Best way to transfer all data into new PC?

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1

I'm finally selling my laptop and building a custom rig but I'm a little scared as to how I'm going to transfer all of my files, programs, etc to my new PC (this my first ever rig swap). My laptop and my future rig are both Windows 7, should I just use Windows Backup? Or would a third-party backup program work better? I have a 2TB external I can backup to but I should note that I won't have my old laptop available to me when I start building my new rig. 

And one final, very noobish question,

If I were to drag and drop the entire contents of my "Programs" folder from my old PC into my new one, would the programs execute from the new PC? Or I would I have to re-install them completely using the .exe or disc, etc? I'm guessing no but I'd like an answer from someone more knowledgeable than I.

Any help is appreciated!!

2

Drag and drop programs into new pc, no it will most likely shit itself with 90% of the programs.

Just re-install them. Start with a clean slate.

...or migrate your laptop hdd to the new build's hdd, run windows repair, then change the product key.

3

+1 on the programs.

Source: Personal Experience

I always drag everything I need to an external HDD, and do a format on the HDD, and reinstall everything.