data transfer

Rick just upgraded to a Surface Pro with an i7 and tons of great specs. How does he move all his programs and data as easily as possible? Leo says programs are not easy at all and there's no decent tool that can do it. Data is the exact opposite — it's easy as pie. But Windows installs program files all over the place, making it difficult to move an entire program package to a new computer. That can cause what Leo calls "DLL hell" because he'll eventually get a warning that a DLL file is missing. It can also cause problems with other programs and even crash the computer.

Walter's partner passed away recently and he's trying to transfer everything from the old Expression website to a new site. He needs to use something that will transfer and develop the site.

Leo says that when using something like Expression Web, it's not standard. Leo says that if there's an export to HTML command, that would be a good idea to do. His ISP may have a tool that can do it as well. If so, that's the way to do it. But he'll have to get it back to a standard so it can be managed.

Evelyn just got a new iPhone and wants to transfer all her settings and data from her old iPhone 5. Leo says the first thing she'll want to do is backup the old one in iTunes. Make sure to select encryption, because it won't backup her passwords without it. Then she can plug in her iPhone 8 and iTunes will then ask if she wants to restore. She can just select that, and then it'll backup her passwords, download the latest apps, and any other data she wants. Here's a support page from Apple on how to do it.

Lance bought a new Dell XPS 15 with a 4K screen for Christmas and he wants to know how to move his data and apps over to it from his old one. Leo says he isn't a fan of the transfer wizards because they usually bring over stuff that causes problems. So Leo recommends installing all of his apps separately. Backing up Outlook is fairly easy. Outlook stores everything in a file called Outlook.PST. So he can save that and then move it over once he's reinstalled Outlook on his new laptops. Or he can archive and install.

Sue got a new Alienware computer that has been maxed out in memory. She uses it for CAD. She transferred all her data and settings with Laplink PC Mover. Leo says that is an ancient way to do it. Sue says now it has something called Commodo Internet Security on it now. Leo says that is a horrible program and she should get rid of it immediately. BleepingComputer.com has instructions on how to do that.

Karen is trying to transfer pictures from an old Palm Pixi phone to her laptop but she gets an error message about having too many cards open. Leo says that the phone Karen is using runs WebOS and that likely means there is a memory issue. She should close all unneeded apps except for the one used to transfer the photos. Support is going to be difficult for it. If the computer sees the phone as a drive, then she can just drag and drop. But if it doesn't, Karen may need drivers to support it. Another option is to email or text the images to herself.

Dave accidentally stepped on his laptop screen and broke it. He bought a new computer to transfer the data and got stuck with Windows 8. Leo says to return it and call Dell to request a Windows 7 machine. As for migrating the data over, Leo suggests telling the salesman at a big box store that he'll buy the computer if they'll transfer the data for free. Or he can get a universal drive adapter that he can plug that hard drive into and then connect it directly.