Copying Disk Drives

Early B.

I recently purchased two new computers. Now I need to copy the entire contents of my old hard drives the new computers. (I have an 80 GB external hard drive if that matters.)

I'm not a computer geek, so the first question I have is whether or not I should even consider attempting to copy the hard drives myself. I've seen software that claims to do this such as:

http://www.hot-shareware.com/utilities/paragon-drive-backup/

Will using this kind of software pose a major risk for those of us who don't even know (or care) what a partition is?

Alternatively, I can hire someone to come to my home and set up my computers for me. The latter option is much more expensive (I'm guessing $150).

What should I do?

Thanks.

bobman1235

What exactly do you need to copy? YOu have to reinstall the OS for each system (drivers and stuff would be off unless the systems are identical), so that stuff doesn't matter, so all you need are things like documents, MP3s, movies, etc. You don't really need a program to do that. Depending on how much stuff there is, I would say, either :
- network the old computer and the old computer together, and transfer the stuff over the network. Might take a while, but it's free and simple.
- install the old drive in each of the new computers, copy what you need off of the old drive onto the new drive, and move on. Might still take a few hours depending on how much data you're copying but significantly faster than the first option, most likely.

Fireman32

Early if you have an external 80gb hard drive then the data transfer is very easy just plug it into the old computer and copy and paste everything that you want on the new computer over to the hard drive and then reverse teh process on the new computer. You wont have to worry about the partions all you need to copy are the files you want (music, office docs etc.). When copying over any software if you not sure waht to copy just reinstall on the new computer. Hope this helps you out. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Dave

Mike682

Like bobman said, programs like WIn XP, etc., will need to be re-installed using the discs.

If the previous comp had Win XP, I think you could use the file transfer wizard for your personal files.