topic Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files in Electronics

I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

sipp — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 19:50:06 GMT

I'm getting a new laptop but my old one is still (barely) usable and I want to get only a few things from it to the new one (pictures, favorite lists)-- so my really really computer illiterate husband ( although admittedly I'm not an expert either) ---can use the old one for his e-mail basically-( he's not getting near the new one!) Anyhow the old one is on it's last legs- the hinge broke on it and the screen is gerri-rigged with tape to hold the screen in the proper reading angle although it works ok and has windows 7--it's just if the screen actually does fall off eventually- all the wiring etc goes with it and everything will be lost.So is there an inexpensive way to get what I want and still leave most intact?TIA

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

hckynut — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 20:48:11 GMT

Check this link out it may help you.

Transfering Files windows-7

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

glb613 — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 20:49:50 GMT

Why not connect the laptop to a monitor?

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

susan_ca — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 20:58:58 GMT

I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

Lynnj — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 00:21:07 GMT

On 4/23/2014 susan_ca said:
I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

I agree with using a Thumb Drive to get the files you want from the old to the new. They are pretty cheap, and can be purchased everywhere.

Its like a little flat stick, and you will plus it into he USB drive on your old computer. Then locate everything you want to move from old to new, and copy/paste that to the USB Thumb Drive. When done, eject the Thumb Drive from the old computer, and plug it into the USB drive on the new computer. Find that on the new computer, click open, and copy/paste everything to the new computer. Before ejecting, delete all the files on the Thumb Drive (you won't need them, unless you want to be sure to have a back up).

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

Trix — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 00:29:20 GMT

Flash drives are nice, I highly recommend a Click-Free. You may want to invest in something like this for the new computer to use as your data back up source, but it also serves to copy files from one PC (or MAC) onto another. I used my Click Free for a very effortlessly efficient copy of files from my old Vista PC to a new one I bought in 2012.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

glb613 — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 01:18:37 GMT

Flash drives are fine for transferring data from one computer to another. They are terrible for a backup because they are easily corrupted or erased.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

151949 — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 03:31:54 GMT

On 4/23/2014 susan_ca said:
I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

I do the same thing - save everything to a thumb drive.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

glb613 — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 11:22:07 GMT

On 4/23/2014 happy housewife said:
On 4/23/2014 susan_ca said:
I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

I do the same thing - save everything to a thumb drive.

You better have a second copy if this is how you back up your files. Flash/thumb drives should never be used as a backup device.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

susan_ca — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 15:56:31 GMT

On 4/24/2014 glb613 said:
On 4/23/2014 happy housewife said:
On 4/23/2014 susan_ca said:
I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

I do the same thing - save everything to a thumb drive.

You better have a second copy if this is how you back up your files. Flash/thumb drives should never be used as a backup device.

I think you misunderstood the word "backup" here. I am not using it to backup my computer SYSTEM, just some files.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

glb613 — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:30:18 GMT

On 4/24/2014 susan_ca said:
On 4/24/2014 glb613 said:
On 4/23/2014 happy housewife said:
On 4/23/2014 susan_ca said:
I am not computer-savvy either.

I save important files on a thumb drive in addition to hard drive...... as a backup if not for anything else. In your case, because you only want to transfer a few things, you can either save those files onto a thumb drive or save them onto a cloud and download them onto your new computer.

Thumb drives are very affordable.

I do the same thing - save everything to a thumb drive.

You better have a second copy if this is how you back up your files. Flash/thumb drives should never be used as a backup device.

I think you misunderstood the word "backup" here. I am not using it to backup my computer SYSTEM, just some files.

I haven't misunderstood anything. Flash drives shouldn't be used as a backup device whether it's one important files or the entire system.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

sipp — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 06:57:13 GMT

On 4/23/2014 glb613 said:
Why not connect the laptop to a monitor?

I assume you're suggesting that I ""save"" the laptop by connecting it via a cable??- but wiring runs through the ""screen""-- so I still need to keep it attached or expose the wiring. Not an acceptable solution.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

glb613 — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:29:56 GMT

On 4/24/2014 dgluvr said:
On 4/23/2014 glb613 said:
Why not connect the laptop to a monitor?

I assume you're suggesting that I ""save"" the laptop by connecting it via a cable??- but wiring runs through the ""screen""-- so I still need to keep it attached or expose the wiring. Not an acceptable solution.

To get the files off.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

NorskyGal — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:56:50 GMT

Hi Dglvr! This is what you do (I did the same thing when I got my new laptop):

Buy a USB Flash Drive (same thing as "thumb drive"). These are inexpensive. Check Amazon.

To actually copy your files, insert this Flash Drive into your USB port of your old laptop & copy your files onto it.

Then insert the Flash Drive into your NEW laptop & copy the files over to the new laptop.

I know you didn't ask about backups, but the topic did come up in this thread. Copying files to a USB Flash Drive is ok, but you need to be aware that this could become corrupt/damaged. After all, it is a physical piece of hardware.

Your best bet is to subscribe to something like Carbonite, which is an online service that will back up your files automatically for you. My hubby (a tech guy) & I have used this service for several years. I've had to restore some files a few time & it was super easy to do.

Re: I'm getting new but want to transfer only some files

PamelaSue72 — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 13:20:44 GMT

I broke down and bought a small external drive for the computers. It holds 500 GB of stuff, which is large enough to back up both computers completely (our computers each have a 1 TB drive and they're not even close to being half-full).

But when I need to transfer even small files back and forth between the two, I even use the external drive for that. It has come in handy so many times....well worth the money. (You can use a USB memory stick for transferring small files back and forth, too, but yes, you need to realize that those sticks can get corrupted easily. They're good for small files, but that's it.)

You can buy smaller external drives, too, and they're not that expensive. Especially considering how often they'd be used. And it's more often than you think.