Originally Posted by
Paul F Franklin
I guess I beg to differ a bit. There are several utilities that will transfer both your programs and data to a new PC, avoiding the need to reinstall everything. One example is EaseUS PCtransfer (or something like that). This of course assumes the version of software you have is compatible with Win 11 (not guaranteed by any means). They move all the necessary executables and support files, and registry entries needed.
They are not perfect but they work pretty well. There are downsides: you get all your "stuff", even stuff you may not want. And if your old computer was clogged with junk, your new computer will be clogged with junk.
It's definitely preferable to start with a clean machine, reinstall all your software, and copy over all your data files. But that can be a huge undertaking and not everyone has the install media for every program they want/need, not to mention license keys etc.
IIWM, I'd make a system backup of the clean machine and then try one of the transfer programs. If it doesn't work well, you can always restore from the clean backup and do the transfer manually.