migrating mum's laptop

[didds]

mum has a new laptop.

Both old and new are win 10 home.

Is there any free "easy" way to migrate her docs, photos, email (thunderbitd FWIW), installed programs etc from old to new (via Bluetooth or LAN?) without just

installk all the apps on new
set up thunderbird manually from scratch
copy data files to a externa; hard drive from old
copy data files from external hard drive to new

etc etc ?



didds

[pje16]

Copying programs won't work, as most software install dlls and other file into Windows, System 32 and modifies registry keys
Docs and other files are best copied to an external drive anyway, as a backup in case of disaster, and then copy them to new laptop
I have used this software for years
https://www.scootersoftware.com/
It allow easy comparison of folders and files so you ensure things in sync
Free trial for 30 days

[torata]

I used to use Ninite
https://ninite.com/
to auto install the key software that I had. It took out a lot of the immediate hassle.

Possibly not important to you for your mum, but may help.
After installing, because I had separated data from programs completely into a separate (internal) drive, including things like Thunderbird profile, it was then relatively easy to then just copy across the data.

But it still took a lot of time to tweak the programs to how I used them, like add-ins, defaults, etc.

So, I then moved to almost 100% portable programs, which sit in the data drive, and so are also included in my data backup. Swapping out across PCs is now a LOT easier.

torata

[servodude]

I have used this software for years
https://www.scootersoftware.com/
It allow easy comparison of folders and files so you ensure things in

Snap. Very happy user of beyond compare for approx 20 years

On the original question... Windows really push OneDrive as their way of sharing data between machines. Might be worth a look?

In any case it's probably worth investing in an external drive for transferring stuff - you can then use it afterwards for backups

-sd

[Midsmartin]

There is software called Laplink PCmover designed for just this. It's been around for years it is not free. And I have never used it, but it seems to get decent reviews of you are willing to pay to simplify the job.

It is usually straightforward though to copy documents and photos manually to a usb stick, and restore. Only a few clicks.
Thunderbird had a procedure to migrate the profile in use to another pc.
Then there is sometimes software that stores important stuff in odd locations.

[xeny]

installk all the apps on new
set up thunderbird manually from scratch
copy data files to a externa; hard drive from old
copy data files from external hard drive to new

Thunderbird keeps its settings and data in a directory in /username/appdata so you can simply copy that.

I tend to share a folder on the new machine, and copy stuff into that across a network connection rather than via an external drive. Once it is copied, I move it to the appropriate final destination.

This approach obviously benefits from a fast network connection, ideally wired ethernet, but even moving one of the machines to a wired connection tends to roughly double throughput. If you've only got one cable, wifi tends to be faster on newer machines, so wire the old machine.

[didds]

ended up beign much easier than I deaded - done! (just copied and pasted and IMAP meant all the mail was transfeerred. Then it was a case of exporting and importing address book and browser favourites.

didds