Friam

Setting up a new PC

Classic

List

Threaded

10 messages Options

Nick Thompson

Setting up a new PC

Kindly FRIAMers,

Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

Thanks, as always,

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Russell Standish-2

Re: Setting up a new PC

On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:20:31PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:

> Kindly FRIAMers,
>
>
>
> Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me
> decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to
> a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the
> new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is
> a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this
> issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

I always restore from backup, or from the original drive if it is
still working. Getting rid of crap is a different task, requiring
dedication and thought about what you do or don't need. I usually do
that either when slightly bored, or when my disk is full and I'm
desparate for space.

Cheers
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Nick Thompson

Re: Setting up a new PC

Thanks, Russ,

Are things sane down there?

Is it to Australia that we FRIAMMERS can retreat when the madness becomes terminal?

When Putin strolls upon the otherwise empty Northern Hemisphere stage and gives is triumphant soliloquy?

The situation in Britain seems beyond crazy. Did you know that after the presently anticipated devolution of the UK.... Scotland, Wales, and after much grumbling, Northern Ireland, a radical new plan is forming for a Wessexexit? Who needs those bloody Celts in a Pure Anglo Saxon Britain?

[sigh]

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Russell Standish
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2019 2:33 PM
To: friam <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC

On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:20:31PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:

> Kindly FRIAMers,
>
>
>
> Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will
> help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up
> the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought
> to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to
> the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t
> want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

I always restore from backup, or from the original drive if it is still working. Getting rid of crap is a different task, requiring dedication and thought about what you do or don't need. I usually do that either when slightly bored, or when my disk is full and I'm desparate for space.

Cheers
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Nick Thompson

Re: Setting up a new PC

In reply to this post by Russell Standish-2

Hi, russ, again,

I just discovered that my new computer comes up in my directory for my old one. So.... I guess I COULD just transfer EVERYTHING on my old computer onto my new computer.

But surely this is a sheep-dip moment, and I should transfer only data, emails, and other stuff in the backup.

Save me from myself.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Russell Standish
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2019 2:33 PM
To: friam <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC

On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:20:31PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:

I always restore from backup, or from the original drive if it is still working. Getting rid of crap is a different task, requiring dedication and thought about what you do or don't need. I usually do that either when slightly bored, or when my disk is full and I'm desparate for space.

Cheers
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Russell Standish-2

Re: Setting up a new PC

On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 11:45:14PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:
> Hi, russ, again,
>
> I just discovered that my new computer comes up in my directory for my old one. So.... I guess I COULD just transfer EVERYTHING on my old computer onto my new computer.
>
> But surely this is a sheep-dip moment, and I should transfer only data, emails, and other stuff in the backup.

You should only transfer that stuff. I have home areas (mounted under
/home) that is backed up, scratch areas that is not backed up, and
everything else just contains system software and applications.

When commissioning a new machine, I could just copy the home areas,
but usually also copy the scratch areas too, as this often contains
most recently worked on stuff that I don't care particularly if they
disappear (eg github projects), but save time and effort finding and
downloading. I don't copy system stuff, but install everything as a I
need it, mostly from the distro's repo, when I need it. This means
that applications I used once and never used again don't get installed
again.

But this is a Linux computer, for Windows, it is a virtual machine,
and I back up the entire machine, if only because it takes several
days to set up a Windows machine. But I don't have any personally
interesting stuff on the Windows machine, so I can recover in the
event of it being hosed or virused anyway - the backup is just to save time.

Cheers

>
> Save me from myself.
>
> Nick
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
> Clark University
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Russell Standish
> Sent: Friday, November 08, 2019 2:33 PM
> To: friam <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC
>
> On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:20:31PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:
> > Kindly FRIAMers,
> >
> >
> >
> > Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will
> > help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up
> > the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought
> > to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to
> > the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t
> > want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.
>
> I always restore from backup, or from the original drive if it is still working. Getting rid of crap is a different task, requiring dedication and thought about what you do or don't need. I usually do that either when slightly bored, or when my disk is full and I'm desparate for space.
>
> Cheers
> --
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> Principal, High Performance Coders
> Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
> Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Gillian Densmore

Re: Setting up a new PC

[hidden email]

It is my observation that Sanity is relative. One must first ponder how sane there relatives are first. Then comes a scale of Un-Sanity

Doc From Back To The Future With--------Mad Scientists from Cartoon-----------------Demon Sultan A'zyth-----Sith Lords------------------------------------------Korn--------Nuffle: Lord of the Dice and RNG-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nurgle-----------------Drunken Ork Partied----------------------------------------------------------------TheDude that made B-TreeFS-------------------------------------------------------------------The Other Dude that Made Cinnamon Flavored Egg nog:Tied with the dude that made ZFS, deb dist updates and possible the dude that created SNAPs and Tripple Dunker Donuts----------------->(is even mor Un-Sanity possible in this dimension?)---Nurgle

I think the personS you might be implying are some where between Nuffle, and some skipped right to Creater of ZFS levels of bonkers, it's good gonkers (for now...) but sooner or latter we'll go flying into understanding Qbits multiple forms of Zero, Alephs and parrellel universes is a Good Thing and then smack right into the Cult of the Damned levels. Not quite there yet. and so far everyone is acting they could or should and that's a good thing (I hope) ...but ....

(Nick May need to have someone tell him a bit about warhammer and cuthulu lore for rifftastic scale of bonkersness as humor to work as humor)

There is some...pretty good news so far there Nancy (thus far) is able to drum her proverbial fingers to say: seriusly? you did what? and a utter lack of?, so the kids don't get to home early for Vakation...

On Sat, Nov 9, 2019 at 1:49 PM Russell Standish <[hidden email]> wrote:

On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 11:45:14PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:
> Hi, russ, again,
>
> I just discovered that my new computer comes up in my directory for my old one. So.... I guess I COULD just transfer EVERYTHING on my old computer onto my new computer.
>
> But surely this is a sheep-dip moment, and I should transfer only data, emails, and other stuff in the backup.

You should only transfer that stuff. I have home areas (mounted under
/home) that is backed up, scratch areas that is not backed up, and
everything else just contains system software and applications.

When commissioning a new machine, I could just copy the home areas,
but usually also copy the scratch areas too, as this often contains
most recently worked on stuff that I don't care particularly if they
disappear (eg github projects), but save time and effort finding and
downloading. I don't copy system stuff, but install everything as a I
need it, mostly from the distro's repo, when I need it. This means
that applications I used once and never used again don't get installed
again.

But this is a Linux computer, for Windows, it is a virtual machine,
and I back up the entire machine, if only because it takes several
days to set up a Windows machine. But I don't have any personally
interesting stuff on the Windows machine, so I can recover in the
event of it being hosed or virused anyway - the backup is just to save time.

Cheers

>
> Save me from myself.
>
> Nick
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
> Clark University
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Russell Standish
> Sent: Friday, November 08, 2019 2:33 PM
> To: friam <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC
>
> On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:20:31PM -0700, Nick Thompson wrote:
> > Kindly FRIAMers,
> >
> >
> >
> > Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will
> > help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up
> > the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought
> > to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to
> > the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t
> > want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.
>
> I always restore from backup, or from the original drive if it is still working. Getting rid of crap is a different task, requiring dedication and thought about what you do or don't need. I usually do that either when slightly bored, or when my disk is full and I'm desparate for space.
>
> Cheers
> --
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> Principal, High Performance Coders
> Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
> Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.com.au
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Barry MacKichan

Re: Setting up a new PC

In reply to this post by Nick Thompson

The last time I had to do this, I tried the following, and it worked moderately well.

For any software that costs me money, I put the software license/serial/unlock code in my password manager (1Password).
It helps also to try to make a list of the open-source software I’m using.

The new computer has the basic system and apps installed.

I download new copies of the bought software and unlock with the info in 1Password. I pass over software I no longer use.
I reinstall the open-source software I know I will use.

I copy data that I know I need (mail archive, some program settings, etc.)

I leave the rest on the backup disk, which I keep for the life of the new computer, and recover stuff from it on an as-needed basis.

I have a multidisk backup where I put archival files that I won’t be using actively.

--Barry

On 8 Nov 2019, at 15:20, Nick Thompson wrote:

Kindly FRIAMers,

Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

Thanks, as always,

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Nick Thompson

Re: Setting up a new PC

Thanks, Barry,

This is very helpful.

Are there any programs that help you move the right stuff, or shall I just restore the back up to the new computer and trust that my back up software knows what it is doing.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Barry MacKichan
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2019 10:48 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC

The last time I had to do this, I tried the following, and it worked moderately well.

For any software that costs me money, I put the software license/serial/unlock code in my password manager (1Password).
It helps also to try to make a list of the open-source software I’m using.

The new computer has the basic system and apps installed.

I download new copies of the bought software and unlock with the info in 1Password. I pass over software I no longer use.
I reinstall the open-source software I know I will use.

I copy data that I know I need (mail archive, some program settings, etc.)

I leave the rest on the backup disk, which I keep for the life of the new computer, and recover stuff from it on an as-needed basis.

I have a multidisk backup where I put archival files that I won’t be using actively.

--Barry

On 8 Nov 2019, at 15:20, Nick Thompson wrote:

Kindly FRIAMers,

Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

Thanks, as always,

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Barry MacKichan

Re: Setting up a new PC

Trust the backup software. If they missed any essential files, they would be out of business.

--Barry

On 11 Nov 2019, at 13:11, Nick Thompson wrote:

Thanks, Barry,

This is very helpful.

Are there any programs that help you move the right stuff, or shall I just restore the back up to the new computer and trust that my back up software knows what it is doing.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Barry MacKichan
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2019 10:48 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC

The last time I had to do this, I tried the following, and it worked moderately well.
For any software that costs me money, I put the software license/serial/unlock code in my password manager (1Password).
It helps also to try to make a list of the open-source software I’m using.
The new computer has the basic system and apps installed.
I download new copies of the bought software and unlock with the info in 1Password. I pass over software I no longer use.
I reinstall the open-source software I know I will use.
I copy data that I know I need (mail archive, some program settings, etc.)
I leave the rest on the backup disk, which I keep for the life of the new computer, and recover stuff from it on an as-needed basis.
I have a multidisk backup where I put archival files that I won’t be using actively.

--Barry
On 8 Nov 2019, at 15:20, Nick Thompson wrote:
Kindly FRIAMers,

Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

Thanks, as always,

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Gillian Densmore

Re: Setting up a new PC

[hidden email]

As I've had both a:"I didn't backup in time(insert me babling incoherently" to "Thank god I did backup!" I used one called Hdclone: https://www.miray.de/download/hdclone.html

When I last needed to use it (2017-2018) more or less decided that if I didn't remember what something was or if it was even on my disk, it wasn't that important. It's also really nice to do a clean start thing from time to time (in my opinion)

On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 11:22 AM Barry MacKichan <[hidden email]> wrote:

Trust the backup software. If they missed any essential files, they would be out of business.

--Barry

On 11 Nov 2019, at 13:11, Nick Thompson wrote:

Thanks, Barry,

This is very helpful.

Are there any programs that help you move the right stuff, or shall I just restore the back up to the new computer and trust that my back up software knows what it is doing.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Barry MacKichan
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2019 10:48 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Setting up a new PC

The last time I had to do this, I tried the following, and it worked moderately well.
For any software that costs me money, I put the software license/serial/unlock code in my password manager (1Password).
It helps also to try to make a list of the open-source software I’m using.
The new computer has the basic system and apps installed.
I download new copies of the bought software and unlock with the info in 1Password. I pass over software I no longer use.
I reinstall the open-source software I know I will use.
I copy data that I know I need (mail archive, some program settings, etc.)
I leave the rest on the backup disk, which I keep for the life of the new computer, and recover stuff from it on an as-needed basis.
I have a multidisk backup where I put archival files that I won’t be using actively.

--Barry
On 8 Nov 2019, at 15:20, Nick Thompson wrote:
Kindly FRIAMers,

Do you have any advice to give, or a website to suggest, that will help me decide how to set up the computer I just bought. I back up the old computer to a hard drive every night, and I had always thought to transfer the data to the new one by restoring the backup file to the new computer. But I assume there is a LOT of crap in there I don’t want. SOMEBODY must have thought about this issue and written something avuncular for people like me.

Thanks, as always,

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove