2 Part Question on Data Transfer/Clean-Up

Hey All,

I am looking at swapping out hard drives and don't really want to have to reinstall everything. I was wondering if there was a backup software that would allow me to back up to say an external drive, then when ready just plug that in and get all my old files/folders/software etc without the pain of reinstalling?

Secondly I have a different back-ups that I am trying to coordinate data between. Some from old machines but I know there is a ton of duplicate data. Anyone know of a good program to help sort through that mess so I can have one good back-up of everything instead of 3-4 mix and match backups?

 

Part 1 - There are many different imaging programs that will do what you want. My favorite is Acronis True Image. Read this thread below, http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/641162-imaging-hdd-help.html#links.

Part 2 - No help as far as programs go. Mostly manual grunt work.

 

Sounds like you will want to image your drive then. Windows 7 has this functionality built in to it under the "Backup and Restore" settings. There is a link on the left to "Create a system image".

Or you can use software like Acronis True Image: Complete hard disk recovery solution, backup, drive copy, clone and image computer software . They have a free 30 day trial so you don't have to buy it if you want to use it just once.