Setting up new pc

Are you looking at building it or buying it? Where you posted suggests that you're buying it, in which case there isn't any need for guidance. That's what you're paying (a lot) extra for.

If you're building it, we need a lot more information to help. We need to know your budget, what parts you have, the resolution of your monitor (if you have one), if you want to overclock, what programs you're using for the major tasks (rendering, editing), when you're planning to buy/build, etc. Check out the guidelines from the link in my signature.

If you've got a heathly budget ($1,200+), I'd suggest looking at the brand new i7-2600. If you've got less than that, it'll take some more thought to put something together.

I have configured it, bought and am awaiting arrival.
Trying to get prepared to do what I listed in original post in setting it up once it gets here.

EDIT: I'm not going to just assume you don't know how to plug everything in, so I'll just answer the copying files part. If you really need help pluging it in, I'll give you that too, but be prepared to potentially having your intelligence insulted. Just warning you...

To transfer files, pick up an external HDD or a USB thumb drive. Attach to the old computer. Copy the files (saved games included, might have to dig in the program file to find them) to the drive. Unattach it and hook it up to the new machine. Copy off the drives.

If you don't have an external drive, I'd highly recommend picking one up. It's a great thing to have as not only a way to copy files, but also to making back ups of the data. You can leave it hooked up and tell the OS to automatically do it every so often. A good sized drive will probably run about $100 (for 1 TB), but it's definintely worth it.

If you have access to some web storage space (or some network attached storage, which I doubt), you can upload it there too, then just download it on the new computer.

If you don't have an external drive (and won't buy one) or a USB drive or any network/internet storage, start pulling out some blank DVDs and grab yourself a snack. You'll be burning and copying a lot of disks. Drop in a blank (or rewrittable) disk and start copying/burning them to the disc. Once that disk is full, and done burning, start burning a new one. Take the finished disk to the new computer and copy everything off it. Repeat until you've got everything copied.

The programs will need to be installed on the new computer. Start digging out disks or downloading them.

I was wondering if there was some tried and trusted utility ( hopefully in windows 7) that would do all the "leg" work and utilize direct connect for data. I was also looking for something like a "compatibility wizard" for evaluating software I have now with my present OS (vista32) and capability to upgrade to win7-64. I am probably going to have to check each program individually and was hoping I could avoid this time consuming chore.

Anything you have that runs in Vista will run in Windows 7. It's when you're going from XP to 7 that issues might exist. They're rare though.

I'm not sure what you're looking for in terms of a "direct connect for data". If you're talking about a way to pull data directly from the old computer to the new one, you'll need to set up a true network, which I have no idea about doing. I'm sure it's possible to link an old PC with Vista to a new one with 7, but I have no idea on setting it up. Might want to poke around in the Networking section.

the only issue I can see him having is if his old computer is ide and the new sata drives. If that's the case he can hit up radio shack for a 20ish dollar external enclosure and go the usb route (slow but it works and is simple).

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Make sure you check all the connections and make sure everything is seated before you power it up. Check for any damage as soon as you get it a shipping plays hell on systems.