I hate computers

OK, so I got a new CP for my computer and transferred (ie, dragged old files to new hard drive) from old hard drive. I've spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to get to them and then what to do with them.

Really, I just can't find my way around. I want my old ISP stuff, my pictures back, my tax stuff back. Where does it go when you drag it to the OS of the new computer from the old? How do I reinstall all the stuff I had on the old computer.?

How, how how? I'm so confused.

Worst part: I can't get at my Beersmith and I want to brew tomorrow. Tried to reinstall it on the new computer with the key I was given but it doens't read the ISP address. Thus, first need to reinstall my ISP stuff. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH

I'm confused. what Iwould do is look for the new PC to see if has data transfer software. & you still have to install everything again. I just did that on my roomates PC what a pain in the ass but you got to do it

Do you have 2 HD's hooked up to the PC? If so, and you drug and dropped stuff from one to the other, it should be right there where you left it. If you still can't find it, do a search on a file with a known name.

Speaking of comps, my school forced us into buying a Dell Latitude XT in July. Since then, I'm on my 3rd HD (always crashed a day or two before a test), 2nd keyboard, 2nd mouse, had some plastic tabs break and fall off, my shift key barely works, the digitizer software has irreparably broken twice, the screen flops all over the place, the video card software has pulled up the blue screen more times than I can count, and for some reason my POS wireless card drops my connection every 5 minutes. So just think, it could be worse

OK, so I got a new CP for my computer

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I'm lost, what's a CP?

And don't blame computers. It's just Windows that sucks.

If it didn't, you'd just copy your files and be done. Instead, with Windows you have to do all kinds of convoluted crap to migrate your full system from one drive to another. You even have to replace drives rather than just add them. :S

I have been quilty of just copying zipped up programs from drive to drive and then creating a shortcut to the .exe.

Why does a software HAVE to be installed to work? I haven't had any issues with doing this not even with updates.

Why does a software HAVE to be installed to work?

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It doesn't, though a lot of applications specifically set registry values and things like license keys so that you can't move the application around.

They do this, more often than not, to force you to buy a new copy if your computing environment changes.

Did you get a new PC (CP) and are trying to transfer everything to it or just a new hard drive? Either way they sell software to mirror your hard drive.

Kevin Dean said:

And don't blame computers. It's just Windows that sucks.

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Nothing like a troll to help a guy out

Kevin Dean said:

What I did next was give one reason why Windows sucks

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And that's real constructive too . . . .

Im not sure I completely understand what your asking but I hope something in this helps.

with windows programs install not just files to the hardrive but data into the windows registry some programs work fine without copying the registry data some wont work. when I reinstall windows I dont copy all the files just the stuff I need backed up (pics,favorites...) to a portable hardrive then drag everything into a new folder on the desktop when windows is back up, I sort of the details of what goes where later.
if you didnt copy all your old files to a new drive but are instead hooking your old harddrive up to a new PC you need to know the common locations of files you might want.
(will be some drive letter other than C)C:\Documents and Settings\"Your old user name"\Desktop - your old desktop
\Documents and Settings\"Your old user name"\My Documents - your old my docs folder
\Documents and Settings\"Your old user name"\Favorites - your favorites if you used internet explorer as a browser
\Documents and Settings\"Your old user name"\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\qvpzvnyz.default(this folders name may vary slightly)\bookmarks.html - this file contains bookmarks from firefox
D:\Program Files - contains your old installed programs, as I said before some wont work with out a reinstall
if you use beersmith or promash make sure you find the folder that its installed in and copy over all your old recipes.

Nothing like a troll to help a guy out

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I'm not trying to troll, I'm being pretty honest here. Firstly, I didn't know what he means by "a new CP" - I asked for clarification on that point.

What I did next was give one reason why Windows sucks - namely that data migration (as it seems the original poster is trying to do) is more difficult than it is on every other operating system I've ever used.

I don't mean to disrupt the conversation or present anyone here with bad information, so I think I'm pretty fairly not in "troll" mode here.

Free Portable USB Flash Pen Drive Applications | Pendriveapps.com
One reason to enjoy open source. Take various software programs with you.

Everybody, thanks. I figured it out yesterday. Turns out, as was probably suspected, I'm just an idiot. All's good now.

Glad you are sorted.

What PC did you get?

Kevin Dean said:

And don't blame computers. It's just Windows that sucks.

If it didn't, you'd just copy your files and be done. Instead, with Windows you have to do all kinds of convoluted crap ...

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I dont understand, whenever I copy files between Windows machines (which I do several times a week) all I do is copy them over and I am done. There are no extra steps.

will_cbe said:

Free Portable USB Flash Pen Drive Applications | Pendriveapps.com
One reason to enjoy open source. Take various software programs with you.

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I'm a HUGE fan of PortableApps.com. It's got everything I need on a thumb drive, doesn't leave any traces on the PC you use it on, and it's all open source.

orfy said:

Glad you are sorted.

What PC did you get?

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Got a refurbed Inspiron. It's got Vista, which is a little wacky, but that's fine. I don't use it for that much anyway. My kids were just happy to get their video games reinstalled. I'm happy that my wife won't kill me now that I've recovered and backed up all of our photos.

Here is a classic transcript from a computer tech support line you may have seen

Tech Support: “Okay, so what seems to be the problem?”
Caller: “Well, it’s my son’s computer, it’s… smoking.”
Tech Support: “It’s smoking? Is it making a loud beeping sound or is it hot? Anything else that would indicate that it’s on fire?”
Caller: “No! It’s not hot or anything. In fact, it seems to work just fine, but after it being on for about two or three minutes it starts to smoke.”
Tech Support: “Okay… well, shut the machine down, unplug it, and then hold down the power button for about ten seconds.”
Caller: “Ok. Got it. Now what?”
Tech Support: “Ok, open the case and take a look inside. Does anything look melted or cracked or–”
Caller: “Oh…”
Tech Support: “You found the problem?”
Caller: *angry* “Oooh yeah. There’s… uh… there’s a little plastic bag taped to the inside of the case… full of dried green stuff.”
Tech Support: *trying not to laugh*
Caller: “Thanks for your help. I need to go have a talk with my son.” *click*

It's got Vista, which is a little sh**ty

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I fixed it for you.
The comp of mine I described above...also vista.

phissionkorps said:

I fixed it for you.
The comp of mine I described above...also vista.

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Now I think I see what you mean.
Internet was working fine this morning. Come home tonight and, no go. The network portal cannot start, or so the computer tells me. Device is installed correctly, it tells me. How to deal with this, I don't know. Fortunately, the wireless still works for this here laptop I'm working off.

My WAG: Vista can't read the hardware. I hate the idea of spending even more money on this issue.

I dont understand, whenever I copy files between Windows machines (which I do several times a week) all I do is copy them over and I am done. There are no extra steps.

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I was referring to applications more than regular files. Like Word docs travel just fine, but to move your install of WORD to a different computer... Wacky. There's registry entries and stuff that have to go too.

Some applications move just fine, but the vast majority of common ones don't.