August 12, 2005

Moving PC Files? CA's Desktop DNA vs Laplink's PC Mover

Over the last several days I've had the opportunity to try out two PC file moving utilities.

One is Computer Associate's Desktop DNA and the other being Laplink's PC Mover.

Both programs move files, but Computer Associate's Desktop DNA provides more flexibility and robust features.

Laplink's PC Mover is very easy to use, you install the software on both computers, ensure they are connected (USB, network, etc) and PC Mover transfers all your programs, settings and files to the new computer. You can do some limited selection of which files to transfer such as if you want to move Desktop Settings; Outlook Mailboxes; Current Identity and Addressbook; Microsoft Word Settings; Internet Explorer Settings but that's about it.

Computer Associates Desktop DNA, on the other hand, lets you quickly select how much or how little of your files to transfer. You can even drill down to the folder level, which files you want or do not want to transfer. This is very important. You might not want to move all your files, or maybe the mover, as intelligent as it tries to be, did not get all the files for some reason.

Another key feature of Computer Associate's Desktop DNA is that you can choose to migrate your PC "now" or "defer" the migration to a later date. The deferred migration makes a snapshot file of your PC's data and stores it on the PC or somewhere else. You can copy this self executable file to a CD, transfer it via the network or etc and use it to migrate one or more computers with the DNA of the original computer.

While LapLink and Computer Associates have done good jobs at making basic PC moving utilities, Computer Associates has excelled at giving users full control of their migration needs and the deferred migration feature is simply brilliant.

PC Mover is $49.95 for the downloaded version (with no USB cable for file transfer) and Desktop DNA is $22.00.

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