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How to set up new laptop?

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carly
carly Posts: 1,491 Forumite
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Hello
I've just bought a new Asus vivobook laptop with Windows 11.  Is there a simple and cheap  ( preferably free)  way to transfer all the files from my old windows 10 laptop.  
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  • Ayr_Rage
    Ayr_Rage Posts: 2,648 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 4 January at 7:37PM
    Enable network discovery and file sharing on both computers, a simple Mr G search will show you how

    Connect both to the same router.

    In NETWORK you should see both computers, open folders as normal and simply select and copy as you need.

  • Olinda99
    Olinda99 Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    or copy everything onto a usb stick

    then plug stick.into new laptop and copy everything off

    then put stick somewhere safe in case you need a backup
  • flaneurs_lobster
    flaneurs_lobster Posts: 6,420 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 4 January at 8:15PM
    Hopefully all your important stuff on the old machine is backed up (cloud? external drive?). 

    Just copy it onto the new machine from there.

    Good way of checking that your backup method is working ("if its never been restored then you don't have a backup")
  • carly
    carly Posts: 1,491 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Olinda99 said:
    or copy everything onto a usb stick

    then plug stick.into new laptop and copy everything off

    then put stick somewhere safe in case you need a backup
    That was my initial plan, it will take a long time though, I just wondered if there was a better way. Good idea to have an independent physical back up though. Thanks
  • carly
    carly Posts: 1,491 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hopefully all your important stuff on the old machine is backed up (cloud? external drive?). 

    Just copy it onto the new machine from there.

    Good way of checking that your backup method is working ("if its never been restored then you don't have a backup")
    Most important stuff is backed up ,yes, although nothing newer than 2 months ( my bad ), along with some really ancient stuff which I really could delete and not transfer over. I agree that I should test my recovery options more regularly.
  • carly
    carly Posts: 1,491 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Ayr_Rage said:
    Enable network discovery and file sharing on both computers, a simple Mr G search will show you how

    Connect both to the same router.

    In NETWORK you should see both computers, open folders as normal and simply select and copy as you need.

    Ah, an option which I hadnt considered. Thanks, I'll look into this.
  • Beeblebr0x
    Beeblebr0x Posts: 263 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    When you've finished, consider changing to Google apps. I find Microsoft apps over-engineered for the casual user.
  • SiliconChip
    SiliconChip Posts: 1,808 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    carly said:
    Olinda99 said:
    or copy everything onto a usb stick

    then plug stick.into new laptop and copy everything off

    then put stick somewhere safe in case you need a backup
    That was my initial plan, it will take a long time though, I just wondered if there was a better way. Good idea to have an independent physical back up though. Thanks

    I don't understand why you think it'll take a long time unless you have a huge volume of data to copy over (>1TB). I have spent the last couple of days setting up my latest laptop and copying the data over was one of the quickest steps (applying Windows 11 and other software updates was probably the slowest).
  • jshm2
    jshm2 Posts: 470 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Just use PCTrans and it will do the files and apps for you. Even over the network, though it can be slow if you don't have a fast connection. 

    https://www.easeus.com/free-pc-transfer-software/?srsltid=AfmBOorYQGnlA7vP2T7Q7Jw5zdOO8U_p593EpYIDxl3lVM5s_BBYWmhH
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    jshm2 said:
    Just use PCTrans and it will do the files and apps for you. Even over the network, though it can be slow if you don't have a fast connection. 

    https://www.easeus.com/free-pc-transfer-software/?srsltid=AfmBOorYQGnlA7vP2T7Q7Jw5zdOO8U_p593EpYIDxl3lVM5s_BBYWmhH
    That says: "Migrate 2 GB of data and 5 programs for free" ?
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
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