Migrating smoothly from your old computer to a new computer* - Part 2

Determine which elements of your old computer are to be retired and which are to be kept.

For example, if you are using software that is licensed for “3 seats” and your new computer takes you to “4 seats”, then which, if any, of your other machines will relinquish a seat for the new one? Or will you need to buy an additional license?

You don’t want to get everything done only to find out you can’t do business on the new machine because you don’t have enough licenses.

Are you moving to a new type of internet connection? Often old USB Modem/Dongles simply don’t work on new machines. Are you ready for this?

You should find out if your computer person is in fact responsible for, and able and willing, to do ALL the parts of the migration.

For example, if you have a support agreement with a third party/company it is NOT a good idea for your computer person to do migration and set-up of that system. Partly because you’ve already paid for someone to do it, partly because it is more efficient to have the right people do it, but mostly because your IT person might get it wrong.

Consider what warranties are and may be in place. If components of your migration means “opening up” a new machine, where do you stand with warranty after that has happened?

Should someone authorized do certain elements of the migration to avoid invalidating warranties?

Get buying advice from your IT person of choice BEFORE you get the new machine. Returning a machine that is not fit for purpose is NOT possible if you simply did not specify what the machine should do at time of purchase.

Get a buying guide and advice from your IT person of choice.

My buying guide is available free of charge just email me and ask for it david@ihatemypc.com.au

Once you think you’ve got all your ducks in a row, make time in your diary to focus on the actual migration.

Usernames and Passwords...seriously, USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS – have them all to hand.

If you are paying someone to set up a new computer and do the migration for you, then you really must have your ducks in a row pertaining to usernames and passwords for ALL the things you want to work on your new computer.

Username and password recovery can turn into the most significant cost when paying someone to do that for you. Just imagine (or remember) how long you may be on the phone trying to get someone like Telstra to send you your password. Do you really want to be paying someone to wait on the phone on your behalf for dog-knows how long? I didn’t think so.

If your usernames and passwords are written down or stored somewhere, have them ready. Again, …and I can tell you they/we don’t want to be sitting and waiting for that either.

If your passwords are all magically remembered by the current/old computer then we need to know that too. Depending on how they are stored, extracting them may be anywhere from easy to impossible.

If you simply don’t know what they are, have that information ready too. If the IT person has to extract every scrap of information, indeed gaps in information, from you then that takes time and costs you money. Knowing in advance that we may have to wait on the phone for tech’ support means we can do that early and get on with other tasks while on-hold. If that happens at the end it turns into extra time and extra cost.

Resetting of passwords is often quite “doable” these days but it takes time. It also requires that the system we are requesting a reset from knows where to send the new information. If it wasn’t set up properly in the first place, or things have changed since it was set up (email address changed, a new phone number) then we simply may not be able to reset things…and this all takes time to find out and attempt.

Here’s a list of the most common devices, software and resources that people fail to have the login details (username and password) for:

• Modem / router – both master login and internet connection details from the ISP.

• Wifi – are the passwords what the modem came with or have they been changed?

• Email, Webmail – including details of servers if using a custom email service/hosting

• PC password itself.

• Facebook – and other social media.

• Microsoft Office – since 2013 an online account has been required and if you want to re-use your paid product on the new machine we need to be able to login to MS online.

• Software subscriptions e.g. Antivirus products, special software you use/pay for etc.

• Hosted services – web site access/maintenance, G-suite (Google Apps), Office 365, Xero (accounting services), Virtual Servers, VPNs (virtual private networks), cloud storage (Onedrive, Dropbox).

• Banking and online financial services – Paypal, Trading, banking.

• Access to systems your employer or other third party provides – web portals, collaboration tools, remote network access etc.

• And so on……

*Individual needs and requirements will vary. You should seek specific advice for your context. Advice provided here is generic and indicative only.

#migrating