Great Utilities for Data Transfer with Windows 8.1

Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Migrating to Windows 8.1? Have a ton of messy files, duplicates, and scared of corrupting your files? Alan Wallace lists five great utilities to get the job done safely.

aNewDomain.net — Yes, while I find it annoying that the iconic Menu is still missing from the Start Button, Windows 8.1 is technically the best and most-stable Windows OS.

I recently set up a fresh Windows 8.1 machine with the goal to migrate all data, including more external drives than I ever wanted to have, into the new system. It was time to tame the mess created from years of duplicates, partial backups, and files that became corrupt over time. As I cleaned my various machines and external drives I found that migrating to new hardware, OS updates and years of clutter required a few vital utilities.

Here are some key applications that will help you transition to Windows 8.1.

Image Credit: Alan Wallace

Migrating to Windows 8.1? Have a ton of messy files, duplicates, and scared of corrupting your files? Alan Wallace lists five great utilities to get the job done safely.

aNewDomain.net — Yes, while I find it annoying that the iconic Menu is still missing from the Start Button, Windows 8.1 is technically the best and most-stable Windows OS.

I recently set up a fresh Windows 8.1 machine with the goal to migrate all data, including more external drives than I ever wanted to have, into the new system. It was time to tame the mess created from years of duplicates, partial backups, and files that became corrupt over time. As I cleaned my various machines and external drives I found that migrating to new hardware, OS updates and years of clutter required a few vital utilities.

Here are some key applications that will help you transition to Windows 8.1.

Windows Migration Issues

One typical nightmare in Windows occurs when moving files from point A to point B. Users expect the data to simply transfer from one system or folder to the next, but usually, Windows crashes mid-move. This leaves you with questions: What data was just eaten? What data will not be recoverable? How will I ever find out? Another big problem when the system crashes mid-move is that many files have write permissions that become corrupt, making them RA, un-editable and essentially trash.

Did you have a non-corrupt, completely-intact version of everything backed up? I hope so.

These problems usually arise when I’m in a hurry and need to do something with an image or other media file. Of course, I have more backups and duplicates of those files, which allows the total joy of mixed files and many duplicates with different properties in various distributed locations. They could be splayed over an office machine, a personal machine or an external drive.

How do I organize years of files, vaguely organized, but mostly saved many times, into an intuitive organized system?

Helpful Utilities

I go to a few key utilities to get the job done. These programs are best for IT administrators, but I have found them user friendly enough to work for myself. Each of these was vital to the great migration project.</