Safe to copy entire folder?

cclloyd9785

Master of Technology
Power User
Local time
6:23 AM
Messages
662
Location
Boston, MA
Is it safe and will work just fine to copy the entire user folder to a new installation?

We have a W7 installation with user Admin. Can I just copy the Admin folder in C:\Users\ to the same location on a fresh installation of Windows 7? The old was Ultimate while the new clean installation is Home Premium.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Satellite L505D-S9565
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64, Mac OS X 10.6.2 x64
CPU
AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core 2.1 GHz
Motherboard
Toshiba Built-In with Insyde H20 BIOS 1.40
Memory
4 GB DDR2 800 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD Mobility 3100 Graphics 256MB to 1468 MB Shared
Sound Card
Realtek Mobile ALC272 HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6" TFT LCD with TruBrite, Samsung 1080p HDTV
Screen Resolution
1366x768, 1920x1080
Hard Drives
❶:Main: Toshiba 250 GB SATA 5400 RPM
PSU
N/A
Case
N/A
Cooling
Built-in/Open window in winter :P
Keyboard
Built-in
Mouse
Build-in Symantics SmartTouch Pad
Internet Speed
55 MB/sec Down, 9 MB/sec Up
Other Info
❷:Backup: Seagate FreeAgent Desk USB 2.0 5400 RPM
❸:Media: Toshiba 640 GB USB 2.0 5400 RPM Portable Edition
You can copy user files and folders from OLDPC-C:\Users\Any_Username to NEWPC-C:\Users\Any_Username. Source (OLDPC) username must not be the same than target (NEWPC) username, user Adam's files and folders can be copied to user Eve or both to Adam and Eve and so on.

Do not copy the whole user folder! It copies also the hidden AppData folder and several protected system files and folders which include application data and information about the old OS. These can cause severe complications on your new system.

YES: Copy any user's personal files and folders, including "My ..." folders.
NO: Do not copy the hidden and protected system files and folders.

Kari
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP ENVY 17-1150eg
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
CPU
1.6 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor
Memory
6 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Graphics
Sound Card
Beats sound system with integrated subwoofer
Monitor(s) Displays
17" laptop display, 22" LED and 32" Full HD TV through HDMI
Screen Resolution
1600*900 (1), 1920*1080 (2&3)
Hard Drives
Internal: 2 x 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
External: 2TB for backups, 3TB USB3 network drive for media
Cooling
As Envy runs a bit warm, I have it on a Cooler Master pad
Keyboard
Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser (bluetooth)
Mouse
Logitech Performance Mouse MX
Internet Speed
50/10 Mbps VDSL
Antivirus
Windows Defender 4.3.9431.0
Browser
Maxthon 3.5.2., IE11
Well I was intending to copy the AppData folder to keep her settings after transfer. Is it really dangerous? Obviously I shouldn't transfer critical stuff like NTUSER, but if its not a system file I can copy it? (Basically just copy but choose to skip any duplicates)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Satellite L505D-S9565
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64, Mac OS X 10.6.2 x64
CPU
AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core 2.1 GHz
Motherboard
Toshiba Built-In with Insyde H20 BIOS 1.40
Memory
4 GB DDR2 800 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD Mobility 3100 Graphics 256MB to 1468 MB Shared
Sound Card
Realtek Mobile ALC272 HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6" TFT LCD with TruBrite, Samsung 1080p HDTV
Screen Resolution
1366x768, 1920x1080
Hard Drives
❶:Main: Toshiba 250 GB SATA 5400 RPM
PSU
N/A
Case
N/A
Cooling
Built-in/Open window in winter :P
Keyboard
Built-in
Mouse
Build-in Symantics SmartTouch Pad
Internet Speed
55 MB/sec Down, 9 MB/sec Up
Other Info
❷:Backup: Seagate FreeAgent Desk USB 2.0 5400 RPM
❸:Media: Toshiba 640 GB USB 2.0 5400 RPM Portable Edition
You need to reinstall the software, anyway, which creates new Appdata entries. Machine SID will change, file date stamps will not match and so on.

Extremely bad idea.
 

My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP ENVY 17-1150eg
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
CPU
1.6 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor
Memory
6 GB
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Graphics
Sound Card
Beats sound system with integrated subwoofer
Monitor(s) Displays
17" laptop display, 22" LED and 32" Full HD TV through HDMI
Screen Resolution
1600*900 (1), 1920*1080 (2&3)
Hard Drives
Internal: 2 x 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
External: 2TB for backups, 3TB USB3 network drive for media
Cooling
As Envy runs a bit warm, I have it on a Cooler Master pad
Keyboard
Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser (bluetooth)
Mouse
Logitech Performance Mouse MX
Internet Speed
50/10 Mbps VDSL
Antivirus
Windows Defender 4.3.9431.0
Browser
Maxthon 3.5.2., IE11
Are you trying to migrate apps from one PC to another?

While a clean install is a good policy, if you really want to migrate apps, you should go to the LapLink website. They used to have a PcMover app that would do just what you want -- I know it worked because I used it.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Win7 Pro 32-bit, Win8 Pro 32-bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Motherboard
Gigabyte
Memory
4GB ddr3 1300
Graphics Card(s)
AMD HD 4290 onboard
Sound Card
Builtin Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 24" widescreen, LG 23" widescreen
Screen Resolution
1920x1200/1920x1080
Hard Drives
Kingston 256GB SSD
Keyboard
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech M705 wireless mouse
Antivirus
Norton Av 2013
Browser
IE v10
Back
Top