New laptop, trouble xferring files/settings from working Win7 laptop


  1. Posts : 234
    Windows 10
       #1

    New laptop, trouble xferring files/settings from working Win7 laptop


    I recently purchased an ASUS A555DG-EHFX to take over for my wife's Win7 ASUS K50IJ-BBZ5 (both are 64-bit).

    Obviously getting Windows 10 up and running out of the box was a breeze. Configuring WLAN connectivity was also easy, even though I have a hidden SSID and access control on devices on the router. Even getting Office up and running was fine - just uninstalled from the old computer, downloaded an installer file from Microsoft, using the product key, and that was fine.

    The one hiccup has been getting my files and configuration settings (such as browser history and passwords and cookies) from the old computer to the new.

    I have read that one can run Windows Easy Transfer on a Win7 machine, which I did (to an external HD), then copy the migwiz and migration folders from the system32 subfolder of the Win7 machine, to somewhere on the new machine, and run the migwiz.exe program from the migwiz folder.

    This appeared to "know what it was doing" - it identified the user profiles captured in the transfer data, and allowed me to select which ones to transfer.

    But when the process completed, I can't find any of the files from the Win7 laptop, and I can't see any of the profiles and configurations - the files themselves, or evidence that the computer is accessing them.

    Also, the old laptop had a C/D HD partition, as does this, and it was pretty much program files on C and data (.docx and .xlsx files, etc.) on the D partition.

    After running migwiz, the new computer still has 0 usage of D.

    Without buying or using new software, what's the easiest way to rectify this? I'll happily manually copy folders from the old Win7 to the new Win10, as long as I know where they're supposed to go. It would be great though if the "run migwiz.exe" advice worked as well for me as it has for many who've recommended the approach.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,735
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, browser history and cookies are things I wouldn't normally worry about.
    1. Win 10 includes 2 browsers- Edge (its default) and IE. Any such transfer would be to IE only - assuming you were using IE in Win 7.
    2. Cookies are only occasionally of significance- the odd financial sites in my experience use them to identify that yours is a known PC - an exceptionally bad way to do this.

    Which browser are you actually using in Win 10?

    Personally when moving OS's I've used Laplink software- which moves settings, configuration, and installed programs. However that is costly for one use, but saves hours if you have lots to reinstall.

    You might like to consider this for transferring data
    Free PC transfer/migration software - EaseUS Todo PCTrans Free
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 234
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    dalchina said:
    Hi, browser history and cookies are things I wouldn't normally worry about.
    1. Win 10 includes 2 browsers- Edge (its default) and IE. Any such transfer would be to IE only - assuming you were using IE in Win 7.
    2. Cookies are only occasionally of significance- the odd financial sites in my experience use them to identify that yours is a known PC - an exceptionally bad way to do this.

    Which browser are you actually using in Win 10?

    Personally when moving OS's I've used Laplink software- which moves settings, configuration, and installed programs. However that is costly for one use, but saves hours if you have lots to reinstall.

    You might like to consider this for transferring data
    Free PC transfer/migration software - EaseUS Todo PCTrans Free
    Thanks for the response!

    We've always used Firefox. And I have moved PCs and laptops from Win98 to 2000 to XP to Win7, usually with C/D partitions or physical drives involved, and always gotten the files and settings/profiles where they belong. Manually before WET, and doing some migrations to Win7 with WET, that got it right.

    I used the EaseUS product you mentioned for a new laptop for my daughter, and it was awful. A letdown because I'd read tons of great reviews for it. I wound up just brute-force copying her files, and she didn't care about the settings and configurations.

    With a fresh day and weekend ahead of me, I think I'll be comfortable "brute-forcing." But I'm disappointed that Microsoft, which had WET working well and right to move things to Win7, didn't provide a similarly-useful tool to go to Windows 10.

    BTW, although not full-center on-topic, I can't imagine not taking my browsing history and cookies with me. It's great to start on a new computer, and even your browser autocomplete (which is based on history) works exactly as it did on the old one. One doesn't know how much one could miss something, until one is without it for a bit.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,735
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4

    Interesting about the Easeus program.. I've never used that one personally, hence 'might'. I used their Todo Backup for a while- it was ok.

    Laplink I can recommend- I had giveaway licenses each time- 95%+ successful with over 300 programs installed.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 1,621
    Windows 10 Home
       #5

    Your local computer store might have something similar to usb-to-usb ezSHARE. If it does, and you purchase, download & install said material, from my experience, be advised you need to know where all those source directories are for your programs' configurations, settings, etc.; ezSHARE will only do what you "tell" it to do.
    Last edited by RolandJS; 05 Sep 2016 at 06:33.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 234
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #6

    I took the "wimp's copout" and just manually copied the Firefox profile from the old machine to the new one, and that solved that (can't remember, but I may have had to actually rename the profile, to what Firefox on that machine thought the default profile should be named).

    It turns out that the method I'd used (WET from the old machine, then run migwiz.exe on the new machine, as explained in the original post) DID correctly put documents in document folders, music in music folders, etc., but the new machine had those folders and libraries located on the C drive. So I moved the libraries to the D drive, and that problem was solved.

    I'm marking the thread as solved for my narrow purposes (I achieved what I'd wished to), but thousands or millions of other users will, soon enough, wish there was a program that accomplished what WET was supposed to, readily available, and free.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 42,735
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #7

    Agreed- meanwhile Laplink and the like can charge per use.
      My Computers


 

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