Seeking advice re: best, easiest way to move everything from old Win 10 to new Win 11 PC

I am planning to replace an old Win 10 Pro PC with a new Win 11 Pro PC (OOTB). Both computers are AIO (All In One) desktops. The computers are not connected by any kind of network. I do not use any kind of cloud backup (and don't want to). And I want to do it using only local accounts.

--I have heard about PC transfer/data migration software, which supposedly takes basically everything from the old computer (files, apps, settings, etc) and moves them all to the new one. Is this true? If so, what's a good one?

--I have also heard this can be done with some types of drive image creation software. True?

--Any other ideas would be helpful as well.

Thanks!

Hello,

You might also check out if using the Windows Backup app to transfer your PC like in the tutorial below may work for your situation.

It does require both to use an internet connection though.

If I buy a brand new computer, I don't want all the junk that has accumulated over the years in my old one to move over to my new one. I backup my personal files from my old one(you can copy & paste files/folders to an external drive.) I On my new one, I install just the apps I use (not the stuff I don't), copy my files from the external drive into my new user account folders and move on fresh and clean. There are several things I don't believe in when it come to my computer....shortcutting and having a lot of junk.

You didn't mentioned what kind of computers (Laptop or desktop) you have and what are the specs of them (old and new).

There are many ways to do it.
- If the old computer main drive is EFI - GPT, on the new computer generate all drivers backup and a main drive image backup.
Then the easiest way is to take the old computer drive and install on the new computer and then clone the old computer drive on the new computer drive. Remove the old drive and then let it upgrade to Win 11. I don't like this method as glasskuter already said, you transfer all trash from old computer to the new one.

- I agree with glasskuter that a new computer deserve a fresh install. If the new computer has no OS do a Win 11 Clean install as EFI - GPT. If it already came with Win 11 keep it. Take the old computer drive and install on the new computer and then copy the old computer data files to the new computer drive. Remove the old drive and then install the programs and applications you wish to have.

glasskuter said:

If I buy a brand new computer, I don't want all the junk that has accumulated over the years in my old one to move over to my new one. I backup my personal files from my old one(you can copy & paste files/folders to an external drive.) I On my new one, I install just the apps I use (not the stuff I don't), copy my files from the external drive into my new user account folders and move on fresh and clean. There are several things I don't believe in when it come to my computer....shortcutting and having a lot of junk.

Click to expand...

Absolutely agree!

The only difference here is that I'm a Microsoft 365 subscriber. The moment I log in to my new computer all my data and photos are instantly there in my 1TB of OneDrive and the latest Microsoft Office is there ready to work.

I also agree with @glasskuter leave the dust bunnies on the Win 10 computer.

1st thing I do is use REVO Uninstaller free, to remove all the Microsoft bloat.
Then install the things I want and tweak as necessary.
Then make a fresh backup.

What is bloat and what isn't is a personal choice. This is usually what I remove....





Here's some other things that you may find useful...

11Dude said:

--I have also heard this can be done with some types of drive image creation software. True?

Click to expand...

That is true.

While everyone else has praised the virtues of a clean install, then copying over all your user data (certainly the cleanest approach) there can be an argument for the opposite case, a warts and all migration of the original machine's OS drive to the new one.

In my case the overriding argument was that I wanted to keep the installed MS Office Starter 2010, a free version of MS Office that was only available on OEM Windows 7 machines, and cannot be reinstalled - not even on Windows 7 (only OEMs could do that) and certainly not on Windows 10/11 where its install would be blocked by the OS.

So, for a long time my 'main machine' was a Win7 laptop (Legacy BIOS and MBR disk) that had taken the free upgrade to Windows 10 when it was first released. With the approach of Windows 11 I wanted to upgrade to a UEFI/GPT W11-compliant laptop as my 'main machine', but I also wanted to continue using all installed software I already had. I would also have to convert from a Legacy/MBR install to a UEFI/GPT one in order to be offered the upgrade to Windows 11. The answer was to use Macrium Reflect Free to image the old machine and restore to the new one.

Bree said:

I used Reflect to restore the C: partition from a system image of my old Legacy/MBR machine to replace the C: partition of a clean install of the same version of Win10 on a new UEFI/GPT machine. Then used the Reflect recovery usb's 'fix Windows boot problems' option to rebuild the BCD. The end result was a transfer of my complete system to a new machine, not just my user files but all my installed software and configurations.

I have effectively got exactly the same PC as I had before, just with every part of its hardware upgraded.

Click to expand...

Onboarding to Windows 11 is easy - post #8

In the process I had also moved from an Intel-based machine to an AMD-based one. Windows happily sorted out all the new drivers required for basic functionality, then when on the internet Windows Update upgraded a few more.

Yes, a lot of unnecessary OEM crud came over with the OS, in particular some Toshiba OEM utilities than were about as useful as a chocolate teapot on the new Acer hardware. But Revo Uninstaller cleaned up most of that, and DriverStoreExplorer dealt with the rest. The Acer (System One below) then became my 'main machine' for the next 5 years until its lid hinges started to give way. I've not found it to be any different from any of my other machines with their clean installs. Cumulative and Feature updates have installed cleanly and it's been as responsive as a clean install would have been.

Now that the Acer had started to fall apart I had no hesitation in migrating the OS for a second time to its current hardware, my System Seven below. An easier migration this time as they are both UEFI/GPT machines (and going back from AMD to Intel hardware in the process).