How can I move all my software to another PC?

I want to transfer all of the hard drive info, including o/s, drivers, etc to another notebook computer. The other notebook is a Dell with 30 g hd and xp. I want to completely replace everything on the Dell with everything on the Compaq. I have looked into Driveworks, but it wont work with notebooks.

What can I do?

This question was answered on January 13, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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There's an old joke, told after hours around dusty monitors by gray-bearded software developers:

Q: How can you tell of two computers are compatible?

A: They're not.

Software is a wondrous thing At the click of an icon, OS's and applications move in, take account of everything on a system, make themselves at home by configuring themselves specifically to the PC at hand, and won't move no matter how much wishing is employed by the user.

Furthermore, from the get-go, Compaq install disks are packed with everything a Compaq, and only a Compaq machine of the appropriate vintage needs to build a comfortable life within its native environs.

At the risk of garnering looks of dissatisfaction, I must inform that individual configuration of the two machines with software chosen to do each desirable job is the only road to PC harmony

Don't kill the messenger I wish it were so easy, myself And they wonder why people bootleg software...

You can move all the files alright, but the OS might not even boot, the screen probably won't display, the programs will work badly, if at all, and your peripherals won't work Should, for some odd reason, this be what you want, use Norton Ghost for the process, but expect one badly inoperable Dell laptop.

On the other hand, data can be transferred Begin by backing up all valuable data from the desired machine to floppy disks or other media Keep the data on removable disks around, as backups in a situation like this are a darn good idea Install software compatible with the Dell PC, then move the data onto the hard drive Newer programs are usually backward-compatible with older data created in programs of the same type.

RG

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Posted by Robert of Mesa Community College on January 13, 2003

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