Anything like migrate on Mac for PC please?

badmonk

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hey guys

so i am loving my HP Omen X, so much so i am thinking of getting one for work. (Was thinking of iMac Pro but not out until Dec and the model i am looking at is prob going to be 10K+ which i can get through my business but for around 4K i can get a bad a$$ PC with similar specs)

BUT i love migrate on Mac which basically copies everything from my settings to software over from one mac to another saving a lot of headaches.
So i cant find anything on windows 10 which does this, but is there any good software which is not complicated to use and any of you guys recommend please?

Many thanks
 
I don't use those auto-copy programs with Windows for two reasons:

1) they don't work well
2) anything important needs to be backed up at all times

You have to ask yourself - what do I have that is really important? If you don't know the answer to that, you have a problem. That means you don't have a backup, and a single failure will cause you major issues. Say your hard drive fails hard, what next? You're screwed.

On top of that, people spend more time worrying about what's not important. I work with programmers who want to spend an hour hunting for the server names cached in their ssh program, when they take about 15 seconds to re-create. They have 7-10 servers, and they know the names off the top of their head anyway.

So, instead of coming up with some magic "copy everything" solution, come up with a backup solution.

1) Identify what are the most important files and settings. What can't you live without? What would take you hours and hours to re-create? That's what you back up first. Find a cloud solution that works, or at least a flash drive (they make them huge now).

2) After you back up what's vital, what is next in line for importance? What would be annoying to live without? Back that up too.

3) Rinse, repeat until you have everything important. Files, bookmarks, anything else that would take time to recreate.

What you'll find is that you have a lot less "stuff" than you think. Once you have a regular backup, now migrating to a new PC is simple, just copy what's in your backup back.

Understand your data, prioritize it and back it up. Most people unfortunately don't think about a backup until it is too late.
 
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I don't use those auto-copy programs with Windows for two reasons:

1) they don't work well
2) anything important needs to be backed up at all times

You have to ask yourself - what do I have that is really important? If you don't know the answer to that, you have a problem. That means you don't have a backup, and a single failure will cause you major issues. Say your hard drive fails hard, what next? You're screwed.

On top of that, people spend more time worrying about what's not important. I work with programmers who want to spend an hour hunting for the server names cached in their ssh program, when they take about 15 seconds to re-create. They have 7-10 servers, and they know the names off the top of their head anyway.

So, instead of coming up with some magic "copy everything" solution, come up with a backup solution.

1) Identify what are the most important files and settings. What can't you live without? What would take you hours and hours to re-create? That's what you back up first. Find a cloud solution that works, or at least a flash drive (they make them huge now).

2) After you back up what's vital, what is next in line for importance? What would be annoying to live without? Back that up too.

3) Rinse, repeat until you have everything important. Files, bookmarks, anything else that would take time to recreate.

What you'll find is that you have a lot less "stuff" than you think. Once you have a regular backup, now migrating to a new PC is simple, just copy what's in your backup back.

Understand your data, prioritize it and back it up. Most people unfortunately don't think about a backup until it is too late.

I agree with this.

Windows auto copy programs are horrible.
Regular backups are key.

Do that or invest in a 3rd party program to get the job done. There are numerous programs out there. I just don't know any off the top of my head because I haven't had to do any cloning or moving of software for a long time.
 
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thanks guys. thing is i have used mac for years and their backup is great, i use time machine to back up all the time and when i get a new mac, its easy to copy my exact same settings and programs over just using the time machine backup.

re windows PC, i am a little confused as its the first windows PC i have had since 2004 and i use system restore and back up.
so can i use this backup on a new PC to have the same settings and programs as my old one please?
 
thanks guys. thing is i have used mac for years and their backup is great, i use time machine to back up all the time and when i get a new mac, its easy to copy my exact same settings and programs over just using the time machine backup.

re windows PC, i am a little confused as its the first windows PC i have had since 2004 and i use system restore and back up.
so can i use this backup on a new PC to have the same settings and programs as my old one please?

When it comes to programs, you shouldn't really copy them over, but instead re-install them. The Windows registry and the somewhat complicated user folders (much of which is hidden by default) make things really tough to straight up copy. Not impossible mind you, but in most cases you'll spend way more time trying to copy than to just reinstall.

Settings get more complex, as it can vary greatly how programs store this information. How this is done varies with different versions of Windows, and even in Windows 10 there's multiple ways programs can do this. Game saves can end up in all sorts of places. Program settings might be in the registry, user folders, .ini files, or a combination of all. Some programs have an import/export wizard you can use. Others don't (or those might be hidden).

This is where your priority list is important. Got some Skyrim save that you have 200+ hours in for example? Yeah that's important. Got a custom dictionary in MS Word that has the 20 words you told it to ignore? Maybe not nearly as important. This is where a little planning and prioritization goes a long way. Click on your Start menu and start writing down what's most important. Then, for those important ones, research how (a simple google search should work for most).

I support a group of about 70 programmers and other IT people. What I find almost universally is that people think they have way more "stuff" than they really do. If my hard drive died, I'd be up and running on a new PC in less than an hour (granted I do this for a living so I've done it a ton more than most people). Anything important is stored on a cloud drive. Program settings? Nothing is so important that I can't just click through again. If I did have anything so vital, I'd take a screenshot and save it to the cloud, or google how to copy it over.

Last year my PC at work started having issues. Rather than spend hours debugging, I just formatted the thing. People I told about it were horrified. My god! What about all your "stuff"? Anything important was in the cloud (or other backup) and restoring it was simple.

It really comes down to a frame of mind and a little planning. Go through everything installed on your system that you run frequently. I bet you have a lot less "stuff" than you think, or at least important stuff.
 
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When it comes to programs, you shouldn't really copy them over, but instead re-install them. The Windows registry and the somewhat complicated user folders (much of which is hidden by default) make things really tough to straight up copy. Not impossible mind you, but in most cases you'll spend way more time trying to copy than to just reinstall.

Settings get more complex, as it can vary greatly how programs store this information. How this is done varies with different versions of Windows, and even in Windows 10 there's multiple ways programs can do this. Game saves can end up in all sorts of places. Program settings might be in the registry, user folders, .ini files, or a combination of all. Some programs have an import/export wizard you can use. Others don't (or those might be hidden).

This is where your priority list is important. Got some Skyrim save that you have 200+ hours in for example? Yeah that's important. Got a custom dictionary in MS Word that has the 20 words you told it to ignore? Maybe not nearly as important. This is where a little planning and prioritization goes a long way. Click on your Start menu and start writing down what's most important. Then, for those important ones, research how (a simple google search should work for most).

I support a group of about 70 programmers and other IT people. What I find almost universally is that people think they have way more "stuff" than they really do. If my hard drive died, I'd be up and running on a new PC in less than an hour (granted I do this for a living so I've done it a ton more than most people). Anything important is stored on a cloud drive. Program settings? Nothing is so important that I can't just click through again. If I did have anything so vital, I'd take a screenshot and save it to the cloud, or google how to copy it over.

Last year my PC at work started having issues. Rather than spend hours debugging, I just formatted the thing. People I told about it were horrified. My god! What about all your "stuff"? Anything important was in the cloud (or other backup) and restoring it was simple.

It really comes down to a frame of mind and a little planning. Go through everything installed on your system that you run frequently. I bet you have a lot less "stuff" than you think, or at least important stuff.
Thanks so much for the reply and makes a lot of sense. Thank you.
 
My work computer is a Mac and while I love the Mac OS I usually lol at the rest of Apple. That said Time Machine is amazing and Windows really should come up with their own version of it. Prior to my current position I did bench work fixing Macs, and I always had to face palm when someone came in saying they didn't have a Time Machine backup. Warms my heart to see you use it.
 
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My work computer is a Mac and while I love the Mac OS I usually lol at the rest of Apple. That said Time Machine is amazing and Windows really should come up with their own version of it. Prior to my current position I did bench work fixing Macs, and I always had to face palm when someone came in saying they didn't have a Time Machine backup. Warms my heart to see you use it.
Yeah idd. Time machine is awesome. I am really surprised windows 10 don't have something similar.