[SOLVED] What is the best way to move files from old laptop running Windows 7 to new one running Windows 10?

modeonoff

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Jul 16, 2017
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Hi, I have an old laptop running Windows 7 (actually a Bootcamp partition of a MacBook Pro). Now that I bought a new Windows laptop, I want to retire the old one and move the user files and folders to the new laptop. What is the best way to do so? Note that I need to keep the original creation dates of files and folders when copying the files to the new computer. For application programs such as MS Office, is the best way just to install fresh on the new computers?
 
Solution
You will have to reinstall applications, no war around this. As for data: Copying data to another (NTFS) volume will preserve "Modified" date, but "Created" will be the date you did the copy, unless you use some specialized backup apps.
You will have to reinstall applications, no war around this. As for data: Copying data to another (NTFS) volume will preserve "Modified" date, but "Created" will be the date you did the copy, unless you use some specialized backup apps.

Which specialized backup apps is good? Is Acronis True Image a good one that can preserve both the modified and created information?
 
I copied about 16000 files and folders today from a USB flash drive to a hard drive using simple copy and paste. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the original creation/modification dates were preserved. Give it a try and see if it doesn't work for you.