Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Canisdirus

Easiest way is to simply take out your old HD...and install it in your new computer.

You could talk to dell...they encounter this all the time and probably have an app for it...maybe free of charge...maybe.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Only if there is an open bay for it.

photoman43

I agree with this approach and have done it myself a few times when I have had a new desktop.

One tip for windows users is to ALWAYS click on the drive icon in the lower toolbar and ask for permission to exit from it. I doo this all of the time as when I have not done it properly sometimes the drive (usually external) gets compromised.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/safely-remove-hardware-in-windows-1ee6677d-4e6c-4359-efca-fd44b9cec369

BebuLamar

Without an open bay just connect the cable and leave the drive hanging temporarily just to transfer the data.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Yup, if the "drive" is still mounted, just unplugging it can have disastrous effects.
Always, ALWAYS dismount/release/eject/"remove" prior to physically disconnecting the device!
ALWAYS.

Canisdirus

I've never purchased a new computer that didn't have open bays...

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Neither did I, but they're out there.

BebuLamar

Yeah I didn't own any that doesn't have empty bay but I have used many without. Computers that are sold for corporate office tend to be that way. No room for options.

Canisdirus

I don't plan my life around outliers...

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Sure you do, you won't get an "outlier" will you.....

delder Loc: Maryland

A properly sized EXTERNAL HDD will be a GREAT solution, and ALSO provide a Backup of what you have on your Legacy Desktop Computer.

sv3noKin51E

Hi Trapper:
Have you considered buying a refurbished HP on Amazon? I've bought several in different configurations over the past 10 years, and the ones I've received have been clean, with a new copy of windoze installed. They are mostly off-lease business machines, and compared to Dells I've used, are worth the small amount you pay. Alway check the vendor's reviews, ratings and history as no two vendors are alike, however most of the good ones will respond to any questions you have within 24 hours. Not dismissing Dells, but I have HP boxes and laptops dating back to 2000 which still start up and run fine, though slower than everyone wants in 2023. Dell has always seemed to cheap out more in their builds, unlike the HP units I've owned and serviced (too many people don't clean their machines at least once a year; the dust build up causes heat which causes the demise of the computer. I've always built my own for the past 40 years, and though the first build causes a fair bit of anxiety, once it works the first time, you're on your way. There are many sites with easy to understand building instructions, and you are your own systems administrator, no pressure. Build tips; always be sure you have a good quality power supply (EVGA are good if you can source one) and always have defenses in depth for any machine that will ever be permitted online access in any way. Have a good battery backup power supply, a secure router with frequent FW upgrades (such as Asus/Merlin), a quality VPN provider, firewall, sandbox and active AV/Malware protection running constantly whenever you're online. If Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) can build his own gaming system, so can you:)
Good luck getting what you need!

techwolf Loc: Edgewater, Fl

You are absolutely correct. I have not bought an off-the-shelf computer in over 30 years. EVERY factory built computer has a great list of hardware listed, but what they don't tell you is where they cut the corners...usually always in the Case, Motherboard, and Power supply. Go to Newegg.com and Amazon.com and compare the components. There are many ways to check compatibility of components as you look First pick either the CPU or Motherboard you want then check which motherboards accept your CPU choice or which CPUs are compatible with your Motherboard choice (Gigabyte and Asus make great board, Asus has great options, Gigabyte has the best durability with its copious amounts of extra copper in the board pathways). Then pick a case (Cooler Master, Corsair, Antec are good and there are many others that will serve you well) that accepts your motherboard size (usually ATX). Then select your memory based upon what the motherboard manufacturer product site lists in the memory compatibility parts (Corsiar, G-Skill, and Kinston are good). Then select your graphics card (no, the CPUs with onboard graphics do not serve photo editing well) with the ports you want (HDMI or Display Port, or if you have good older monitors, DVI or VGA). Then go for your storage, get either SSD M.2 NVME Solid State Drives (Stick with the Samsung 980 PRO 2TB is $134), WD Black and I use them, are good but they may be leaving that product behind. that fasten to your Motherboard and are wicked fast (I use SSD M.2 NVME for my boot drive), then if you motherboard can accept more than one SSD M.2 NVME add that for basic storage (2 TB are not expensive). For larger storage go with SATA III V-NAND Internal Solid State Drives like the Samsung 871 EVO Series (4TB is $229). Just note that SSD M.2 NVME is FAST, but the SATA III V-NAND is limited to the 6GB/s of the SATA system but the seek time rocks compared to a conventional hard drive. Where a conventional hard drive shines is cost per MB storage-it is cheap. A DVD/Blue Ray drive is about $60 and you many need an external drive case if the motherboard does not have 5.5" bays which many don't anymore) You also need to pick monitors (lots of good ones, check the reviews) if you need them, keyboard and mouse (Logitech is not what it used to be), and printer (Espon Eco-tanks are great).
For example, for my computer which I use for photo & video editing and doing 2D and 3D drawings of builds as I also do Insurance and Construction estimating using a program called Xactimate X1:
Gigabyte B570 Aorus Elite and a Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core Unlocked, 64 GB or Corsair Vengence DDR4 3600, and a PNY Quadro P1000 4GB graphics card that does 4K out of four Display Ports! I chose that since I do not play games and game cards while ubiquitous, are made for fast refresh rates to win your game, I don't need that, I need good 2D and 3D architectural and photo renderings. I also used a Cooler Master MB520 ARGB case as it is designed to easily accept water cooling and I water cooled my CPU and overclocked it to 4.6 Mhz.
If you have some time, it can be very fun to research this and pick your own components! In 30 years I have never had a computer die from component failure, just MS Windows chocking it with updates until it makes you throw your coffee into the Computer. There are a ton of YouTube videos that show you how to build a computer. It takes me less than an hour to assemble one, but a day or two to install the OS and all of my software and configure the system.

Canisdirus

Statistically...no.

Same way I don't worry about most things...I have learned it is a waste of my time and peace of mind.
Unfortunately...our society loves to dwell on exactly that...outliers.

Mankind is still very superstitious...astrology...religion...unicorns...big foot...etc.

We look for the outliers...and that may be a smart thing to do...be aware of them.

But living your life by those outliers...is walking in darkness.