You bought your new Windows 8 laptop, but what about the files on your old Windows 7 notebook? Chances are you have photos, movies and documents that you want to move over to your new machine. Thankfully, transferring files to Windows 8 doesn’t need to be a time-consuming or frustrating process. Using free software, such as Windows Easy Transfer, and an external hard drive, you can move the files from your old PC to your new Windows 8 notebook in a relatively short amount of time.

First, search for and run Easy Transfer from the Start menu’s search bar on your Windows 7 laptop. From the list of transfer options, select “An external hard disk or USB flash drive,” then select “This is my old computer.”

Finally, select the account whose files you’d like to transfer and click Next. Once the files are successfully transferred to the hard drive, turn on your Windows 8 laptop. From the Start screen (or using the search bar in the Charms menu, accessed by swiping in from the right side of the screen), search for and run Easy Transfer.

The next steps are almost identical to those used to transfer files off of your Windows 7 PC, except you select “This is my new computer” instead. Windows 8 will then prompt you to plug in the external hard drive and enter your password to begin transferring files. Choose the account you’d like to transfer to your new PC, click transfer and, voilà, your old files are now on your Windows 8 notebook.