How to Move Everything from an Old PC to a New PC

[@GreggRoberts]

My Mom got a new computer for her 92nd Birthday last week. She said she used the "onedrive thingy device" to move all of her stuffs. Then on the new computer she is installing the programs when she realizes she needs them. The first thing she get installed was roboform as her memory isn't what it used to be. I was really proud of her.

[@PurpleKnightmare]

Holy shit dude, I would be super proud of her!

[@hainedriven5511]

thats so cool

[@Johnnyy832]

@@PurpleKnightmare they’re aren’t babies!

[@PurpleKnightmare]

@@Johnnyy832 ???

[@rustynails8756]

I am a bit younger than your Mom, 65, and just love the fact she is 92 and still keeping up. I have been trying to decide if I even need a new computer and based on your story I have decided I do absolutely. Your Mom sounds like a fun lady I can understand your pride

[@deadly_mir]

Honestly that lighting makes the video feel more...cozy and at home

[@TheBurnsStuff]

Fun tip, holding Shift, while dragging to a new drive also switches to Move. When Move is the default, holding CTRL switches to Copy. I transfer files quite regularly and this is faster for me.

[@zadekeys2194]

Nice tip! Only issue with move / cut is that if the files get corrupt in the migration you have no backup, hence why I always copy and paste.

[@Marcelis]

@@zadekeys2194 that’s a good point

[@Marcelis]

Thanks for that.

[@onweekendpass]

if you think that is handy, try Directory Opus. if you move files regularly, you'll love this.

[@gloth]

I am a bit paranoid that I will move when I need to copy and vice versa and I never trust what windows/programs is considering default for drag and drop (move copy or make a shortcut) :D I always use right click

[@HockJamChaz]

May have missed it mentioned but the hidden AppData folder in the User folder can contain important files, for example some games store their saves and/or settings there. Set file explorer to show hidden files to find it or search "%appdata%".

[@kcmsterpce]

This is true. AppData and "LocalLow"

[@BrandonDoran00]

It still pisses me off that developers haven't settled on one standard for save data location, they go hiding your data in the most obscure directory and wonder why people have problems with their software.

[@okkrom]

I usually copy the entire user folder...Don't know why you would do it any other way. Unless your drive is failing maybe.

[@abdullahibrahim9001]

@@okkrom me2

[@scottyim9841]

It’s really easy to transfer. Just copy the c:\users\profile you are using and copy that whole folder and paste it to the new pc. Everything from docs to desktop will transfer. It even goes to the original destination. It will copy the local app data and roaming app data.

[@BWpepperr]

Paul, I(and many of your subscribers and fans) love your content. Please keep making more! I know the last couple years of the state of the computer component industry have made things more challenging for tech tubers, but we are here to support you through views and merchandise purchases.

[@plaiddood]

Man I literally just finished building a new PC for myself today and I've not been looking forward to having to move everything over... excellent timing on this vid sir!

[@proofy7744]

Not for me. I did it Sunday lmao

[@holdenman8850]

Just copy data over the network

[@obsey]

Why not use the Macrium Reflect software application to clone the contents of the drives in the old computer onto the drives that will be in the new computer? Of course, new software license keys will need to added, especially for Windows and MSFT Office and such, but that too is easy. Cloning drive contents with Macrium Reflect is a much more efficient approach to this task, one I've done many, many times, than copying files by hand.

[@holdenman8850]

@@obsey fresh is best, cloning is quick and easy but can cause problems down the track

[@obsey]

@@holdenman8850 Are you "serious"? A clone is an "exact" sector clone. Unless a "old" computer is absurdly old, a clone is a far better way to avoid problems than the gazillions of pitfalls in trying to copy individual files and folders by hand, possibly creating disasters like skipping essential files / folders on an historical disc. Even for a system drive, a simple trip to the Device Manager is the way to clean up, verify correctness of, and updated it device software. this is the way to avoid problems, the infinite potential problems than can result from hand copying files / folders, especially by using the File Explorer GUI. The video above, just was not very good advice at all, imo.

[@JohnFuhrmann]

The is a very good tutorial and I have recommended it to a friend who lives a couple of hundred miles away, who has bought a windows 10 Laptop. The only issue I have with with this tutorial, is that it is almost impossible to read any of the file or folder names, as you move though explaining the process. Next time you do something similar, I would recommend using the Windows scaling feature to make text and screen objects larger. This will make your tutorials much easier to view and comprehend.

[@TheWolfLoki]

"I'm in our computer room today and the lighting is not that great" says Paul, standing in the most majestically lit room imaginable.

[@o0Donuts0o]

Dimitri approves.

[@johnbod]

I consider myself somewhat of an advanced user and I loved this video. Sometimes it's easy to overlook some really basic steps and this covered everything well for all knowledge levels. Thank you for putting this together.

[@azmotorhead3614]

Quick note 1) The shortcuts that were leftover after moving the files from the Desktop folder stayed because they were in the 'All Users' folder (a.k.a. C:\Users\Public) Many programs put their shortcut into this folder so they can appear across all user profiles on the PC. Like Paul said, they're usually disposable, but it's worth looking before you delete them.

[@PLANTBAT]

Man, I needed this video back in October, but I'm still here to support the channel my guy

[@DLCoker666]

For my SSD, couldn't I just physically remove it and put it into my new computer? Or would it explode?

[@MrCrow-tl5tv]

I am wondering the same thing

[@kabakugan]

2:00

[@GemOnWebb]

Hi. If you're happy with your current drive and your old drive's compatible with your new pc, that's okay. Used to do it for my past 4 computers until now, because my new hard drive is faster, and physically different, so... 😊

[@MikesComputerTips]

No couse the drivers are different

[@RooftopKoreansMusic]

Wish someone who actually knows would answer because I want to know the same thing. From what I've heard it might and it might not. Your OS install has info about the CPU the motherboard and the GPU, if it's suddenly running on a system that is different it can/will cause any number of random problems... but then again I've never done it and am temped to try it since I already made a clone of my main SSD when my old computer started to go bad.

[@wesclevenger1349]

you're the best paul. i built my first computer a few years back with lots of help from you. keep up the good work.

[@sharbymj]

Wow. This video is really helpful. I had my first computer back in 1980. TI/994A. Since then I've had pcs, mac, worked off mainframes. I installed hard drives and software for myself and coworkers. I've gone from a 300 baud modem that took hours to download a file, to lightning speed. My first hard drive was 10Mb. I now have 27 Tbs of storage. I even programmed some in basic. I've gone from the earliest version of Windows and Mac and am now on Windows 10. The reason I am so thankful for your video is that I'm 69 years old now. Things are harder to understand. I was able to use advanced Excel and Databases. A lot of what you have shown I have done many, many times in the past. But for some reason it now seems like a daunting task. I have a brand new computer sitting in my living room. I've had it since May of 2023. I'm going to set that bad boy up!

[@BFOJ0000]

You and I have a lot in common, your experiences with 10MB IBM hard drives, 300 baud modems, basic programming, MAC's, dBase, WordStar, MSDOS 2. Yes, even a Mainframe and Min. You're still a young man, lots of years ahead of you. I'm 75, 40+ years as what we used to call Computer Technician, now an IT Specialist. I can relate to the harder to understand, but in my case it's due to Short Term Memory (STM) issues. I just purchased a new HP laptop. I still do some computer support jobs for some long-time customers of mine, some using remote connection. Glad to know there's still some of us hanging in there.

[@redpillgymnast]

My best advice is to plug all the old PCs drives into the new PC temporarily, then boot off that main drive. You can use a program like Acronis backup or similar that will allow you to copy an entire drive (even a boot drive) in their entirety. Your only snag might be if your board has only 1 m.2 and you’re upgrading, but that’s uncommon. You could always copy old m.2 to sata drive, the. Sata drive to new m.2. Upgrading my PCs m.2 from PCIe 3 to PCIe 4 took me only about 5 mins in setup, and whatever the transfer time was. Take the old drive out, boot off the new, good to go!

[@silvercoulter]

yeah or get a $20 m2 PCIe card

[@catlee8064]

Im not to tech savvy, i was going to get another PC without OS/drives etc and just move my old SSD/NVME across...would that work ?

[@redpillgymnast]

@@catlee8064 Oh that’s the easiest way. This video and my comment only apply if you are changing boot drives.

[@Lukiel666]

@@catlee8064 Umm. Not so much. back up everything apart from OS on USB. Easy to get even a 240Gb USB for under $20. Hell I turned one into an ear ring as a fashion statement. But do a clean install and install clean new drivers for MB Video drivers updated everything drivers, basically new driver for every single new piece of hardware in your system. And the software to best interface with that system. Without more info that's your best bet. I mean you haven't even said if going from Intel to AMD. But even Intel to Intel a fresh new install is ALWAYS your best bet.

[@Hjorth87]

I kinda did that when I got a new 2tb ssd instead of my old hdd. Only I never got around to actually plugging out the old one, so now I have to figure out how to save all my possibly dublicated data.... Sigh. I have found the tools, just not the motivation

[@lost_lt9736]

Not going to lie, I really enjoyed the lighting in the beginning when you stated you thought it was poor conditions.

[@GregM]

Good tips. If you are not using a password manager but rather have your web browser saving your passwords make sure you export the passwords being stored in the browser. If you are using Google Chrome and have a password on the Windows account then Chrome will encrypt these passwords when the browser is closed. As I work on other people's computers I use a commercial piece of software called Fab's Autobackup to do this backup of the data. The software is not cheap but its a good way of backing up the data when moving it over to a new computer and you do this process fairly frequently. P.S. scanned the comments and reported the darn spam bots to KZbin for what its worth.

[@maxwattage3205]

Were you watching me? These are the exact steps I used in late December. After purchasing all needed components and driving to my sister's, I had her new computer built and Windows installed in a few hours. We then went through the steps you outlined here to get her data from her old PC to the new, using an external drive. Easy, fast and complete. Great minds.....

[@Eric_In_SF]

No, it’s because these are the same steps everyone takes for the last 40 years of computing

[@Razear]

I think using disk imaging software such as Acronis will reduce a lot of the manual legwork that you have to do unless your intention is to do a fresh install and minimize the bloat that gets transferred over to the new PC, but for most people, the process will be much less tedious and time consuming. Also, in terms of game save files, many games support Steam Cloud so it will simply pull the latest version from Valve's servers once you launch the game, which reduces the headache of finding where individual save files are located as they vary per game.

[@40watt53]

Genuinely the best tutorial I've watched on KZbin, thanks Paul!

[@Rac3r4Life]

One nice thing about having a Microsoft 365 subscription is that all your files are backed up to One Drive. You can log in on the new PC and all your personal files are already there. You can choose to either download them all or just stream them in as needed. I also find it nice because I can be working on some Project on my desktop and pick up right where I left off on my laptop.

[@BrodyStag]

We’ve all sinned man. We’ve lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain, and more. We now need to repent and trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross. This is very urgent tomorrow isn’t promised. Our works can’t save us but Jesus can!

[@jennrodriguezdaluz]

my husband is just about to build my new computer (last part arrived yesterday) so this is very timely, thanks Paul! 👍

[@RalphvandenBerg]

One thing I like to do upon setup is pointing the documents, music, downloads, desktop, etc folders to a location on a separate drive. That way, in case of re-installing windows, you don't lose any of the things stored there.

[@zadekeys2194]

On paper that works fine but you should have a proper backup elsewhere. Many programs look to the default folder directory, and not the "new" locations.

[@RicardoPenders]

Hey cool, I didn't even know about the right-click and drag to move the files over to the new location. Even after using Windows for as long as it exists I'm still learning new things to this day.

[@gloth]

most important tip is not your documents folder or the %appdata%, is this: You will 100% forget something :) Keep your old pc somewhere for at least a couple of weeks before deciding it would be a nice experience to install arch on it - preferably somewhere connected to your network with remote desktop enabled - so that when you need that cv you had created using that old template and you need now you can turn on your old pc and get it :)

[@KingdomUploader]

Sure glad you produced this video! I will be setting up a new pc alongside my old one and have them both running - so once i get there, i will def be re-watching this. Thank you for this.

[@ColinDyckes]

PCMover is an amazing utility to transfer from old to new, either via network cable or a mounted disk image. I needed a 64 bit version because of the sheer number of files on my old machine which broke their 32 bit version and their level 3 tech support/developer supplied a then beta and got it working. Highly recommended!

[@aj0413_]

And this is why everyone should always have two drives and/or a NAS; makes it super easy to maintain the files you actually care about so I can just reformat my OS drive whenever I want with minimal down time

[@NotAGeek]

Another thing to consider when using "Copy" or "Move" is that copy with change the files creation date as where move will retain the files original creation date attributes.

[@danzfamily]

YES! Not addressing this issue is huge, a "move" can be dangerous if something goes wrong during the transfer so people will often use "copy" but then they are surprised when they organize or search by creation or modified dates and realize they are not all the same and they lost all that invaluable information!!!

[@danzfamily]

Also, 440 comments, and you are the only one who mentioned "attributes." But that is the precise reason people will use windows robocopy or some type of mirroring software. Not to mention the long file names issue or the need to verify huge writes. Copying large amounts of data from old to new computers is more complex than presented here and presents many pitfalls for the unaware.

[@NotAGeek]

​@@danzfamily I don't usually comment on channels I follow, but I felt this was worth mentioning. I have had several clients realize this mistake after the fact.

[@charan.n15]

thank you for the heads up!

[@sharbymj]

I have often wondered why that happens...

[@DDPizazz]

I liked the content your video taught. You were a bit fast for me, so I appreciated having the transcript. Thank you.

[@cardsfanbj]

Ninite is a useful utility for downloading a number of programs easily, I think Linus recommended it When I first built my PC about 4 years ago now, I had only a 128 GB boot SSD and a 1 TB HDD so I mapped my docs, music, videos, and Steam games onto D: instead of C: and it definitely came in handy when I had to RMA my SSD. Then when I had to reformat my boot drive again for whatever reason I had everything backed up already. Steam games especially saved me plenty of time not having to download everything again.

[@DaboInk84]

Lots of handy little tips here, helpful for a noob or someone who just hasn’t had to do this for a while, thanks for this one!

[@davidthornton123]

You forgot about winget! Really fast way to see what you've got installed, and it will even pull what it can from the internet automatically if you import the file on the new machine. winget export -o export.txt By default it saves to C:\Users\, but you can change the path.

[@uggupuggu]

One of, if not, the best tutorial video I have ever seen on KZbin. Very easy to understand and follow. Earned a sub!

[@TogonzoMedia]

A good rule to thumb: never ever store any personal data you can't afford to lose on C drive unless you (1) backed it up using your methods or (2) imaged the drive with Macrium Reflect. I try to make images of Windows 10 and Windows 11 on Intel and AMD hardware with all the drivers, apps, and updates every 6 months - a total of 4 disk images - so that I can just boot to a Macrium Rescue USB stick and deploy the relevant image as needed.

[@obsey]

I've got all my computers setup to clone their system drives to backup drives every 48 hours during the wee hours of the night. Its so easy, and so well worth it. I use traditional HDDs because they are much better suited to the quantity of disc writes involved with frequent full disc backup, , although they are slower drives.

[@projectartichoke]

Excellent advice! I try to image my system disks at least once a month. And, what's really nice, is that you can mount the images as pseudo drives and dig through the file structure to restore specific files and folders. Say you web browser becomes corrupted, you can just replace its application data folder from a mounted backup. You're back in business with all of your plugins, bookmarks, and configuration intact. It's saved my bacon more times than I can count.

[@TogonzoMedia]

@@obsey I have my Macrium images stored on the root of a 3TB Seagate USB 3.0 + Hub. It also has my music and my life on it. My OS drives are 500gb SSDs with only about 20% file usage, so both the imaging and deploying goes by quick - 8 to 12 mins - and only take up 17GB to 24GB of space. Saves me a lot of time!

[@NurmYokai]

Yes. For full separation, store data on a second and/or third internal drive. When switching to a new system it's a simple matter of physically removing the data disk(s) from the old system, and installing them in the new one. That, and changing the references in any programs on the new system, that refer to a specific drive. Or copy the contents of the removed drives to the new system; external drive case. Then store the removed drives in a secure location, to be used as an off-site backup.

[@VeerMaharaj]

8:00 you for got to talk about the appdata folder for game saves and other app specific config and preferences files for those who don't use steam's lovely autobackup functionality.

[@greaper1976]

For personal data, outlook files etc I have a dedicated downloads drive and just save everything there directly so I don't need to do backups when I format my pc (something I do every 6 months or so) so I find this to be a very useful tip. I also do the same to my family's pc since I'm apparently the pc tech on call in my city :P

[@Josiuh]

Hi just curious...why do you reformat every 6 months?

[@greaper1976]

@@Josiuh I have a boatload of apps I'm running for work. All kinds of graphic and video editing stuff, coding and web design stuff, games etc etc etc, and my PC tends to get slower after some time and a fresh install cures it. Also I refuse to use antivirus or anti spyware stuff so it's for safety too. My system runs around 80TB of space and those apps try to police ALL of it.... All the time and slows it down even further

[@Josiuh]

@@greaper1976 thank you

[@PatJamesRicketts]

I did a data/email audit about once a year for a couple years, it only took 2 passes to cut the bulk of redundant files and folders, organize, and set up a folder structure I am content with. Now I just do a bit of housekeeping every 6 months or so for newly stored data. I have a WD Black 4TBx2 HDD RAID 1 array that is just about maxed with a neatly sorted collection of everything, a Samsung 1TB SSD for larger downloads and game storage overflow, a Samsung 512GB NVME M.2 SSD for the OS and primary games, a 2TB external backup for easy transfers and core keepsake storage, and assorted USB's/SD cards along the same lines for off-site backups. Over 7 years strong on this current configuration, just turning 8TB into the RAID 1 when I made the upgrade from i7-5930K/X99 to 5900X/X570, and I couldn't be happier. I pretty much follow the same protocol as you describe, I love having Firefox sync with a bookmarks folder for every manufacturer driver download page, apps and programs downloads, basically all software and drivers for every single piece of hardware and assorted peripherals. Unfortunately I have a Windows 10 USB from 2016, so updates are a bit of a pain! The real task is optimizing windows, setting overclocks, and downloading/installing games. I have built a pretty sturdy system that is upgraded as needed but generally has been the same format for almost 10 years now. a custom loop with a 5000RPM pump, 200mm glass reservoir running distilled H20, dual 140mmx30 rads in push-pull, 3000RPM Noctua fans that only ever see over 1500RPM when going for overclocking records, 1/2" I.D.-3/4" O.D. tubing, and solid nickel-plated copper waterblocks (Heatkiller/EK). It is absolutely overkill, and I should be ashamed of how much it has cost over the years, but combining my old parts with a new power supply paid for my CPU, and I make money through it's use, a small price to pay for one of the only luxuries I grant myself other than coffee. Having an enjoyable experience is paramount, and should be heavily invested in.

[@Aerowixx]

Just a heads up when installing a new OS. Upon installation windows attaches existing HDDs to your OS. So if you remove those HDDs or swap them out later, it wont boot anymore. I wanted to swap one of my empty SSD to bigger SSD but it didn't boot anymore. So I had to keep all of them instead. Still not fully understanding the whole feature, but feel free to read more about it.

[@DontFuckWitDreDay]

Thanks for hte heads up. I am new at this migration.

[@meagainokay7673]

I am in this process with a new build. I would recommend cloning instead. No hastle as everything is as it was on your old pc and so much less time.

[@jodiedoman7612]

Hi Paul, keep up the great content! I'm very happy with my alienware 3821dw monitor....sensible size / resolution compromise (38 inch, 3840x1600) nano ips, 120 hz (or 144 with chroma subsampling) gsync premium, good responsiveness and input lag, nice curve, well put together, overall great picture - just no complaints really other than price so just need to wait for a big dell sale....

[@BoltRM]

Thx for the monitor info, do you happen to know what 42" Dell monitor his wife has? I have an iiyama 43" I really like, but I like to stay informed on which ones are good 😁

[@bett059]

Thanks!

[@jayp25]

or if you are on windows 10/11 simply remove your ssd, pop it in your new machine and boot (finally remove all old drivers in device manager by selecting view -> show hidden devices)

[@TogonzoMedia]

This is problematic when jumping from AMD to Intel (and vice versa) because even if you uninstall platform specific drivers after the SSD swap, Windows Update will turn around and still offer driver updates based on the old machine because the HAL was never reset. You'll need to use the "Reset This PC" option or clean install Windows.

[@TogonzoMedia]

@@bowlinbob6 If the NVME is formatted as GPT and you're using UEFI mode in the BIOS, it'll boot up to Windows on the new board. I was on an i5 4670k and when I moved my Samsung SSD over to the Ryzen rig I built in October, it booted into Windows 10 without issue. I removed everything Intel related, installed AMD chipset drivers, left it idle for a few days. Came back to Windows Update prompting me to install Intel LAN drivers and said, "Yup, I better install clean!" 😂

[@jayp25]

@@TogonzoMedia Very true, however it is a simple solution for most people. You can in fact edit the registry or run a batch script or even software to clean up the chipset drivers etc, just wanted to keep it simple. I certainly do this more often than I actually transfer but the 3rd solution is of course just to make a system image.

[@jayp25]

@@bowlinbob6 As of Windows 10 you can it just pops up "getting devices ready" and installs the drivers prior to booting system32.... Technically yes, however if you do switch to a Ryzen you will need to clean up the firmware (chipset drivers). To be fair once you boot from it you can just do a non destructive reset anyway so it's still super simple this way.

[@Triaxx2]

Instead of a physical media, if you have the cables, can also just plug both into the network and transfer files PC to PC. That's what I did since I lacked anything big enough to move files.

[@mleii1169]

Others mentioned this but AppData is definitely a place that has a lot of files that you might want to back up. That said it's a much more complex topic that might be better handled elsewhere. At least you mentioned the various game data like for example Steam that'd be a loss for folks depending on the game and how they're backing it up. Often times you want to turn off the Steam online backups as there are some games that have problems with that. :( That said this was a great video for the basics. Thank you Paul.

[@mleii1169]

Also "c:\Users" as mentioned. Again adds a whole lot of complexity to backing things up. Maybe a video about how to make those things less complex? Though that'd be complex as well. :joy:

[@fadedlogic1]

This was serendipitous timing! Thanks, Paul!

[@blufoxful]

Oh , was never this early before.

[@thomaszynda]

caught you off guard there ey?

[@donnawoods4874]

I'm a little confused. How do you have both drives open on your desktop so you can transfer files> Also it would help if you can slow down so someone can see better what you are doing.

[@bertnijhof5413]

The Music folder is essential! It contains all wma copies of my LPs and CDs. The copies are from 2005, done by Windows XP during a couple of months. The number of fans in your PC seems crazy, my Ryzen PC only has one CPU fan! The power-supply fan and the reused 2-pin case fan sounded like jet engines, so this month I disconnected those fans. To compensate for the case fan I left the side panel off, the desktop now looks very modern. The power supply probably does not need a fan, because my PC only needs 50 to max 150 Watt (R3 2200G 65W), the power-supply feels lukewarm most of the time. Besides another 600W xTech power-supply only costs DOP850 ($16). That xTech power supply is special, it only has a 24 pins motherboard connector; a 4 pin CPU connector and 2 Sata and 2 Molex connectors :) I assume it is tin plated and I use it now for 3 years for 24 hours and 7 days/week. Converting from my old Phenom II system to my Ryzen desktop was very simple, I just moved all disks in the right sequence to my Ryzen desktop and rebooted and afterwards I used it for half a year :) Maybe Ubuntu (Linux) helped by just reorganizing itself. Later adding a nvme-SSD I had to do a lot more work. If I want light on my desk, I don't buy 9 rgb fans but I buy a desk lamp :)

[@vypGMD]

yes bert, this content is mostly for gaming pcs and gamers, youre describing what sounds like a office pc, the main difference being the lack of a graphics card. The RGB fans arent really about light, but more about the looks, and additionally due to the fact that gaming pcs like the ones shown in the video run WAY hotter than your machine, bigger cooling solutions are needed. :)

[@bertnijhof5413]

@@vypGMD I play games on my PC, like Wolfenstein-3D, SuperTuxKart and others. You seem to believe, that you need an expensive PC for gaming, otherwise you should shut up.

[@blitzrigen]

⁠@ZaHandleit seems like bert thinks he is running the best of the best in gaming machines when in reality the games he won’t make any machine go higher than their idle temp. So Bert, the guy you told to shut up is still right. Modern games now would make a computer like yours heat up and possibly damage itself. Because of all the resources these modern games use, you actually do need an expensive gaming pc. Will all of the expensive parts comes the increase in heat which is why there are so many fans in the cases. The colder the components are the faster and more efficient they can run. If you played newer games that are vastly bigger than SuperTuxKart and Wolfenstein-3D. You would see and understand why some gaming PCs are so large and have so many fans. Also I leave you with a tip regarding your computer. If the fans themselves are getting loud it could mean one of three things. 1: the fans have to speed up due to the heat contained within your computer which they are programmed to respond to. 2: Your pc was set up to run them at maximum speed by default which most fans would get loud. 3: The fans are just not designed for quiet operation, different kinds of motors for those fans can be loud or quiet with varying lifespans depending on what you get. Now for the games you are playing, your right. You don’t need very much to run them whatsoever. But for games that were released past your Wolfenstein-3D (1992) and supertuxkart (2006) release dates. Your computer would not be able to handle even their loading screens. This is not even an exaggeration.

[@davidgunther8428]

This is actually really helpful. I know how to put the hardware together but data file management can be daunting. What are those "good practices" you mention to get off to a good start and have fewer problems later?

[@JamesArthurHurley]

The fact that its almost 2023 and this process is STILL this tedious say a lot.

[@CosmicHarmony58]

you’d think it’d be easier cuz greedy corporations and more sells…I’m surprised 🤣

[@sergioaraujo7943]

I am planning to do a refresh (format and clean install) on my pc and the next step is exactly this. It is nice to see your method and what I had forgotten. And on my backup I am using the 3d objects folder for the models that I 3d printed

[@metaltone4891]

I already did all of these steps. I was hoping for a quicker option XD

[@EliMcNeilll]

When I get a new pc in a few years I will probably start a fresh and download everything again as I only use it for work and gaming I don’t have any photos or important documents I just have steam games and Microsoft stuff for work it normally takes about 1 day to download everything again but that’s all good if u don’t want to faff around with complicated stuff do this

[@ViciousXUSMC]

If both computers are up at the same time, I would just copy data over the network. Transferring with external storage just adds an extra unneeded hop. I wrote a backup script that we use at work to replace peoples computers that gets all the personal data, browser favorites, outlook settings, specific app data directories, etc. In that case the script writes to an external drive. The other thing often smart to do is just take the old drive and install it to the new PC and use it as an extra disk and then you can move anything you want off of it.

[@AspasiaMoundros]

Not all of us are as tech savy as you or most of your followers are. I am very unsophisticated on tech issues and am transferring files( desktop, doc and photos from my Windows 7 to my new desktop Win 11 in next few days. How about a very basic tutorial? Also, you speak so fast that its hard to follow. Yes, I'm 70 years old. JD

[@setitfree78]

I've been following your tutorials since 2015.

[@PyroShields]

Is it so hard to make a tutorial video without rambling about nonsense. Stick to the tutorial like most successful video creators do.

[@wealoo806]

this video was SUPER helpful and well broken down - Thank You May I ask/recommend another >> moving windows from one PC to a newer one - or if for example i'm upgrading parts of my build like moving to an SSD or M.2 drive from mechanical - do i need new windows .... etc

[@Aldarux]

Thank you Paul! This is something that no doubt will be necessary for me when I am finally ready to build my new PC.

[@heinzerbrew]

Read the comments for additional tips. Lots of good ones.

[@nickgarcia1292]

This is great, just ordered a new case, cpu, aio and mb so this should be helpful moving over everything else

[@BFOJ0000]

Of course, two years later, there are numerous programs that transfer everything from an old PC to a new PC either directly between the two computers or as you showed, to an external drive.

[@ravenfeeder1892]

I usually make a folder on the new PC called 'OldPC' for all those things that don't necessarily get copied elsewhere. Of course this means I now have that folder nested four times as it keeps on getting transferred to new PC's over the decades.

[@shooflyshoo1754]

I use an Aorus FV43 for both work and gaming, it is the best all around monitor 43" 4k 144hz

[@hugoheintz]

5:51 About what you say here, is it a must to copy game folders or can you just download all your games on the new PC, log in on your account and be good to go?

[@cursed_cats5710]

Depends. Steam usually syncs any game files with the cloud, but some games may store data locally that isn't synced despite being on Steam

[@NasDa]

It's amzing how you manage to make a 2 mins videos into a 18 mins one.

[@BrodyStag]

We’ve all sinned man. We’ve lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain, and more. We now need to repent and trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross. This is very urgent tomorrow isn’t promised. Our works can’t save us but Jesus can!

[@kingjames4886]

I'm kind a fan of just hooking up my old hard drive as a storage drive and moving things over from there... idk how it could be any simpler, plus you get an extra storage drive... or 3. always better to have too much data than to lose data!

[@BWodarski]

If your wife still wants to maintain that size / resolution, I just upgraded my setup with the Aorus FV43U. 4K, 144hz, Gsync / freesync, hdr1000, It's a VA panel not IPS. Think microcenter carries it so might be able to go see it locally. It's got a weird BGR subpixel layout so very small text is kinda dumb but zoom 10% or so and it's not noticible imo. Definitely a great large format gaming monitor that has good out of the box calibration and has a KVM switch built in which is nice bonus feature.

[@TheJoaolyraaraujo]

OMG. I'm a Mac user. I'm doing a PC migration to a friend. I was hoping Windows in 2023 would have a migration assistant, I can't believe you guys still have to handle this nonsense. Now I know why I switched to Mac. Windows its like having a hobby.

[@brechanfraser5797]

I have found for the most part I don't need an internet connection unless I'm doing Windows updates, for all other programs I download the latest version to a flash drive (or external HDD) and install them from there.

[@Idtelos]

The 49" Samsung Odyssey Neo would be epic with that sweet pc build.

[@GCrocker662]

You can combine steps 1&2 by getting a copy of cloning software and make a clone of one or both drives to the new drive(s).

[@DjDaveVoom]

I personally used Macrium Reflect when switched from a HDD to a ssd Great Video Paul

[@bryandiel6773]

Yes Macrium is gr8 for me too.

[@jonos138]

I wanted an exact duplicate. I used system prep on the old pc to strip all the drivers. Took out the ssd. Put it into the new pc, added the drivers for the new pc. Activated, job done.

[@posmobin]

At 13:42 when you show the system the side radiator fans are set to exhaust.. I thought your tests showed the positive pressure setup (top, bottom, and side fans all intake) was best. Why did you change?

[@posmobin]

I had thought about testing that situation, but wouldn't it result in hotter CPU temps? You're blowing warm chassis air throigh the radiator instead of cool air if it was an intake.

[@RicardoPenders]

The one thing that really aggravates me is the new start menu because it's not at all customizable and I've always had a particular way how I want to have it look, I've got really every single link to all the programs that I installed on top of Windows plus some links to power user tools which are the built-in programs and then I have those nicely separated into a handful groups and I managed to get all that exactly fitting my screen so it's all there with one click on start and I don't have to scroll down to see stuff under the fold so to speak. I've done this the same way for years and years, in fact my computer is so organized that many people say that it's crazy because of the amount of work I've put into it, for example my music library I have all music sorted by using directories so it's like hard coded and can't be changed by any media player, I've first made a few directories to separate the genres but I've grouped genres together that are alike for example Trance, Dance, Techno in one group and R&B, Rap, Hip-Hop in another group and so on and got five main groups for the genres... Then for the next layer of directories I've got a separate directory for each year and extra directories for compilation albums and for artists... Then for the next layer of directories I've got the full discography of each artist and on chronological order also separated with directories... Yes I have a massive amount of music that I got from a DJ, all original CD's in the original cases with booklets and all still complete and undamaged stored away safely, and I've manually converted all that music into mp3's at the highest quality 320kbps and I even scanned the booklets to have the graphics showing on the mp3 when I play it, you can imagine how much time I've put into converting hundreds and hundreds of Audio CD's into high quality mp3 and why I stored it the way I did with directory trees. Ow and I have a separate 1 Tera Byte hard disk just for the music so when I open up my file explorer and go to the music drive and fold out the directory tree I have everything nicely organized just as I do with my start menu and I don't want to change how I use my computer on a fundamental level which is the case with Windows 11 with that stupid, horrible, idiot start menu that I can't customize anything on... You don't know how much I hate it, I'll tell ya... I hate it so much that I'm postponing the upgrade to Windows 11 as long as possible maybe even till 2025 when they stop the support and I have no other choice to upgrade but I hope that by that time there are more people like me making a fuzz about it and maybe we can customize it soon enough. And if not I'm going to make it my personal project and create some way to either revert to the Windows 10 look for the start menu at least and if that's not possible I'll make some sort of plugin or small software install that will give me the options that I want which shouldn't be a big problem to me because I know way too much about how Windows works since I've been customizing my Windows as long as I can remember. Since Windows Vista that most people hated... I loved it, well from that point on I've loved Windows because it always worked, it became more stable and I never had major crashes and for the most part it looked about the same, everything was located on a logic place, it just worked great the way it was since Windows Vista especially for the start menu and how we could customize it and now with the latest Windows 11 they messed it all up, they don't even have the cool live tiles anymore!?!? If I could I really would like to talk to the people at Microsoft who thought it was a good idea to change the start menu and make it look like what I hate the most of all, it looks like it comes from Apple and that's just wrong, if there's one thing I don't want it's that my desktop computer is going to look like an Apple and even worse it's going to work like an Apple.... 🤮🤮🤮🤮 Sorry for the rant, I couldn't help myself and had to write it down to get some kind of closure.

[@jaysonschmitt888]

Thanks for all the videos. Would love to see more on best practices for backup and NAS storage along with some suggestions.

[@korologosmichael0]

At my work we use Fab's autobackup 6, does all of the backing up in like 3 clicks, restores data in the same way. Super nice!

[@danwatkins6303]

Thank you so so much for making this video and helping me to NOT go insane! Blessings.

[@JJarx]

You look like the dude from alvin n the chipmunks 😂 subbed

[@urbanzs]

LMAO FR

[@wsevedge]

I may not know if someone had already mentioned, since I did not read the 449 comments. There is a couple more items to collect. I find it useful to copy/move the favorites file since I can't remember the thirty plus sites i go to, second is the browser auto password file. These need to be exported as a csv file and import them into the new computer. Do this for each of the browsers you use. lastly your contacts list (which you may have mentioned when you said personal data.

[@wsevedge]

I should have finished you video before commenting.lol

[@dennisryan3676]

I'm using QuickBooks Pro Desktop for my business. Would I have to use an installer program to transfer it from a desktop to a laptop? Also have Microsoft Office 365, and would I be able to transfer it over without an installation program?

[@lshulman58]

Is there a more direct method to transfer files? Like just use a USB cable to connect the two computers and copy directly from old to new, rather than copy old computer to external drive and then copy it all again from external drive to new computer? (more time saving process)

[@TonytheCapeGuy]

Oh. This was a lot more straightforward than I was expecting the process to be. xD

[@bloodybucket213]

Yo spooky Paul, I spoke to my brother yesterday about possible upgrades to his system. Yesterday. Thanks Dude.

[@MisterDumke]

if you're moving to a new computer and want everything the exact same, you can use Macrium Reflect to make an image of your windows install, then just restore it on your new computer.

[@johanjotun1647]

will this allow me to keep my windows 10 account on a computer with windows 11 pre-installed ???

[@LordVader1094]

@@johanjotun1647 it should, yes

[@012MIS]

or, if you're using Linux: option 1: you want to keep the OS drive - you plug in the drive and add the boot option option2 : you want to use a different drive - use `dd` to copy the whole thing over, then set up the boot entry, then expand the partition(s) because of course the new drive is bigger

[@Hjorth87]

A bit late to the party, but your vid was a huge help for me as I have now gotten rid of my hdd and upgraded to a ryzen 5600x, from my old i5 4690k.

[@blueferrari397]

Love your videos Paul. As another alternative, couldn't you just transfer all the file on to a second SSD/M.2 in the current pc and insert that into the new PC? On my last PC, I just pulled out the M.2 that contained my Windows 11 files and key and just dropped it in the new PC! I think I did a clean install at an early stage, but it worked in any case.

[@alitabaker99]

Love the way you explain everything. Dang good video!

[@joenichols4580]

Colin Robinson just saved me! New system coming tomorrow so cheers for this 🙏

[@tuckertech]

I needed this video! I have a new case and want to upgrade a few things

[@rickl6697]

I didn't watch this whole video because it sounded like you were moving to the same version of windows. I'm going to have to upgrade from windows 7 to 10 maybe 11. Do you have any videos that cover that scenario. Thanks for taking the time to do these video.

[@Dan-u1l]

In moving app data, some info of how or if you can move open tabs and such from browsers would be really helpful.

[@zadekeys2194]

Bookmark them, then export bookmarks. Simplest , fail proof method.

[@derhohlenbar]

@@zadekeys2194 but in the video, when he did that, it put all the "old" links into one folder marked 'Export'. That sounds like a pita honestly. I need a way to copy the bookmarks as they are currently.

[@zadekeys2194]

@@derhohlenbar export and importing of bookmarks should create a carbon copy of the structure. Give it a try :). Ps: creating tags as you bookmark is great aswell for future ref.

[@sjoerdtheemperor5229]

For a new monitor: MAG274QRF-QD from MSI at 1440p 165hz is a really good screen, high colour accuracy and a ~3ms G2G response time with 0 overshoot.

[@russellsprout93]

Personally, I want that new corsair xeneon monitor but it seems pricey. A Paul review is the only review I would trust 😁

[@sallyc.9017]

I understood some of what you discussed. I will need to review the video a few more times. Computer info is so foreign to me that I need a very basic lesson in transferring info.

[@Lenticular67]

Nice video Paul!

[@user-fi7up4bw6u]

This vid helped a lot, super straight forward, appreciate the help.

[@decibellone696]

Ive been following your content for a long time, didn't know I wasn't subscribed, you were kina gone for a bit. one thing for me that sets you apart is you talk to the regular guy who understands computer building but are not the NASA engineer many content providers think we are. I often refer back you for your "how to" vids because I only build a new machine every 3 to 5 years so I forget things. Im in one of those modes now. thx