Hey everyone!

I got a lovely new computer from my Uni, its 1500£ worth of equipment, so i dont want to mess it up. I wat to transfer all my picture and music files from my old one to my new one. I have a pen drive, but i worry that if i save the files on my old computer onto the pen, i may also be saving some bugs and cookies too and then consequentially transfering them too my new system...any ideas? what are your thoughts?

Can i transfer my photos without worry or is there something special i should do?

same applys to general pictures, ripped albums (music) and word documents.

Cheers, Love ya's!
Nell.

Short of purchasing a utility like Norton's ghost the easiest way is to install the old hdd in the new computer as a slave drive and use Explorer to copy and paste the files from the old hdd to the new one, this is if your old and new hdds are both ATA or PATA. Do you understand how to set the jumpers on the back of the hdds and their proper location on the IDE cable?

If one or both of the hdds are SATA then you won't need to connect them as master and slave. If the new motherboard has only one IDE connection you may have to disconnect the first device on it to install the hdd, leave the jumper set to cable select. You should then be able to transfer the files as described above.

ok....cheers Dc3...errr...i understood EVERYTHING...except for what an hdd, ATA, PATA and IDE.

Is the hdd, the hard disc drive?...the thing is, i worry that if i install anything from it, i may also be installing some of the cookie crumbs and all the other little bugs i know my old computer has...surely if i connect any parts of it to my new one it will infect it?

NICE ONE!

I think you'd be safe putting your files on the pen drive and before tranfering them to the new computer, scanning them with an Anti-virus program such as AVG Free or Norton or whatever you have. You can set it to scan just the pen drive (most of them can, as far as I know) and if it finds any viruses it will delete them and/or quarentine them. Same thing with Anti-Spyware (AVG Free Anti-spyware is a good one, too) and it'll eliminate any threat of infecting the new computer.

Regards,
TheYoda

Cool cheers Yoda, mmm, i have AVG...so, i save the files onto my pen, go to new computer, stick pen in, and then innitiate scan on there?

Are there any instructions on here for this...just having the pen in the computer doesnt release the bugs does it?

I think i'm just really scared, and its been so long, i've virtually forgotten what happens when you use a pen drive, i just know where to stick them in, and know how to open it up.

Thanks guys i'm getting there

No, most of the time when you put a pen drive in, it'll just pop up with an autoplay asking what you want to do with it, just click 'do nothing' and you'll be ok. The bugs, or anythign for that matter, won't go on your computer without you putting them there. So yes, put the pen drive in, ignore the autoplay (if there is one) and scan it with AVG. You can actually go to My Computer and right-click the drive and I'm pretty sure AVG has an option where you can just click "Scan with AVG" or something of the sorts and that'll make sure nothing bad is on the drive.

Regards,
TheYoda

WOW WEEEE Yoda i actually feel like i can do it now...many thanks to you and Dc3, i shall give it a go

NICE ONE!
nn23

You should run several types of scans before transferring files, I scan with AVG anti virus, AVG anti spyware, Adaware, Spybot search and destroy, Zone Alarm, and Asquared. Each will look for specific types of infections and will delete any cookies that you don't need. You should be doing this on a regular basis anyway, you should also be defragging your hdd regularly as well.

Yes, a hdd is the hard drive, ATA, Pata, and Sata are designations for the types of hdds, the ATA and PATA connect normally via the IDE cable, the SATA has a different type of cable. The IDE cable is the forty pin cable that looks like a ribbon, usually gray and will have a red stripe on one side.

I'm still using window 2000 pro by choice, and don't have a great deal of experience with XP, so someone here can help you find the easiest way to make the transfer via your pen drive.

A friend mailed me a copy of XP home and it should arrive today or tomorrow and I will install that on a separate partition and will be able to explore this for my self.

I'm not sure if what you said still applys, but my new computer had all the latest software already in it, so when i said transfer files, i just meant word documents and music files...anyway, i did this and it went great, no problems. I have since done cookie checks and whatnot and everything is clean

Thanks alot for the advice guys, i guess i just needed a little re-assurance. You can lock this one now cause its all sorted

NICE ONE!
nn23

Glad I could help