Best way to transfer files and settings from Old Computer to New Computer

[MikeLac]

My Computer died on me. It started out with the Blue Screen of Death a couple of days ago. Spent all of last night trying to figure it out. Now it won't even boot up.

It just says: "The file is possible corrupt. The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum"

Then it shuts itself off within 1 minute. I can't even boot off of the Windows CD because it shuts itself off in less than a minute.

Does anybody know what that message is all about?

Anyways, my Computer is 5 years old. Been pissing me off for awhile now. I've pretty much had it with the computer. Time for a new one.

Does anybody know the best way to transfer files and settings from an Old Computer that does not work to a New Computer? I'm assuming that I'll have to take the hard drives out of the Old computer and put in the new one. But how will that work if I decide to buy a laptop? From an old Desktop computer that doesn't work to a laptop.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Then I'll make a Youtube video of me smashing my old computer with a fucking sledge hammer!

 

[ticbra]

Copy/Paste

 

[haridada]

Check the power cable and other wires and tighten them. Clean the dust off.

 

[Jayemdae]

If you're definitely set on getting a new computer and just want to transfer files, you can use a USB adapter designed for that (and they're pretty cheap at $15-$30 depending on features/brand). A USB hard drive adapter will let you take a bare hard drive and connect it to any computer via USB prort (and it doesn't matter that the old computer won't boot Windows). The new computer will recognize the hard drive as another connected drive and you can simply copy from the old to the new. It's really easy and I've done it tons of times for friends and family who are upgrading (including to a laptop).

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, look at the following item.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156102

Note: I'm not necessarily recommending this particular one, just showing you an example.

Good luck!

 

[Ribbit]

Have you checked the memory from looking on google some have had this message appear when a memory module has become faulty.

That usb adaptor looks pretty good I didnt even realise that sort of thing existed.

 

[MikeLac]

If you're definitely set on getting a new computer and just want to transfer files, you can use a USB adapter designed for that (and they're pretty cheap at $15-$30 depending on features/brand). A USB hard drive adapter will let you take a bare hard drive and connect it to any computer via USB prort (and it doesn't matter that the old computer won't boot Windows). The new computer will recognize the hard drive as another connected drive and you can simply copy from the old to the new. It's really easy and I've done it tons of times for friends and family who are upgrading (including to a laptop).

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, look at the following item.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156102

Note: I'm not necessarily recommending this particular one, just showing you an example.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info!

I'm very experienced and tech savvy with computers. But I am not that experienced with getting a new computer and transfering everything over. I've had my Computer for 5 years now. It is no longer adequate for my needs and I have been putting up with it until I get around to building my own system.

I'm planning on purchasing a laptop tonight. At least I won't be stuck to the computer room when I am doing my work. I can still hook it up to my big monitor and seperate keyboard and mouse. I have a Home theatre room in the basement with a 104 inch diagonal screen and a HD projector. Since it would be portable, I can relax in front of my Home Theatre and watch some TV while doing some work on the Computer at the same time. There is a full bathroom in the basement. A fridge. Got all I need down there. My wife can come visit me anytime she wants.

 

[the_demon]

Get a harddrive enclosure and pluginto your new computer.

Run disk defrag on it / check disk first

 

[MikeLac]

Have you checked the memory from looking on google some have had this message appear when a memory module has become faulty.

That usb adaptor looks pretty good I didnt even realise that sort of thing existed.

Yes, that is one of the first things that I checked. Only 2 GB memory. 2 1 mb memory modules. I had already replaced them before because they became faulty. I removed one of them and tried to boot up and got the same message. Put it back in and removed the other with the same result. Unless they both went at the same time. But probably unlikely.

Oh well. I was meaning to get a new computer one of these days. I'm on my way to the nearest computer store now to get one. About a 1 hour drive. I live in a small town and the local computer shop sucks.

My next post will be with my new computer.

 

[MikeLac]

I bought a new Desktop computer on the 12th.

I installed the hard drive from my old computer into my new computer and it read it without any problems. I just manually copied programs and settings over.

Thanks for the replies!