How to Prepare For a New Computer
- Sandro Munoz
When you’re about to receive a new or upgraded computer, there are a few things you'll need to do ahead of time to make the transition from your old computer as smooth as possible.
Sync important documents to OneDrive
Verify that documents, pictures, and desktop folders are synced to OneDrive and that OneDrive is up-to-date. With your documents synced to OneDrive, you won’t need to worry about transferring them to the new computer or possibly losing anything important.
Not sure how to do that? Take a look at this how to:
Documents stored outside of your OneDrive folders are not automatically backed up and they must be either transferred manually, or moved into OneDrive.
Printers and mapped drives
Make a note of the printers and drives you have mapped. This will make it much easier to add them back to your new computer.
You can see your mapped drives by going into File Explorer and clicking This PC. Write these down or take a screen capture of them. When it’s time to set them back up, you’ll have a record of the drives you had mapped.
To find your mapped printers, go the Print dialogue box of any program and write down the names of the printers you use.
Quick access locations
Make a note of locations you have saved in quick access, if you use these shortcuts.
Browser favorites
It’s easy to forget these, despite how important they are to your day-to-day work. Your favorites can be exported to one file and that file can be imported on your new computer to put back all your favorites. The steps vary from browser to browser, so take a look at this how-to for steps: How to Export Browser Favorites/Bookmarks.
Outlook mailboxes, signatures and rules
If you have added mailboxes to Outlook, make a note of these so they can be added back. These will show up in Outlook at the bottom of your folder list.
Save a copy of your Outlook signature. Signatures can't be exported, so they have to be recreated.
If you have mailbox rules in Outlook, make sure to export them to a file.
And finally
Please make sure your work area is clear of dust and small items near where your computer will go. This will minimize the disruption to your workstation when we set up the new computer.
Once we move you over to your new computer, we will still have access to your old computer, so don't worry if you forget anything. We'll be able to log back into it and get anything you need, such as files or settings.
After you receive your new computer
Now that you have your new computer, there are a few things you'll need to do:
Add back your printers and network drives. This needs to be done manually, so refer to the list of printers and network drives you wrote down in the step above. If you don’t know how to add these drives back, take a look at: How to Add Printers and Network Drives
Import your browser favorites into the browser(s) on your new computer. You'll use the .html file(s) you created earlier.
Add back any additional mailboxes you use in Outlook. Refer to the list of mailboxes you created earlier. Here's how to add them back: Adding additional mailboxes to Outlook.
Recreate your Outlook signature. You can copy a signature from a sent item to recreate it.
Finally, import Outlook mailbox rules, if you had any.