Upgrading 11 year old Computer using Vista to a Newer Computer using Windows 10

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I currently have a Lenovo IdeaCentre K220 purchased in 2009 and want to upgrade to a newer Acer Aspire TC-885-UR18 Desktop Computer.  The most important programs with data on my current computer has Apache OpenOffice 4.6; Rainlendar Calendar Program 2.14 3 64 bit; AOL Shield, and Book Collector.

I am going to have help setting up the hardware, but I have no clue as to what I have to do to prepare my old computer to transfer all the data to my new computer.  My new computer has an SSD which I’ve never used before.  I have heard the term cloning a hard drive.  I also have the original Belkin Transfer Cable for Windows Vista.  I am wondering whether that would work if I connect it from my old computer to my new computer.

Any help would be appreciated.  If you can, please provide simple steps that I can apply in chronological order.  Suggested how to guides, Wiki’s, or Youtube videos would also be useful. This is my first post ever here so thank you in advance for any help.

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Do not clone, it will be bad m’kay.

1. Fire up your new machine and get it updated. (Do you have the new machine yet?)
2. Download and install Rainlender, OpenOffice (I prefer LibreOffice, more recent, better, works the same) and Book Collector.
3. Make sure both machines are connected to your local network (for internet access).
4. Turn on the old machine.
5. On the new machine open Explorer and click on “Network”. Can you see the old machine? If not, try NitroShare to allow you to transfer your files.
6. Transfer your files from “My Documents” on the old computer to “Documents” on the new computer.
7. Check the Rainlender and Book Collector sites for details on transferring their data.

cheers, Paul

p.s. You should also buy, if you haven’t already got, an external USB hard disk to backup your new machine – about $50.

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Windows 10 comes with its own anti-virus / anti-malware program. It was called Windows Defender but i think now they just call it Windows Security. Anyway, it’s included and it works well. (If you choose to use a different anti-virus then Windows will turn off its built-in protection.)

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Apache OpenOffice appears to have almost ceased development and the last news was a general request for help in May. The last release (v4.1.7) is close to a year old and the previous version was ~1 year before that. I suggest you use LibreOffice (as Paul T mentions). It is very nearly identical in function to OpenOffice but is under active development with a more frequent update release cycle and – IMO – better support from both developers and users.

The default save location for both OpenOffice and LibreOffice is My Documents (Vista)/Documents (Win 10).

Rainlendar is very old and unsupported so I assume you mean the subscription-based Rainlendar2 (or do you mean the free Rainlendar Lite)? Have  a look at the How to import data from the previous version or Rainlendar? section in the FAQ and the Backup and Restore support topic.

Book Collector appears to work fine under Windows 10. Have a look at the online manual for step-by-step instructions for transferring your Book Collector database using a USB stick or your network.

AOL Shield browser now appears to be AOL Shield Pro. I’m not familiar with it but it appeards to be based on the Google Chrome browser so you should be able to export your bookmarks using its built-in Bookmark Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+o).

Hope this helps…

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Elly

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