Alternative to the Files and Transfer Settings wizard

[Ken Springer]

Does anyone know of an alternative software program to the Files and
Transfer Settings wizard?

I'm looking for something similar that will allow me to choose where I
want the user files placed when restoring the data from the backup. I
could be missing something in the use of the F&T wizard.

In this case, I'm not concerned with program settings, they can go to
the dumpster. I'm just interested in a quick way to get the users
data from C: to another driver/partition, not necessarily to a
replacement computer. Hopefully, even files that are not inside My
Documents.




--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Ken Springer]

Does anyone know of an alternative software program to the Files and
Transfer Settings wizard?

I'm looking for something similar that will allow me to choose where I
want the user files placed when restoring the data from the backup. I
could be missing something in the use of the F&T wizard.

In this case, I'm not concerned with program settings, they can go to
the dumpster. I'm just interested in a quick way to get the users
data from C: to another driver/partition, not necessarily to a
replacement computer. Hopefully, even files that are not inside My
Documents.

Sort of my bad, meant to post this in an XP group.

But, the question still applies for Win7, even though the name of the
wizard has changed.



--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[SC Tom]

Does anyone know of an alternative software program to the Files and
Transfer Settings wizard?

I'm looking for something similar that will allow me to choose where I
want the user files placed when restoring the data from the backup. I
could be missing something in the use of the F&T wizard.

In this case, I'm not concerned with program settings, they can go to the
dumpster. I'm just interested in a quick way to get the users data
from C: to another driver/partition, not necessarily to a replacement
computer. Hopefully, even files that are not inside My Documents.

I have no personal experience with this program, other than hearing about it
from people who have used it:

http://www.laplink.com/pcmover/pcmoverupgradeassistant.html

Not sure if it will do *exactly* what you want, but it does have a lot of
options for saving and restoring.

 

[Ken Springer]

Hi, Tom,

I have no personal experience with this program, other than hearing about it
from people who have used it:

http://www.laplink.com/pcmover/pcmoverupgradeassistant.html

Not sure if it will do *exactly* what you want, but it does have a lot of
options for saving and restoring.

I don't think this will do the goal, allowing me to put files were I
want them.

I downloaded the documentation for the Home and Pro versions.There
appears to be more flexibility in which files and settings get
transferred, but no option to allow me to put the files on a different
drive/partition. You can assign the chosen items to a different user.

And no option to save the data to a file, and then retrieve from the
file. That's more or less a necessity for my goal, as I'll be using the
same physical hard driver 99% of the time.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Char Jackson]

Hi, Tom,



I don't think this will do the goal, allowing me to put files were I
want them.

I downloaded the documentation for the Home and Pro versions.There
appears to be more flexibility in which files and settings get
transferred, but no option to allow me to put the files on a different
drive/partition. You can assign the chosen items to a different user.

And no option to save the data to a file, and then retrieve from the
file. That's more or less a necessity for my goal, as I'll be using the
same physical hard driver 99% of the time.

You're coming very close to describing a simple disk image. If you
image the existing drive, you'll be able to rummage through it at your
leisure, picking what you want, and placing it wherever you like.

 

[Ken Springer]

Hi, Char,

On 7/18/12 4:12 PM, Char Jackson wrote:

You're coming very close to describing a simple disk image. If you
image the existing drive, you'll be able to rummage through it at your
leisure, picking what you want, and placing it wherever you like.

True, but that goes further than what I'm looking for. In which case, I
could also do a simple file copy, but that would involve a lot more
files to copy/move.

None of the files will be mine, and I don't want to spend the time
rummaging through someone else's hard drive to do them a favor. There's
no need to get any system or program files, just user data. Even if
it's not on the C: partition should the hard drive be partitioned. And
an image file would add a level of need/complexity I don't want to
present to the user.

I'm hoping to find a way to get the computer to do the rummaging. LOL

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Char Jackson]

Hi, Char,

On 7/18/12 4:12 PM, Char Jackson wrote:



True, but that goes further than what I'm looking for. In which case, I
could also do a simple file copy, but that would involve a lot more
files to copy/move.

None of the files will be mine, and I don't want to spend the time
rummaging through someone else's hard drive to do them a favor. There's
no need to get any system or program files, just user data. Even if
it's not on the C: partition should the hard drive be partitioned. And
an image file would add a level of need/complexity I don't want to
present to the user.

I'm hoping to find a way to get the computer to do the rummaging. LOL

I've started to lose track of what you're trying to do, but it sounds
like a bit of scripting would probably work.

 

[Ken Springer]

I've started to lose track of what you're trying to do, but it sounds
like a bit of scripting would probably work.

Scripting is above my pay grade! LOL!! And something that no longer
interests me. I just don't care to reinvent the wheel anymore, and
figure there has to be something out there already written.

As you may remember from other posts of mine, I will "rebuild" a
computer system and donate to a local social agency to be given away.
At no cost to me, usually. But, I sometimes do the same things for
individuals for a fee.

What I'm aiming to do is find a simple utility that would search out and
save all the user's data from the hard drive before reformatting,
including multiple partitions if they exist. In the past, I've manually
ferreted the files out, but it's a PITA, generally. Sometimes, it's
truly time consuming because the user is usually pretty computer
illiterate and the data files are all over the place.

So, if I could find something in either the Windows or Mac OS X worlds
that would do the ferreting for me, it would be a time and work saver
for me. If the Windows F&T wizard would let me put the user's files
where I want them it would work fine. But the XP version won't do that.
I've not checked out the Vista and Win7 versions of the F&T wizard
yet, as I would rather have something that runs under XP as a minimum so
as to not have to pull the HD from the system. I suspect that if some
utility like that exists, it will probably run under Vista and Win7.

Being a fan of open source/freeware, I usually don't purchase much in
the way of software for general use any more. But this would be
something I would purchase, as I'm not always happy with the mindset of
some of the developers behind many open source projects.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[G. Morgan]

Does anyone know of an alternative software program to the Files and
Transfer Settings wizard?

I'm looking for something similar that will allow me to choose where I
want the user files placed when restoring the data from the backup. I
could be missing something in the use of the F&T wizard.

In this case, I'm not concerned with program settings, they can go to
the dumpster. I'm just interested in a quick way to get the users
data from C: to another driver/partition, not necessarily to a
replacement computer. Hopefully, even files that are not inside My
Documents.

Fab's Autobackup 4 http://www.fpnet.fr/

It's mainly for techs.

 

[Ken Springer]

Fab's Autobackup 4 http://www.fpnet.fr/

It's mainly for techs.

Looks promising, thanks.

For my needs, I think Autobackup 3 will work fine, and can't complain
about the price for a single license.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

On Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:14:29 -0600, Ken Springer

[snip]

What I'm aiming to do is find a simple utility that would search out and
save all the user's data from the hard drive before reformatting,
including multiple partitions if they exist. In the past, I've manually
ferreted the files out, but it's a PITA, generally. Sometimes, it's
truly time consuming because the user is usually pretty computer
illiterate and the data files are all over the place.

I do not think that you will find such a utility. Apps can put
stuff in pretty any place they choose or the user chooses.

I do wish that apps in general had a way to export the data
created by them. When I migrate to a new system, that is a big
concern for me. I make a list of my apps and hunt for the associated
data if I do not already know where it is. I also have general data
directories that I put on the list. For each program, it is usually
simple, but there are so many.

For example, I have many years of USENET posts that I want to
keep (5 3/4 GB at present). I have found that if I install Agent on
the new system and then copy my entire Agent data directory over, the
licencing is still accepted as valid. This works, but I had to
experiment to do it. Fortunately, I do not have too many of these
cases.

I suppose that you can do the same sort of listing that I do. Ask
the user what programs he uses and check the Start - Programs menu to
start your list.

One program that might be of use for you is Magical Jellybean
KeyFinder from http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/ which finds
registration keys. There are both free and paid versions. I have
used only the free one.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Ken Springer]

I do not think that you will find such a utility. Apps can put
stuff in pretty any place they choose or the user chooses.

The XP wizard gives you a list of file extensions it looks for, with the
default locations being basically My Documents. But, you can add
folders, and that allows you to select an entire partition. And, if you
know the extension, you can apparently add them as a customization also.

But the "yuck" point came, for me, when it didn't want to let me put the
files where I wanted them to be, it only let me put them back where they
were, and that's not what I want.

I'm experimenting as I write this using XP on my virtual machine, to
see if the results of a restore is different than it was for the
computer I was going to use it on. Both are XP Pro, but I don't expect
to see anything different in my VM install.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 13.0.1
Thunderbird 13.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[G. Morgan]

Looks promising, thanks.
NP.

For my needs, I think Autobackup 3 will work fine, and can't complain
about the price for a single license.

I have v3 and it works well. I bought it before 4 came out, and the
upgrade price wasn't much of a discount. I still use it on others PC's
when I'm going to flatten and rebuild Windows.