Before you start: If the old computer still turns on and gets to Windows, this is easy. If it doesn't, don't keep trying — jump to If that didn't work.
Steps
- Plug in a USB stick or external drive with enough room. In File Explorer, open This PC and copy these folders across: Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, Downloads. Check the drive afterwards — open a few photos to make sure they copied.
- Signed into OneDrive or Google Drive on the old machine? Then most of it is already in the cloud — sign in on the new computer and it comes down. Check the folders above anyway; not everything lives in OneDrive.
- Email: if it's Outlook.com, Gmail, Bigpond or Microsoft 365, the mail is on the server — just add the account on the new computer. If Outlook shows a .pst file in the folder list (older POP setups), copy that file too: File → Account Settings → Data Files shows where it is.
- Browser favourites and passwords: in Edge or Chrome, sign in with your Microsoft/Google account and turn on Sync — they follow you. Or Settings → Favourites → Export to a file and copy it.
- Take a photo of anything you can't copy: licence keys on stickers, the list of programs installed, printer settings.
- Before it leaves: Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything → choose Clean the drive. That wipes your data properly. Or remove the drive and keep it.
If that didn't work
- If it won't start, the drive is almost always still readable — but forcing it to boot repeatedly can make it worse. That's a data recovery visit: I take the drive out, copy everything, and put it on the new machine or a drive for you.
- Moving to a new computer? I can do the whole transfer, including Outlook and printers — see new computer setup.
When to stop and call
It won't turn on, it's a laptop you'd rather not open, there's a lot of email to move, or you'd like the whole thing moved and the old one wiped for you.
Book a visit →