In transferring data from one laptop to another, there is more than one approach to doing it. In this article, I'm going to assume that both laptops have either USB or USB2 slots to connect cables. Firewire is also an option, though fewer laptops have these. You're also going to need an external hard drive to temporarily hold the information you want to transfer.
1. First of all, to save yourself a lot of time and hassle long-term, take the time to go through the old laptop and delete anything you don't want to keep or transfer. This will make the entire process go a lot quicker.
In most cases, it's also easiest to just reinstall programs on the new laptop as opposed to trying to move drivers and program files over from an old one. Do this before you transfer data from the old laptop to it, so that way you don't have to go through telling the computer to open certain types of files with certain programs.
2. Plug the old laptop into the external hard drive using the cable that's compatible with both and begin transferring files to the external drive. As you do this, watch for any errors or issues. The great thing about this is the external hard drive will serve as a extra back-up of the information as well.
3. Now move the cable from the old laptop to the new one. You can now start moving the data from the external hard drive to the new laptop. According to how much data you have, this process can take a few minutes to several hours.
4. Double-check to make sure you have everything you need from your old laptop before clearing it off. Also check to make sure data on the new laptop is pulling up properly.