Best way to transfer data from old laptop to new?

Hi, I'm going to be receiving a new Asus N61 soon which will be running Windows 7 and I'm wondering what the easiest way to transfer data from my old laptop to my new one would be.

I found this Belkin Easy Transfer cable for Windows 7 on Amazon, but I don't really feel like spending $20 for something I'm only going to use once.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Easy-T...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265762357&sr=1-1

I don't have any external HDD or anything that I could easily use to transfer my files. I do have a crossover cable, which I believe I read somewhere can work to transfer data, but I'm not really sure how.

Any help will be appreciated!

 

All PC users should have an external H.D imo, so I would buy one if I were you and use that to back-up, and transfer your files.

And Dwight Schrute rules.

 

Copy and paste from external drive. The transfer cable is a waste of $$.
Want mine?

 

I don't have an external drive and would rather not buy one just for this purpose. I'm getting a laptop with USB 3.0, so I'm waiting for manufacturers to release some cheaper drives that support that.

I'll take that transfer cable off your hands though if you don't want it.

 

Don't use the Easy Transfer Cable, esp. if both machines are on the same network.

You can use the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard to transfer the files between the two machines over your home network. You can also save the file to a shared folder on one machine, then point the new machine to that file. I used the second method and it worked great.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=446658

 

As he stated, you're not buying it JUST for that purpose. Every computer owner needs to have an external drive if only for backup. As it happens, this is just another good reason to have one!

 

Thanks for the help guys. That link looks very helpful swarmer. I think I'm going to go with booboo's method of transferring files over a home network.

And believe me, getting an external HDD has been on my to do list for a while, but I don't want to spend the money on one right now having just got a new laptop.

 

I can understand maximizing your budget as well as the next guy. But keep in mind that running a computer without a backup is like driving around without a spare tire: chances are you won't need it, but if something does happen, you'll be " up the creek," without a you know what...!

Anyway, there are some security suites (Norton 360) that offer a few GB of storage included at no extra cost when you're in a pinch. You might want to check one of them out.

 

BooBoo's method +1. That's the way to go baby.

 

It's common sense really. I have thousands of tunes & thousands of photos, which if my drive failed today, I may lose, but as I back-up to an external the only annoyance would be the cost of a new drive, which is nothing compared to my photo and music collection.

I've only ever lost anything the once, and that was years ago, and believe me, it will never happen again.

 

Not all users have mountains of important data.

 

I hope that's just an off the cuff statement. Because it's certainly not a legitimate reason not to have a backup.

 

I hope you realized my statement wasn't a blanket statement regarding backups but rather a statement advocating personal responsibility.