Getting new computer, how to save files on current laptop
I'm on a Windows 8.1 laptop currently and am looking at getting something new, either a new laptop or a desktop. I want to keep most things from my current laptop, eg: steam game save files (I'm not sure what games are save in the cloud and what's local). So I believe the best way to do this is just to clone my current hard drive.
Kind of following this How to geek guide it looks like I can get an external hard drive and use the program Macrium Reflect to clone it all over. It would be going from SSD to HDD.
So now, I have all this stuff on an external hard drive. Now I buy a new laptop or build my own desktop and let's say it comes with Windows 10 and all the correct drives and stuff. Now what do I do? Can I access that clone drive and copy all Steam files over? How about a pdf file I want to read, can it just be accessed from the cloned hard drive and onto the new one just like a usb drive?
Posted Mar 26, 2016, 12:02 AM UTC
Also, what does it mean to have a backup of your computer? On Mac I have Time Machine, which takes snapshots when I hook up that external hard drive to my old MacBook. Is cloning the best way to do it for Windows?
On the linked hard drive it says, "Automatic local and cloud backup" What does that mean? Can I just use the WD Backup software to effectively close or gain access to my files? They say it's their most powerful backup software to date...
I'm mostly concerned about these damn Steam saves... Files are easy to backup, but Steam confuses me. I don't want to have to play through some games I've already played for hours just to get back to where I was. I'm getting too old for that and it hurts my back.