copy from the old to the new laptop? I don't mean number of files, but number of MB (megabytes) or GB (Gigabytes). The size of the data is an important factor to decide what is easiest, fastest and cheapest. And talking about that: what is your priority: easiest, fastest or cheapest?

Post was last edited on May 7, 2018 12:41 PM PDT

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Re: CD-ROM
May 7, 2018 12:57PM PDT

Kees_B - I dug the disks out and they are Maxell DVD+R, so I was wrong about them being CD-ROM. The laptop I'm on now, the Dell, has a CD/DVD drive. The new HP has a DVD +/- RW Drive, which I've never even heard of. (No surprise there!)

The data I will be transferring will be some pics plus my tax files, which I only have this past years taxes. Not that much. I doubt if that will amount to much MB or GB.

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Remember.
May 7, 2018 1:03PM PDT

Copy the files to disc, don't move them.
Dafydd.

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Re: data
May 7, 2018 1:30PM PDT

That would easily fit on a single DVD (4.7 GB) and surely on a USB-stick (nowadays 4 GB to 32 GB, the larger the more expensive). And if it happens to be more, you can do it in parts, because you can reuse the USB-stick after copying. You can't reuse the DVD.

Are you there is no more you want to copy, such as the favorites and passwords stored in your browser? Or email or your address book? Some people use that and don't want to lose it. But you don't write you use it for email, so maybe that's not applicable, and favorites and password you can easily retype, of course (if you know them).

And a tip for if you hate how the desktop in Windows 10 looks (with all that apps that popup), or can't get used to it, consider downloading and installing Classic Shell (free) to make it look like your desktop and Start menu in Windows 7.

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RE: CD-DVD drive
May 7, 2018 1:33PM PDT

The DVD +/- RW drive on your new laptop can be used to write (that's the W in the name) files to a disk. But it's unsure if the CD/DVD-drive in your old Dell is just capable of readings disks or can burn also, since it has no W in the name. Maybe you can dug the user manual out to check that?
If not, a USB-stick is a very good alternative (somewhat more expensive, but much easier and much faster).

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RE: CD-DVD drive
May 7, 2018 1:57PM PDT

Kees_B - I went into my Programs (Dell laptop) and found that it has a Windows DVD Maker and allows you to download Pics and Videos to disk. It also has Windows Easy Transfer, which says you can copy files from one computer to another. If this is the case, would I be able to use this Easy Transfer program in place of a Stick or a Disk? I'm sorry guys for taking so much of your time.

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Re: DVD maker and Easy Transfer
May 7, 2018 2:35PM PDT
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And 5 more tips for a new Windows 10 user.
May 7, 2018 2:43PM PDT

Especially for the new Windows 10 user who wants to prevent future (and alas not very rare) disasters on his new laptop.

1. Don't create a Microsoft account to login with. Just make a local user with administrator capabilities. Microsoft subtly (not really) pushes you into making that Microsoft account, but don't do it, unless you really, really feel you must use the cloud for backup or to synchronise your MS Office work to your smartphone.
2. Create not one, but two local users with administrator capabilities. One for normal use, and one spare, just in case the one normal one gets corrupted.
3. Delay the big half yearly upgrades by at least a months, two months is even better. Ed Bott tells how in https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-spring-creators-update-act-fast-to-delay-this-big-upgrade/
4. Disable driver updates via Windows update. https://www.howtogeek.com/302595/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-automatically-updating-hardware-drivers/ tells how.
5. If your new laptop has an SSD in stead of a HDD (some have, especially the more expensive ones) disable Fast Startup. https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup tells how.

Post was last edited on May 8, 2018 12:27 AM PDT

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Why not create a microsoft account?
May 11, 2018 5:52PM PDT

I'm just setting up my new laptop and Windows 10 is new to me. What are the concerns with a microsoft account?
Thanks

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Nothing and everything.
May 12, 2018 10:17AM PDT

It's YOUR choice to use that system but there are issues with Windows (google corrupt profile) where having a spare local admin account will make the issue a trivial one rather than another "I lost everything." If you prepare ahead of time.

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Yes
May 7, 2018 12:54PM PDT

The old and new laptop must have a cd disc unit.

A cd is quite limited in the amount you can write to it and you only get to use it once.

Get an idea of how much data you want to transfer and then see if that's practical.

Then you get into speed......writing to and reading from a cd is kind of slow.

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Re: Yes
May 7, 2018 1:08PM PDT

Bob_B - Thanks! I'm not too concerned with the speed. Once I get the new HP I'll see what will work. I may have to buy a USB Stick after all. I really appreciate your help!