Windows 10: Transfering backup files

I had to purchase a new computer and am attempting to load my files from my external hard drive. I used windows backup and thought that a new system with windows 10 would find the folder. Unfortunately I seem not to find the file nor how to find and restore everything.


I am a novice computer user but can do basic stuff. Any help will be appreciated.

:)

 

File transfer

Hi Paul,

Thank you for keeping us updated.

Files are automatically transferred to the new operating system when you upgrade therefore, you need not transfer anything. If you created a backup before you initiated the upgrade, you could've restored the files should there be any data loss. However,
if there are some missing files, I would suggest you to try the steps suggested above and check if you are able to retrieve the files.

Hope this helps.

 

Cable to transfer files

OMG. I have never met anyone who actually bought one of those file transfer things.



Firewire will do the same as USB, but faster, so will a cheap crossover cable. I can wlak you through the steps of moving data so you will not miss a beat.




Anything more than $10 to buy a cable is too much.

 

Using network hard drive for backup

It depends what sort of backup you want to do. If you're happy just backing up regular files, then there are a bazillion (really, that many!) different bits of freeware to do that. There is a good list here:

Download Back Up Tools for Windows - MajorGeeks

and pretty much all of them can do network backups. Some even have fancy options like encryption. Really, the most useful thing is just being able to schedule them and know they ran OK.

You may also want to make a system image backup too, and you'll find that software in the very same list.

I don't have Windows 8 as yet, so I'm afraid I can't suggest any for that platform. Personally, I use Clonezilla for image backups.