No built-in program enables you to transfer files from Windows 98 and earlier versions. So you’ll need to use some other method, of which you have many to choose from. One possibility is to purchase a PC-to-PC file transfer program that works with Vista and your old computer’s operating system. I can’t give any specific product recommendations here. But if you search an online retailer or a search engine like Google for PC to PC File Transfer, you should find some products. Just make sure you get one that works with both of your computers. Another choice is to copy any files you need on the new computer to some external medium. A jump drive or external hard disk would be best. You can use CDs or DVDs if both computers have appropriate burners. After you’ve copied all the necessary files to that external disk, put that disk in your Vista computer and copy files from it to appropriate folders on your hard disk (for example, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos). Copying files won’t help with Internet favorites, e-mail messages, contacts, and such. But you can usually export those items to files. Then copy those files to your external medium. Then import those files to corresponding programs on your Vista computer.

Options to import and export are usually on a program’s File menu. If in doubt, you can search that program’s Help for Export or Import, depending on which you need to do. The sections to follow offer a few handy tips and techniques. But first a couple of cautions for people who skipped or didn’t understand the preceding sections of this article.

You don’t need to do anything from the following sections if you’re copying from a Windows XP or Windows 2000 computer. Windows Easy Transfer will take care of all those items. The sections to follow apply only to Windows 98 and earlier versions. The techniques assume you know how to navigate folders, use your My Computer folder (or Computer folder in Vista), and how to copy files. Most of the concepts and skills presented in Part VI of this article apply to all versions of Windows. But if you never learned to do those things in your previous version of Windows, it might be difficult to learn how to do things on your old computer from a article like this, which is about Windows Vista.

Manually transfer Internet Explorer Favorites

To export Internet Export Favorites on the old computer choose File  ->  Import and Export  ->  Export Favorites. Put that file on your external disk. Or put it in your Documents folder (or someplace else that’s easy to get to) and copy it to the external disk. The Favorites are stored in a file named articlemark.htm. It’s really not necessary to do this with importing and exporting cookies. Those files are created and deleted on-the-fly by Web sites you visit, and are rarely “necessary” for accessing a Web site. But if you really want to, you can choose to export and import cookies. On the Windows Vista computer, open Internet Explorer. Tap the Alt key to see the classic menus. Choose File  ->  Import and Export. In the wizard, choose to Import Favorites. Browse to your external disk and double-click the articlemark.htm file. Continue on through the wizard clicking Next, OK, and Finish where appropriate. When you’re done, click the Favorites Center star at the left side of the toolbar. You should see all your imported favorites.

Manually transfer contacts

If you use Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook on the old computer to manage contacts, you can export them to a .csv file on an external disk. Then put that disk in the Windows Vista computer and import them to your Contacts folder. To export Windows Address Article contacts from Outlook Express, open Outlook Express and click Address Article. Or open Windows Address Article from the Start menu. Once you’re in Windows, choose File  ->  Export  ->  Other Address Article  ->  Text File (Comma Separated Values).

Then browse to your external disk and enter a filename. When you get to the “Select fields” page, you can select (check) every checkbox. Then click Finish. To export Contacts from Microsoft Outlook, open Outlook and click Contacts so you’re viewing you contacts. Choose File  ->  Import and Export from the menu. In the wizard that opens, choose Export to a File, Comma Separated Values (Windows), and Contacts. Use the Browse button to navigate to your external disk, give the file a name, and click Next and Finish until the copy is complete. In Windows Vista you’ll use your Contacts folder to manage names and address.

But in terms of importing contacts from that .csv file, the process goes like this. First insert the disk or connect the drive that contains the exported contacts. Then open your Contacts folder. (Log in to your user account, click the Start button, click your user name, and open the Contacts icon.) In your open Contacts folder, click Import in the toolbar. If you don’t see Import in the toolbar, click >> at the end of that toolbar then click Import. Click CSV (Comma Separated Values) and click Import. On the next page, click the Browse button and navigate to the disk or drive that contains those contacts you exported. Click the filename that contains the contacts and click Open. Then click Next and Finish. Each imported contact is represented by an icon in your Contacts folder.

Manually transfer Outlook Express e-mail messages

There isn’t really any sure-fire simple way of transferring e-mail messages from all older versions of Outlook Express to Vista. But this seems to work with many versions. The idea is to open Outlook Express normally. Drag the message headers of any messages you want to transfer to a folder window for your external disk. You can select multiple headers using the standard Ctrl+Click and Shift+Click methods, then drag any one of them. Each e-mail message them becomes an .eml file on the external disk. Now comes the strange-but-true part of the transfer. Insert the disk that contains the .eml files in the Vista computer. Open Windows Mail and click your Inbox (or any folder under your Inbox). Or maybe better still, create a folder under your Inbox and name it something like Imported (in case this doesn’t work with all versions of Outlook Express). Select all the icons for the .eml files on the external disk and drag them to the main pane in Windows Mail where you normally see message headers. They should just fall right into place, no problem (although they’ll be at the bottom of the list of message headers that are already in that folder). As an alternative to transferring by disk, you can forward any saved messages to yourself so they end up back on your ISP’s mail sever. Just make sure you don’t download the messages to your old computer again. When you check your e-mail on the your new Windows Vista computer, the forwarded messages will download to your Inbox there.

E-mail is an Internet service provided by your ISP. Not all ISPs provide the same service. If you have questions about, or problems with, your e-mail, contact your ISP. They’re really the only people who can help you with the service they provide.

Transferring fonts

If you purchased or downloaded any TrueType or OpenType fonts and want to copy them over, open the Fonts folder on the old computer. This is typically C:\Windows\Fonts. Open that folder and copy any fonts you want to transfer to your external disk. Stick with TrueType and OpenType fonts (with .ttf extensions) that you acquired on your own. Don’t try to copy all fonts. Windows Vista already has many fonts built into it, and you don’t want to replace those fonts with older versions of similar fonts. After you’ve copied fonts to an external disk, put that disk into the Windows Vista computer. Log in to an administrative user account. Open the Fonts folder on the Windows Vista computer (click the Start button, type fonts, and click Fonts under the Programs heading). If you don’t see a menu bar in your Fonts folder, tap the Alt key. Then choose File  ->  Install New Font. In the Add Fonts dialog box, choose the drive that contains the fonts. Then click Select All, then click Install. If you get a message saying a font is already installed, you’d do well not to replace it with the one you’re importing. The new fonts that you do transfer will be available in every program that allows you to apply fonts to text.

Transferring files and settings from an old Windows 2000 or Windows XP computer is fairly easy. Use the USB Easy Transfer cable that came with your new computer. Or purchase one from any computer retailer. If the old computer isn’t running Windows 2000 or XP, you can’t use the Easy Transfer program and cable. But there are still ways to get files to the new computer, providing you have sufficient basic skills to locate and copy files.

To summarize:

- Windows Easy Transfer is the quickest and easiest way to transfer user accounts, folders, files, and settings from an old Windows 2000 or XP computer to your new Vista computer.

- You cannot transfer programs from an old computer to a new one through any means. That’s because every program must be installed not transferred or copied to the computer.

- Do not install older utility programs (virus scanners, firewalls, file managers, and such) on Windows Vista. Such programs are designed to work with a specific version or family of Windows, and may cause problems if installed on Windows Vista.

- Windows Easy Transfer, which comes free with Windows Vista, provides the quickest and easiest method of transferring user accounts, files, and settings from a Windows 2000 or XP computer to a new Windows Vista computer.

- To start Windows Easy Transfer, click the Start button, type trans, and click Windows Easy Transfer. To transfer files, just read its instructions and choose options that make sense for your equipment.

- To transfer files from earlier versions of Windows, copy those files to an external disk. Then copy from that same disk on the Windows Vista computer.

- To transfer contacts from an older computer, export them to a CSV file on an external disk. Then import them from that disk into your Contacts folder on the Windows Vista computer.