# Step by step basic instructions



## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

I am in the process of upgrading my current computer set up.To a new and different set up for me.
Where might I find basic step by step instructions written in non computer language to follow when I do so?
For example; how do I copy the information on the current system to transfer to the new system?
Do I use s disc/CD? If so how?
Does the CD have to be formatted? If so how?
Do I use a memory stick; if so how?
Can I scavange the current modem from the present system and employ that moden in the new system or should I get a new modem?
When I transfer information from the old system can I be selective as to what information and not transfer everything and possible some problems from the old system?
Where is this information available for the computer challanged?
Thanks.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

doc623 said:


> I am in the process of upgrading my current computer set up.


What kind of upgrade are you contemplating? The type of upgrade will determine the proper migration technique.


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## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

To something along this line/type.

IntelÂ® PentiumÂ® 4 3GHz with HT Technology
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
512MB/1024MB


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

doc623 said:


> To something along this line/type.
> 
> IntelÂ® PentiumÂ® 4 3GHz with HT Technology
> Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
> 512MB/1024MB


If you're migrating to a new system then the the only real issue is the new hard drive. The normal method of migrating to a new hard drive is to copy the entire contents of your old hard drive to your new hard drive. You'll need special software to do that.

I use Norton Ghost 2003 for that purpose, but that's commercial software. New hard drives that come "boxed" usually come with free software to migrate your old drive to the new one. Here is a free one that you can download.

http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

The reason it takes special software is that your hard drive is "bootable" (it can startup your computer). Those boot files are located in sectors that can't be copied by normal means. The migration software is also fast.

*General Method*

Mount both hard drives in the old machine, with the old hard drive still addressed as it always was (the primary master IDE device). The new hard drive can be addresses as any other IDE device. Start your machine and install your migration software. Have it do the migration to the new drive. 

When the migration is complete, shut the old machine down and mount the new hard drive in the new system as the primary master IDE device. That's it!


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

What was the old system? If it wasnt a P4 then your best bet is to reload the OS and applications, get a USB enclosure and put in your old disk then move over the %appdata% directory to the new system. that will grab most of what you need to move.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Another possibility is that if your old hard drive has sufficient free space you could simply transplant it into the new machine.


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## Ambassador (May 13, 2008)

doc623 said:


> I am in the process of upgrading my current computer set up.To a new and different set up for me.
> Where might I find basic step by step instructions written in non computer language to follow when I do so?
> For example; how do I copy the information on the current system to transfer to the new system?
> Do I use s disc/CD? If so how?
> ...


Hi doc,
I'm new here, but I am familiar with computer systems, and I think I know where you are in this situation.

Believe it or not, it is pretty "simple" to back up your files for use with a new computer. 

The first thing you need to figure out is how much information (in megabytes or gigabytes) you need to move / save. I know it might sound confusing or intimidating, but bear with me... if you have just 1 folder on your computer hard drive with all your pictures that you would like to back up, and that's all you care about, it is very simple.

However, if you want to back up things like Fonts for your Word Processing programs, Internet bookmarks, Video Game save files, and older programs you can't get anymore, it might be more complicated, but doesn't have to be. I can walk you through that, but I need to know what you want to back up first.

Ok, so you have this thing inside your computer called a hard drive. Don't get scared, it's a piece of machinery like anything else. Here is a picture of one. If you're getting a brand new computer, it most likely will already have a hard drive on it. So now your dilemma will be getting your old files onto your new hard drive.

Why not have both? The hard drive is like a piece on the vehicle that ties in with your engine. Most components are tied into the engine in one way or another, right? Well computers are not very different. There is a main circuit board inside the computer called a motherboard, which acts like the engine and chassis. A lot of computers / motherboards have the capacity to have more than one hard drive, and adding your old hard drive to your new computer is not very difficult at all (but very intimidating for your first time).

I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4inX3nC6M1E"]If you watch this Youtube video on hard drives, you will get a really good idea of what you have to do.[/ame]
The video goes pretty fast for someone who's never seen the inside guts of a computer before, but you can always pause it, and inspect your work in person as you watch the video (if you had the opportunity of having a second computer).

The thing the video doesn't show you is that you have to unplug your computer power (very important), open up the case, take out the hard drive (sometimes they use screws, sometimes they use very simple "rail" systems), and unplug the main cable ribbon from the hard drive...

Then just add it to your new computer if possible. 
Please let me know about what I have written so far, because I want to make sure I'm making some correct assumptions here. I also have to go now, so I can't really type too much more tonight. Let me know what you think - do you want to do something like this? Do you have that one folder, or do you have a lot of stuff you need to back up? Questions? Concerns?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Ambassador said:


> The video goes pretty fast for someone who's never seen the inside guts of a computer before, but you can always pause it, and inspect your work in person as you watch the video (if you had the opportunity of having a second computer).


In the video, I take exception to the jumper block setting instructions. If you are using a "cable select" type IDE cable then the jumper block on the hard drive should be placed in the "cable select" (CS) position, not the "master" (MA) position as he instructed. If you are not using a "cable select" type cable then you will need to place the jumper block in either the "master" (MA) or "slave" (SL) position, but it wouldn't matter which cable connector you used.

You can tell a "cable select" IDE cable because it's color coded, where "jumper select" cable connectors are usually all black or all gray. With a "cable select" cable the master connector is black, the slave connector is gray, and the mainboard connector is blue. The "cable select" cable is the most common IDE cable used today. Here is a "cable select" cable, where you can see the different colored connectors.










If you watch the video closely you will notice that all of the connectors on the cable he used were black, so he was in fact using a "jumper select" cable. Therefore, contrary to what he said in the video, it wouldn't matter which cable connector he used as long as the hard drive jumper block was properly positioned as "master". That means that his installation would work fine, but the information he gave about which connector to use was misleading.

Another issue I noticed is the IDE slot naming convention on the mainboard. Rather than the slots being labeled as IDE1 and IDE2, I think you'll find them called IDE0 and IDE1 more often. But in either case, the lower numbered IDE slot is where the primary master hard drive goes.

One more issue that he didn't mention is the 40 and 80 conductor cables. Newer hard drives require an 80 conductor cable to reduce crosstalk. You can tell if a cable has 40 or 80 conductors by the appearance of the cable.










Regardless of how many conductors an IDE cable has, it will still have the same 40 pin connectors (actually it's only 39, since one of them isn't used and is commonly plugged).

You should use an 80 conductor cable for any IDE hard drive installation today, but it's still common to see 40 conductor cables used for CD/DVD drive installations. I don't know why they still make 40 conductor cables, since 80 conductor cables will work fine for any IDE device installation.


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## Ambassador (May 13, 2008)

Nevada FTW!

Yes, thanks a ton man. That really helped ME if anything. I was having issues with my IDE dvd-rom drive, and I switched cables and it worked perfectly. Now I know why!!! Man, if I would have known this a week ago, I wouldn't have wasted 4 days trying to get my computer working correctly!!!

I was trying to install Vista 64, and I kept having issues with errors during install. It was definitely the cable. My system was fine before with my SATA DVD drive, but the underlying issue was that I had to switch RAID controllers in order to burn DVD's using my SATA drive (but ended up using the same ones due to moronic advice from the mobo manufacturers). Either way, a clean install of Vista 64 fixed the issue - but after putting back all of my programs, I have yet to see if it actually is fixed, or if it was maybe a software conflict. Personally, I don't think it's worth the aggravation, so I left my IDE DVD drive in for burning purposes just in case.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Maybe we should do our own youtube howto videos!


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## Ambassador (May 13, 2008)

sorry, I can't. I'm too ugly. :nana:


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## Ambassador (May 13, 2008)

Doc623, I was just at Staples today for something unrelated, and I saw this cable or device called "transfer cable" or something similar. I was reminded about your situation when I saw it, so I thought I should let you know about it. It is a cable that is supposed to help you transfer your files between one computer to the other. I forgot how much it cost, but probably cost somewhere about $30-50. Just a thought...

Have you figured out what you want to do?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Ambassador said:


> Doc623, I was just at Staples today for something unrelated, and I saw this cable or device called "transfer cable" or something similar. I was reminded about your situation when I saw it, so I thought I should let you know about it. It is a cable that is supposed to help you transfer your files between one computer to the other. I forgot how much it cost, but probably cost somewhere about $30-50. Just a thought...


If he's going to do that, why wouldn't he just mount both drives in the same machine and copy from one hard drive to the other. That would save him the $30-50.


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## Ambassador (May 13, 2008)

That's what I've been suggesting, but if doc is really new at computers, they might be intimidated by the process and not want to try it. No doubt I would go that way though.


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