Building a new system- a jkOnTheRun primer

So I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new Fujitsu P1620 and while I have all of this time on my hands I am getting my game plan ready for building the new system.  I will build it like I do any Windows-based system with the goal being to get the environment on the new system to be like my existing systems as soon after arrival as possible.  A lot of interest has been expressed by those wanting to have a more detailed look at how I build a new system like this and since I am getting ready to do so it's a good time to share that process.  This will give you a look at not only the process I will use to build the Fujitsu but also what software I will immediately install to get Miyagi Jr. up and running.  Keep reading to see how I envision this process will progress.

I expect the P1620 will go through the standard "first-run" process with Vista Business installed and I will have to go through that process first.  This will probably take half an hour based on other systems I've set up with Vista.  Once that process is complete and the Fujitsu is running in production mode the build process will begin.

The first thing I will do is connect the P1620 to my HP 2710p since that's the device that has my daily work stuff on it.  I will connect the two using the Belkin Easy Transfer cable that I have and since the software is installed as part of Vista it will run automatically on both systems once the cable is connected.  It is a standard USB 2.0 connection on both ends which will provide fast transfer speeds.  On the Fujitsu I will tell the Easy Transfer utility that it is the new system and I will manually tell it to transfer my user accounts, settings, files and documents.  It will spin through those on the HP and tell me how much data will be transferred.  I suspect it will be ~19 GB of data since I will have it transfer all of my music library in iTunes as part of the process which is over 13 GB alone.  Once I give it the green light the Easy Transfer will begin and experience tells me it will take about an hour.  That's pretty fast given the amount of data.  Once the transfer is complete the Fujitsu will reboot and when it comes up is where the beauty of this method shines through.  The Fujitsu upon reboot will look just like the HP with all of the display settings the same and even my desktop customizations will be activated on the Fuji.

At this point I will install my core working software in this order:

• OneCare- antivirus/ anti-spyware
• Office Professional 2007
• OneNote 2007
• Project Professional 2007
• TimeTTracker MX- time and billing program

This is my main working software.  I will then fire up Outlook for the first time and will happily discover that the Easy Transfer utility copied all of my 3 email account configurations onto the Fuji and Outlook will find them and set them up the first time.  Since I use an Exchange Server and use an offline cache so I can see my server information locally when not connected to the web it will start the 30 minute process to synchronize the local Outlook cache to the Server.  This will run in the background while I continue to install the rest of my core software as follows:

• Firefox- browser extraordinary
• Roboform- login utility
• Bonjour/ Canon i70 driver- Bonjour from Apple lets me hang the printer off the router for wireless access
• VFW Access Manager/ u740 driver- ExpressCard EV-DO modem software from Verizon
• eReader Pro (now free)- the P1620 is a fantastic ebook reader
• Skype- don't have a web cam but audio conferencing is a must
• SnagIt!- screen capture on steroids
• Zinio- magazine reader
• Microsoft Experience Pack (Ink Crosswords)
• MindManager Pro 7- mind mapping
• New York Times Reader- gotta have my NYT daily
• Canon Scanner driver & utilities- backbone of my paperless office
• iTunes- yes, I use iTunes as my music player of choice
• Karen's Replicator- file and sync utility

This entire process will take about 4 hours but when it's complete the new Fujitsu will be set up just like the HP and I will have all of my data and programs on both systems.  Once this process is complete I will install FolderShare on the Fujitsu and go online to set up several sync jobs that will keep my documents and music files automatically synchronized on both the HP and the Fuji.  This will enable me to grab either machine to head out for my day and have everything in sync on both machines all the time.

That is my new machine build process which I've developed using trial and error over quite some time given the number of devices I evaluate and use.  It's a rock-solid process that has never failed me and it lessens the tedium that often accompanies building a new system.

Comments

[TonyP]

Great description, James. And timely for me. I'm waiting for my 2710p to replace my Fujitsu T4020.
Question, how specific does the Belkin system let you be? Can I transfer some settings (like how Outlook 2007 is set up) but not others (like how the desktop is configured). Some settings I want to keep, but for me part of the joy of setting up a new computer is rethinking my settings all over again. I often find that my current needs don't match how I had the previous computer. Thanks again for this description, Tony

[James Kendrick]

TonyP, thanks. As I recall the settings are pretty much all or nothing. The goal is to migrate everything about your old system to the new so it will be just like it. You can get specific and only migrate certain folders and documents though.

[Fred Beiderbecke]

What do you do about reviewing startup programs and services on the new machine? Or does the Easy Transfer take care of that?

[James Kendrick]

TonyP, actually according to this paper by MS you might be able to customize the settings that are migrated:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/1a3fbe72-9de8-4b94-b254-586a61843a041033.mspx?mfr=true

[James Kendrick]

Fred, Easy Transfer doesn't do programs. You will have to install any startup programs that are not part of Vista yourself. It won't touch services either as those are part of the OS and most people don't disable services.

[noahas]

Good call using Roboform as a "first software to install". I have used it for about 4+ years since someone recommended to switch to it from Gator.

I haven't used Karen's replicator, but the makers of Roboform also make a program called Goodsync, which is free and a fantastic file sync program. It is definitely easy to use and worht a try.

[Joe T.]

Didn't see an anti-virus or anti-spyware install. Just mentioning this because some might use your post as a checklist for themselves.

[James Kendrick]

Good point, Joe T. I install OneCare on all my machines and forgot it but it will go there early in the process.

[scoobie]

James what do you do regarding software licences? Presumably the s/w key is registered on the other laptop for all this software? How do you transfer that over?

[solomon]

please elaborate on your paperless office process, maybe a new post, and why Canon over Fujitsu, Kodak, etc. i have a Kodak and their built-in iThresholding, i think is far far superior (both in terms of quality of the scan and speed)then anything else out there.

[adadadadad]

James, I investigated Foldershare as this sounds like what I need, but according to MS it does not work with Vista, which I believe you are using. So, does it work with Vista, even though MS is saying don't use it with Vista?
Thanks

[SH]

Karen's Replicator...now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I used to use that before I discovered NTI Shadow (which functions in real-time, much like the now-discontinued Diskeeper which I used prior to Karen's Replicator). Shadow has saved my skin many times and, unlike Diskeeper, it almost never gets in the way (which is unusual for a real-time backup app).

[Shimon]

I would also add 42Tags for managing your scans using tags.
See video here - http://www.42tags.com/video.htm