How can I make the transition to a new computer easy and convenient?
Q: I have an old PC with Windows 8.1 that is starting to show its age and Id like to get something new. Since Im not the techiest person in the world, the thought of setting up a new computer is causing me a bit of anxiety. I have a lot of bookmarks, programs and files that I would like to make sure get moved over to the new PC. I recently heard of a program called PCmover from Laplink software that claims to make transfers easy, but Im not sure its worth the money or even if it will help me out.  Mary Edwards  A: I have tried PCmover and it worked just as advertised. You install the program on both computers, then select what you want to transfer from the old computer to the new computer. Next youll specify how the computers are connected: over a Wi-Fi or wired network, using a Laplink ethernet cable or a LapLink USB cable. Press a button and PCmover will take care of the rest. There are a few potential limitations to be aware of. Some hardware drivers may not transfer and some applications may require reinstallation or provision of a code to activate on the new computer. And make sure the applications you want to transfer are compatible with the new operating system. Related Tech Q&As Read more from Patrick Marshall here >>  As for whether its worth $59.95 to make the move just once, thats your call. It certainly saves time and the hassle of locating old programs, discs, copying bookmarks, etc. Q: I have Windows 10 and run Outlook for my email program. When I try to download emails, transfer emails to various personal folders, or try and delete emails, I get this message indicating that the Outlook data file has reached maximum size. It also says that the new Outlook data file introduced with Outlook 2003 provides greater capacity. Advertising  This message pops up when I have only 128 emails in my account and there are 58 deleted emails sitting in the delete/trash folder. I would think that I should be able to keep more than 128 emails in my account. If I clean out the delete/trash folder, sometimes that allows the program to download my new emails. Or if I permanently delete all nonimportant emails, it gives me enough room for the new emails to download  sometimes. I have tried to move over most of my essential emails into personal folders, but there are still 128 right now that I am choosing not to place into folders, as I have to deal with them in the next couple of weeks. As you can see, this is all clear as mud in both my understanding of computers and trying to explain it to you!  Susan Beattie, Sequim  A: It would seem that Outlooks data file is, as the program reports, full and it cant accept more emails. And the Outlook data file doesnt contain just your inbox. It also contains all the emails you move to other personal folders. So moving emails from your inbox to a personal folder wont do anything to provide more room. Also, since the error message suggests upgrading to Outlook 2003 it seems that youre using a very old version of the program. If you upgrade to the current version, youll find that you can store a lot more data. If you dont want to spend for a newer version you may want to consider trying the browser-based free version. Youll find that at https://outlook.live.com/owa/.