how clone "ALL my stuff" from old Vista 7 to new Win 11 PC?

[Big Chudungus]

Haven't bought new PC, but old Vista 7 is just too slow even for websurfing. All the Youtubes are over 15 minutes long. In this day and age, and with Bill Gates always wanting to collect new Microsoft Tax on everyone, can't I just connect Old PC to New PC with a cable, push a couple buttons, and in a few hours (due to old PC) come back its all (including passwords, etc) exactly like my old setup, except for new Windows password and of course diff looks in "settings" etc?

I WANT to give Bill Gates money, but seems like he is making it tough.

You guys telling me I've to manually Re-install all these programs on new PC, and what about all the various data linked to them?

[Preston-CLB]

We cannot tell you exactly how to do this because we do not know what kind of gear you have. Once we know this, we may be able to give you a hand.

Regardless, you have to have a plan in order to do this efficiently and accurately in order to avoid problems.

You will need to reinstall your programs on the new machine. If you just attempt to move/copy them, they likely won't work. Be advised that some older programs may not be compatible with Win 11, so you'll need to check on that. In any event, be sure to install the newest available version of your programs for safety and better performance. You will also need to copy your documents, pictures and other user files to the appropriate folders on the new machine.

it's a daunting task, one I have done several times, but if plan it out and take your time, you'll be fine.

Good luck!
-P

[Big Chudungus]

what about "cloning" like when a college or company sets up dozens of machines all the same. I guess that would be when they load up one machine, but the others are all exact same hardware so it just clones the HD? I've got old Vista PC, two hard drives, not sure what I'll get next, but I guess a desktop with one drive and use a 500gig chip reader for 2nd drive.

[Preston-CLB]

If you clone the old Vista PC to the new machine, you will overwrite the Win 11 OS and any other drivers or programs on the new machine! Don't do that!

As I said above, you'll need to reinstall your programs and move/copy your data files to the new machine.

The best way to copy your user files, once you get the new machine is to connect both machines to your network router and then use Windows to copy the files to the drive on the new machine.

You mention you have 2 HD's on the old machine. One of them will have the OS, program files, and likely some user files. Is this correct? What types of files are located on the 2nd drive?
-P

[Iknownot]

[Preston-CLB]

Good thoughts there, Iknownot! That would work nicely if the OP does not have a network.

Another thought: The OP mentioned he has a second HD on the old machine. If his new machine has an open drive bay, he could put that drive in the bay and hook up the data and power cables. It would then be available as a secondary drive, and he wouldn't have to move files from it to the new machine's primary drive.
-P

[Iknownot]

Good thoughts there, Iknownot! That would work nicely if the OP does not have a network.

Another thought: The OP mentioned he has a second HD on the old machine. If his new machine has an open drive bay, he could put that drive in the bay and hook up the data and power cables. It would then be available as a secondary drive, and he wouldn't have to move files from it to the new machine's primary drive.
-P

[Preston-CLB]

Agreed.

Just a quick note for you:

Thers is a nice little program called Speccy from Piriform that will show drive attributes (SMART data) and drive health, among other hardware items on the machine. It's pretty cool. There is a free version.
-P

[arrix]

Good thoughts there, Iknownot! That would work nicely if the OP does not have a network.

Another thought: The OP mentioned he has a second HD on the old machine. If his new machine has an open drive bay, he could put that drive in the bay and hook up the data and power cables. It would then be available as a secondary drive, and he wouldn't have to move files from it to the new machine's primary drive.
-P

This is the way, except put the old drive in an external enclosure and connect to it via USB. I've done this dozens of times over the years.

[MrRichards]

You could continue to run your Win7 environment as a virtual machine under W11 using VMWare Workstation. Moving your data to a separate drive is a wise choice.

[high_revs]

for passwords and if OP is willing, you login to browser, set up sync and those should copy over to the new pc when you launch same browser. assuming again, you want the maker of the browser to get a hold of your passwords and what not. that would copy over your bookmarks and in some browsers, open tabs too. (i normally just copy the open tabs in a notepad text file.

usually i think since win7, most data is now in your profile's my documents/videos/music/etc. gone are the days certain things are in program files or program files (x86) like in the olden days though i think bookmarks files are still there. i use eversync to sync bookmarks across machines so never have to worry about exporting that out anymore when i have to move to new pc or refresh current one.

else all apps are re-install. creating account on browsers allow you have the new machine reinstall the extensions. else pretty much one can copy all under C:\Users\[windows profile name] ?

[Big Chudungus]

thx, everyone.

sounds like I'm more or less gonna need to start fresh, and keep the old unit or at least its hard drives around just in case. Nothing fantastically important on old unit that couldn't be recovered with a couple hours quality time "forgot your password" Land.

Seems like a real blunder that Mr Gates doesn't have a nifty way to Clone your old data and complete set up to a newer PC with latest Windows, just to sell more Windows. I'd bet if it could be done with a few clicks there would be all sorts of people buying a new PC and Windows every year.

Then again, a major reason I and many others don't buy new cars unless its literally a matter of life and death, is the horrible Sales Process. Go figure.