Migrating to a new PC can be a tedious, time-consuming business. There will be applications to reinstall, serial numbers to find, data to move, and that’s before you start reconfiguring everything to try and restore your old settings.

Alternatively, you could just use EaseUS Todo PCTrans to handle at least some of the work for you.

The program comes in two editions. Todo PCTrans Pro transfers your applications, their settings and your data, and is yours for $39.95; Todo PCTrans Free transfers your data only.

Both versions follow the same basic rules. You must start by connecting your old and new PCs to the same network (wired or wireless). They should both be running Windows XP or later. And the new system should have the same or a later version of Windows, and enough hard drive space to handle whatever you throw at it.

A simple wizard walks you through the migration process

Install Todo PCTrans on both PCs, and a straightforward wizard walks you through the migration process. This begins with the program listing all the PCs on your network, and asking you to select the transfer target. (Can’t see it? There’s an option to specify an IP address instead.)

The commercial Todo PCTrans Pro then scans your system for installed applications, and tries to evaluate their compatibility with the new computer. All you have to do is choose the applications you’d like to transfer from a list.

Todo PCTrans Free jumps straight to the data stage. As you’d expect from the maker of Todo Backup, this is a simple matter of selecting the files and folders you need.

There are a few minor tweaks on offer. If your old PC stores its data on drive C:, the new one on an SSD D:, then Todo PCTrans can adjust the target drive for you.

For the most part, though, there’s nothing else to do: just click Start, and wait. And keep waiting, probably: migrations take a very long time.

This is fairly basic, especially the data-only Free build. And although we haven’t directly compared them, Laplink PCmover Professional appears more configurable then Todo PCTrans Pro, more able to handle the gotchas you’ll often encounter during migrations.

Despite that, EaseUS Todo PCTrans 6.5 Free does do a reasonable job of automating the data transfer process, and it’s certainly easy to use. If you’re looking for an alternative to Laplink technology then give it a try.