new laptop setup

Question

Setting up new laptop and all files transferred but will not open on the new laptop

Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows

Answer 1

Hi @Chad Deane,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Regarding the issue where files successfully transferred to your new laptop are failing to open. To isolate the root cause and provide a more targeted solution, I need to gather specific details regarding your current setup and the behavior of the operating system.

Please provide answers to the following questions to help scope the problem:

1. What specific method was utilized to move the data to the new device? For example, did you use an external drive, a network transfer, or a cloud-based service like OneDrive?
2. What is the precise error message or system response when attempting to access a file? Does the system provide an Access Denied prompt or ask you to choose a default application?
3. Is this behavior consistent across all file formats or restricted to specific extensions like .docx, .pdf, or .exe?
4. Are the files residing in a standard local directory or within a folder managed by a synchronization service?

You may also perform these initial checks to verify the system state:

• Right-click an affected file and select the Open with option. Confirm that the appropriate software is installed. If files appear as blank icons, the necessary applications may not yet be installed on the new device.
• Right-click the folder containing the files, select Properties, and navigate to the Security tab. Click Advanced to verify the Owner. If the owner is listed as an unknown account from the previous PC, select Change to take ownership with your current credentials.

If you utilized a cloud service, the files may be in an online-only state. Right-click the folder and select Always keep on this device to ensure the data is fully downloaded to local storage.

I await your response with the requested information to proceed with further analysis.