One of the biggest hassles when purchasing a new computer these days is getting your old information from your previous computer over to the new one. You could spend the better part of a week doing this task if you’re not prepared. Most likely, your new computer has Windows 7 pre-installed and your old computer was either Windows XP or Vista.

Now what? How are you going to move everything from your old PC to your new one? I don’t just mean your Word documents and Excel spreadsheets… What about your browser Favorites? Your e-mail accounts? Your e-mail address book? Heck, your e-mail client itself? What about printer drivers, programs, and more? It can get confusing and discouraging.

Don’t worry! This can all be done if you take some time to prepare beforehand. The first thing you want to do is backup all of your important data. Data, in this case, is defined as your pictures, documents, videos, music, and other files such as Quicken or QuickBooks data files. The easiest way of doing this is by using an external hard drive or a flash drive. Save all of your data over to this drive. This will allow you to plug the drive into the new computer and copy the data over to it.

Well that sounds easy right? What about your e-mail account settings and all your e-mails along with your address book? This isn’t always as straight forward as the previous step, and things can get a little tricky. If you are moving over from Windows XP you may have been using Outlook Express for all your e-mail needs. In Windows 7, Outlook Express has been replaced with Windows Live Mail. The conversion processes can be difficult, but is not impossible.

I have heard some technicians assert that certain third party programs will migrate all of your data, settings, and programs from the old computer to the new. I have tested many of these over the years and have not found one that works well all of the time. The problem can be compatibility with programs or missing data. In my opinion, the best way of making sure everything is moved properly is to do it all manually like with the data options listed above. When it comes to programs, the best thing to do is make sure that they are compatible with your new computer and then install them from their original source.

What if your old computer no longer turns on? This is absolutely best left to the experts. They can recover your data, in most cases, from the old computer and move it to the new one, even when the old computer doesn’t function properly. Some companies, such as ours, offer free data migration when you purchase a new computer from them. Others may charge a fee to do this, but when you purchase a new computer from Antrim Computer Repair & Service, we will make sure that your old data is moved to your new computer free of charge, saving you hours of time and frustration.

Remember, when buying a new computer, to not just look at the bottom line price, but to take into full account the overall value that you are receiving. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us any time at Antrim Computer Repair & Service at 603-588-3247.

For more information about Antrim Computers, please visit AntrimComputers.net.

Matt Burke of Antrim Computer Repair and Service in Antrim, NH can be reached via email at Matthew@AntrimComputer.com or called at 603-588-3247 anytime.