Transfer XP files to new Win 8?
- Thread starter Matt A7
- Start date
You can go on that computer, and put all the files you want to keep on an external hard drive. Taking it from another computer and plugging it while it has a different OS is dangerous and could ruin your harddrive. It's really hard to make it work that way. Good luck, I hope it helps.. 
Like Windows 7, Windows 8 has Windows Easy Transfer, which will automatically transfer documents, email and settings from your old computer to your new one. So you can effect a transfer of this material using a transfer cable between the two computers, a network connection, or external media like USB drives or external hard drives. Read this article to see how it works. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/transfer-data-from-old-computer-to-windows-8/
You don't have to download the Easy Transfer program from their links; the new computer will put it on a thumb drive for you when you start the transfer program.
If you don't want all your settings to transfer and just want access to old files you certainly can install the old drive in the old computer or put it in an external enclosure and access the files that way. It's harder to find things like your address book, old emails, etc. that way, but it can be done if you know where to look.
You don't have to download the Easy Transfer program from their links; the new computer will put it on a thumb drive for you when you start the transfer program.
If you don't want all your settings to transfer and just want access to old files you certainly can install the old drive in the old computer or put it in an external enclosure and access the files that way. It's harder to find things like your address book, old emails, etc. that way, but it can be done if you know where to look.
Thank you so much guys...... Not being Win savvy - I didn't know about the Easy Transfer option.....Presumably, I will have to connect both machines via Ethernet or USB? To be honest this is going to be a threefold task as my wife & daughter AND my friend are going to have to transfer old files to new machines ! So I need the most straightforward method. - One of these is a completely dead laptop !
- Mar 16, 2013
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A USB dock or cable will work.
Start up the main machine first, then connect the docked drive. Even if it has an existing OS, it can't 'damage' anything.
You'll probably have to take ownership of any user files on the old drives. They currently live under NTFS permissions of the original user.
For the Easy Transfer option, you either need a transfer cable to connect the two computers (Buy it at a computer store, use it successively for the three computers) or if you have an ethernet network, just connect the two computers to the network and run it across there. As an alternative, if you have an external drive (either an external hard drive or a really large USB thumb drive) you can have the transfer data put on the external drive and then use that to transfer it into the new computer.
The advantage of Easy Transfer over just removing the old hard drive and connecting it to the new computer is that the process is automatic (though a little time consuming) and when you're done all your documents are back in the same place or a corresponding place, your emails are all there and your address book is there, even stored login information. Even your icons are back on the desktop and if you had a picture for a wallpaper it's there. You can achieve the same thing by connecting the old computer's hard drive, but it requires more tech savvy and knowledge of where Outlook Express has really stored everything.
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