PCmover Sci-Tech-Today Review

Sci-Tech-Today  - James Derk
Feb 27, 2009
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One of the frequent questions I get is how best to move stuff from one PC to a new one.
In many cases, the switch involves going from one operating system to another (like XP to Vista), so that makes things even more dicey.

Windows Vista has a transfer wizard called "Windows Easy Transfer" that attempts to bring over some of your settings from one computer to the other (you have to buy a special USB cable if you don't have both PCs on the same network), but even then, it does not bring over your actual installed programs. (It will bring over your stored e-mail if you were using Outlook Express.)

I have used the Vista wizard on a handful of PCs, and none were adequately transferred, in my opinion. The data files were moved OK for the most part, but the process was cumbersome and crashed often when using the network options. Often, there were timeouts and snags. I have not tried it with the special cable, but I would suspect the experience is similar. And even then, you're left with a computer without your programs on it.

Laplink has released a new version of its PC Mover program that promises to move your data and programs for about $60. That's not cheap to move stuff from one PC to another (and it can be only used once), but it does a good job of getting everything over. When you consider what an in-house technician would charge, it is surely worth a look.

The plus side of this program is the selectivity feature. You can pick which applications, programs, data and settings you wish to move over. PC Mover can migrate your data across the network, a special Laplink USB cable, a Windows Easy Transfer Cable or DVDs. If your computer has multiple users, which is sort of problematic with the Vista transfer tool from Microsoft , PC Mover gives you the option to migrate some or all of the users with file security  and logins intact.

The trick is knowing what to move. If you're moving from XP to Vista, keep in mind that some of your programs may no longer work with the newer operating system. And you have to be careful when moving full versions of a program from XP on top of demo versions on your new Vista machine. So spend time up-front doing some housecleaning on both machines before you start the process. (Do keep in mind that you can tell programs to run in "XP Compatibility mode" and try to trick Vista into thinking it is really running XP for that particular program.)

What won't move? Some programs with security features may need to have the user key put back in or the entire program reinstalled. Anti-virus software won't move successfully because it is so coupled with the operating system. If you move files with Digital Rights Management (usually songs you bought legally), then you will be asked to prove you have the rights.

My copy of Microsoft Office moved successfully, as did a few other things I wasn't sure about, including TaxCut and a few games like "Call of Duty."
 

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