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sluggish Win 7 and 10 upgraded to hot Win 10 - transfer automatic or by hand?

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Steven Avery:
Thanks!

Here is Microsoft offering some thoughts.

OneDrive makes it easy to transfer your files and photos
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/transfer-your-data

They compare    
OneDrive
USB/external drive
PCmover from Laplink

Shades:
After 7 years a computer has "collected" a lot of cruft. While transfer software might spare you a bit of time to setup your new(ish) computer with your old tools and/or data, the accumulated cruft will hamper the functioning of the new(ish) computer for as long as you are using that system.

So, it is actually better to start from scratch, (re)configure your software and keep what you won't be using archived on the portable hard disk you will end up using for the transfer. A fresh start with 7 years worth of new insight(s) on how you need to use your software/configuration setup in a financially beneficial manner will be much more preferable, even if it does take more time initially to set everything back up on the new(ish) computer. That time investment will pay itself back quickly in time and/or money, because you'll end up with a much snappier system than muddying on with an old crufty setup.

There is even a chance that transferring your old Windows installation onto a different computer isn't even allowed (by the letter of the license agreement) from the old Windows license. OEM systems have a Windows license that is bound to the hardware of the computer they are installed on. This type of license is not transferable. And if the new(ish) computer also has an OEM licensed version of Windows on it, you'll enter some shaky legal grounds.

Now Microsoft won't care too much about this, but if you need to have everything properly licensed for business purposes, ISO certifications etc. it will be less of a legal headache to just start the setup from scratch instead of transferring.

mouser:
I agree with the Cruft concept.. It's not just accumulated cruft, but accumulated modifications, settings, stuff you don't remember you did, etc.

Because of that, I think when practical, if you have the energy, it's healthy to start from scratch and force yourself to recreate your working environment on a new operating system, and move over your documents, etc.

This is a good opportunity for you to discover where all of your documents are stored, and start over with applications at their default settings, etc.

The one main caveat I will say with this approach is you have to preserve your old hard drive in some form (either leave the old physical hard drive alone and install the os on a new one, or a new computer, or fully image the old hard drive).  That gives you plenty of time (months) to make sure you have moved all your documents over and not forgotten something.

wraith808:
The one main caveat I will say with this approach is you have to preserve your old hard drive in some form (either leave the old physical hard drive alone and install the os on a new one, or a new computer, or fully image the old hard drive).  That gives you plenty of time (months) to make sure you have moved all your documents over and not forgotten something.
-mouser (March 15, 2020, 10:50 PM)
--- End quote ---

It's for this reason I go with a blue/green approach.  I have two computers- the current, and the last.  When it's time for a new computer, I build in the last one, which will then become my current.  This also helps me if my current computer goes on the fritz.

mouser:
Yes I think this is absolutely the way to go if you can afford it.  Keep the last computer as a backup and don't repurpose or dispose of it.  It's not just useful as a backup, but as a source of spare parts or parts, etc.

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