When you buy a new computer, you're likely to spend considerable time transferring the data and software from your old computer. Before making the move, it pays to consider whether you really need a new machine. Maybe all you need is to upgrade your existing computer. Below, you'll find help making that decision, plus a step-by-step guide on how to move to a new computer and what to do after you've completed the move.
• Do you really need a new computer?
• Making the move
• After the move
• What to do with your old computer
DO YOU REALLY NEED A NEW COMPUTER?
If all you need is more hard drive space, here are several ways to do so without having to spring for an entirely new system:
A. Remove unneeded programs. Look at your program list.
1. Open Start, Settings (in Windows 98), Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs or the Macintosh HD, Applications folder in Mac OS.
2. Uninstall programs you've forgotten about or don't need anymore. If you upgraded from a prior Windows version, you can remove the "Uninstallation Files," assuming Windows is now working properly.
3. While you're there in Add or Remove, click the Windows Components icon as well, and if there are parts of Windows--like MovieMaker or Windows Messenger--that are useless to you, unselect them as well. You may need to click the Details button to see all the components.
4. Mac users can usually just drag a program's folder to the Trash icon, but first check to see whether an Uninstall icon is in the folder.
B. Use Windows 98/XP's Disk Cleanup. This useful utility is on the Programs menu under Accessories, System Tools. It lets you remove files that Windows has accumulated over time. You can also schedule Disk Cleanup to run periodically.
1. If you have Windows XP, check the file system type by right-clicking the drive's icon and selecting Properties. Make sure your hard drive uses the "NTFS" file system. You can set chosen folders to automatically keep files in a compressed form that uses less space.
2. In Windows Explorer, right-click the folder you want to compress.
3. Click Properties, and the Advanced button.
4. Check the Compress contents to save disk space box. Files Windows compresses can be accessed without your uncompressing them, but they may take a bit longer to load.
C. Find and delete forgotten files. You may have folders full of files you used once and forgot about. To tally the size of all the files in a folder using Windows Explorer, right-click the folder and select Properties. Don't delete files or folders you don't recognize or files in the Windows (or Mac OS System) folders. Files associated with a program should be removed by uninstalling the respective program as previously described. After the program is uninstalled, it's safe to delete its folder.
For Windows users, the most convenient way to see which folders are taking up the most space is via a Windows utility, DiskMapper ($50 with a 60-day return policy,
www.miclog.com). The program shows you a graphical floor plan of your hard drive, with each folder sized in proportion to how many bytes it holds. You can drill down into a folder's contents using your mouse, and delete unwanted material right there.
D. Add a second hard drive. You've freed up as much hard drive space as you can, but you need more room for large applications (100 to 200 MB), a multi-CD game (1 to 2 GB), a collection of MP3 music (500 MB up), or a couple hours of digital video (20 to 40 GB). Chances are your PC--as nearly all desktops we test--has a space called a drive bay inside reserved for a second hard drive, complete with the necessary power and data connectors. Hard drives are a commodity. A 40- to 300-GB drive runs about $1/GB.
Installing a second hard drive on a fairly recent PC--one that came with Windows 98, Mac OS 9, or later--isn't difficult. Fasten it in place with four supplied screws, plug in two cables the only way they fit, switch on the PC, and perform a simple configuration procedure. Usually instructions come with the new hard drive. The best step-by-step explanation we've found online is from a May 2003 article on TechTV's website:
http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/ho...322450,00.html.
A caveat: When you get to page 5, Create a Partition, the simple Windows XP procedure is described at the bottom of the page after the more complex Windows 98 procedure.
If your PC is more than three years old, ask the manufacturer how large a hard drive it can accommodate. Older PCs that weren't designed for drives larger than 32 GB will only be able to see that much of any larger drive. New drives often come with driver software that can work around this limitation. If you need to install such software, be prepared to follow directions carefully. If that's not for you, let a technician do it.
Once a second drive is installed and running, note the drive letter that Windows has assigned it. Install newly obtained software on the new drive from then on. If the original drive has less than 500 MB free, consider uninstalling some of the software from it and re-installing that on the new drive.
E. No room for a second hard drive? Or, your PC is a laptop? Consider an external hard drive. They cost about $50 more than an internal drive. They use a data cable to connect to the PC, through a USB or FireWire port, or a laptop PC-card slot. A USB-1 connection, found on most PCs from 2002 or earlier, is generally too slow for ahard drive, except one used for backups. You can add a plug-in PCI card (about $30) with USB-2 or FireWire ports to a desktop computer running Windows 98 or later.
F. Not for the timid: Changing hard drives. If you have no way to add a second hard drive, or your hard drive is becoming unreliable, consider moving everything to a new drive. How difficult this is to do depends on the type of computer and version of Windows you're running. Windows XP's security and user-authentication schemes make it more difficult than with prior Windows versions to flawlessly copy an entire system drive's contents to a new drive.
Essentially, Windows XP bonds itself to your hard drive and motherboard when it's installed. Moving an installation to another drive requires software that takes these bonds into account.
Given the variety of configurations, the complexity of the task, and the potential for getting into trouble, we recommend against such hard-drive swapping. If you must do it, leave it to someone with experience and the knowledge of how to handle unanticipated problems.
If you still want to tackle it, perform a careful backup of all your documents, media files, and downloaded programs first, as a safeguard. Then, use the latest version of Norton Ghost or PowerQuest Drive Image. Both can move an entire drive's contents to a new one. If you can't install the new drive as a second drive in the same PC, you'll need to burn some CD-Rs to hold the contents of the old drive, or connect via a network to a drive on another PC with enough free space to hold the old drive's contents.
MAKING THE MOVE
Your new PC has an operating system and other software installed that incorporates many items unique to your computer. Examples are special "driver" programs installed by the PC manufacturer for each of your specific hardware components, help files and documentation for your PC's hardware and software, utilities that are set up to access the manufacturer's online resources, and applications that have been pre-installed, but without supplied re-installation disks, system and application restore files on a separate hard-drive partition.
For your new PC to operate properly, you must leave such items intact on the hard drive. You can't just clone old drive to new. To prevent overwriting critical operating-system files and the other components, you must transfer data or programs from your old PC both carefully and methodically.
A. Getting connected. A high-speed, wired connection is the best way to move large amounts of data files from one operating PC to another. The best compromise among cost, speed, reliability, and complexity is an Ethernet network. For this, both computers need an inEthernet card (also known as an Ethernet port, "10/100-base-T" port, or simply a LAN (Local Area Networking) port. Both PCs' ports need to be connected with an Ethernet cable (also known as Cat-5) either to an existing network hub or router, or directly to each other using a special crossover cable.
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