Windows Vista File Transfer

[Attleborough]

I have just bought a new computer running Vista. I wish to move my files and settings from this old windows XP machine to the new Vista Machine.

I see that Micro$oft will sell me a "special" USB cable to assist with the Vista file & settings transfer program but I assume any old A male to A male will do - can anyone confirm this?

Has anyone done this action? What do you need to do to establish the connection between the two machines (other than the cable) turn off firewalls / burn a set up disk / just follow the instructions? Is the software a one time use only program?

Any hints or tips gratefully received.

If you know of a piece of software that does the job better/easier/as well please also suggest.

Taking the HD out the old and installing in the new to copy across isn't very practical as the old is IDE and the new SATA.

Thanks

 

[red1]

Get yourself a 2Gb usb drive for about £7.50 and just copy everything onto it.

 

[wessie]

If you are using Outlook Express for email, then the utility here will back up your emails & address book to a set of files that can be easily imported to the new machine, using a USB memory device.
http://www.oehelp.com/

If I wanted to transfer a huge amount of data, such as media files, from one PC to another then I would simply create a network using a router, then drag & drop.

If you don't have a router then buy one. They are very cheap and offer a level of security if used between the PC and internet gateway. Alternatively, for even less money, you could buy a cradle for your IDE hard drive that plugs into a USB port. If the old XP machine is being scrapped then you will be able to format the IDE drive for use as a back-up device.

I don't normally bother transferring settings. I see a new PC as an opportunity to start afresh without a load of unnecessary crap I installed in an attempt to make things pretty. Viasta has plenty of that sort of bollocks already, most of which you will disable...especially if it's an Acer machine like my lad's laptop.