Recommended Steps to Prepare for a New Computer

This KB Article provides an overview for the steps you should take to prepare for a new computer.

1. Clear the area around your computer.

Make room on your desk to allow the technicians to remove your old workstation and install the new workstation. Remove any USB drives or external hard drives.

2. Move any files stored locally on your computer to OneDrive.

Files and folders on your Desktop or "C:\" drive do NOT follow to your new workstation, and you should move or copy any necessary files from these locations to your OneDrive - Fox Valley Technical College directory or another backup location such as a USB drive.

3. Make note of any additional software that you use.

Any software that you've installed will need to be reinstalled on your new computer, either from Software Center or another source. Technicians will ask what software you need and assist with reinstallation.

4. Export your web browser favorites & bookmarks.

You can add your frequently-used websites as bookmarks to your preferred web browser. You can also export and import your bookmarks to backup or transfer them.



Google Chrome icon  Google Chrome

  1. Open Google Chrome.

  2. Go to the site you want to visit again in the future.

  3. To the right of the address bar, click Star Star.

To open bookmarks faster, use the bookmarks bar. Your bookmarks will show under the address bar. Click a bookmark to open it. To turn the bookmarks bar on or off, click More More> Bookmarks > Show Bookmarks Bar.

To take all your Chrome bookmarks with you, simply export them.
  1. At the top right, click More More..

  2. Select Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager.

  3. At the top, click More More > Export Bookmarks.

To import your bookmarks from an exported file:
  1. At the top right, click More More.

  2. Select Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager.

  3. At the top, click More More > Import Bookmarks.



Internet Explorer icon Internet Explorer

  1. Open Internet Explorer.

  2. Right-click on any empty space in the area above the address bar.

  3. Select Favorites bar.

  4. Go to the site you want to visit again in the future. At the far left of the Favorites bar, click the Add to Favorites bar Add to Favorites bar button.

To take all your Internet Explorer bookmarks with you, simply export them.

  1. In the Internet Explorer browser, select View favorites, feeds, and history, or select Alt + C to open Favorites.

  2. Under the Add to favorites menu, select Import and export....

  3. Select Export to a file, and then select Next.

  4. On the checklist of options, select Favorites, and then select Next.

  5. Select the folder that you'd like to export your Favorites from, and then select Next.

  6. Type or browse to the location where you'd like your file exported. 

  7. Select Export and then Finish.

  8. Your Favorites will now appear in an htm file in the location you've specified.

  9. You'll need to be able to access this file on your Windows 10 PC, so send this file to yourself, either by emailing it, by saving it to the cloud, or by saving it onto an external storage device.

Follow the below instructions to import your Internet Explorer favorites on a Windows 10 PC:

  1. Open Internet Explorer.

  2. Right-click on any empty space in the area above the address bar.

  3. Select Menu bar.

  4. With the Menu bar visible, click on File > Import and Export....

  5. Choose Import from a file, Next > , select Favorites, Next > , and Browse to the location of your bookmarks htm file.


Firefox icon Mozilla Firefox

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox.

  2. Go to the site you want to visit again in the future, and click the star in the address bar.

    Click on the star in the address bar.

    The star will turn blue when the page is bookmarked and a window will pop up so you can name, move, or tag your bookmark.

To backup or export your Firefox bookmarks:
  1. Click the Library button Library button , then click Bookmarks. Scroll to the bottom and click Show all bookmarks.

  2. In the Library window, click the Import and Backup button Import and Backup button and then select Backup....

  3. In the Bookmarks backup filename window that opens, choose a location to save the file, which is named bookmarks-"date".json by default. Your Documents directory is usually a good spot, but any place that is easy to remember will work.

  4. Save the bookmarks json file. The Bookmarks backup filename window will close and then you can close the Library window.

To restore or import your Firefox bookmarks:
  1. Click the Library button Library button , then click Bookmarks. Scroll to the bottom and click Show all bookmarks.

  2. In the Library window, click the Import and Backup button Import and Backup button and then select Restore.

  3. Select the backup from which you want to restore. Choose File... lets you restore from a manual backup (see above).

  4. After choosing a backup, your bookmarks from that file will be restored. Close the Library window.

5. Save your Outlook email signature.

We recommend sending yourself an email that includes your email signature(s) so it can be easily recreated in Outlook by copy-and-paste.



Recommended First Steps for Using a New Computer

If you have additional questions, please contact the I.T. Helpdesk at helpdesk@fvtc.edu or 920-735-5644.

Keywords:
backup,refresh,old oldcomputer 
Doc ID:
88298
Owned by:
Thom W. in FVTC
Created:
2018-12-07
Updated:
2020-10-23
Sites:
Fox Valley Technical College
Clean URL:
https://kb.fvtc.edu/oldcomputer