I wasn't too concerned about needing to install my programs on a second machine. But what did terrify me was the thought of needing to redo all my customizations/settings for each of those programs.
Enter the Windows Easy Transfer software and cable, which sells for $10 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Transfer-Cable-Windows-F4U060/dp/B0093HCIQ0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1367813918&sr=8-3&keywords=easy+transfer#productDescription
Because both macines are Win7, I did not need to use the software that also comes with the cable. The included software is designed to help one move one's settings from OS versions earlier than Win7 to one's new Win7 or Win8 machine.
The procedure was simple:
--install your desired programs on the new machine
--connect the two machines, via USB ports, with the cable
--start the Easy Transfer software on both machines
--wait for the "from" machine to say that it sees the "to" machine, then press OK
--watch the progress bar on the "to" machine to see how long the process of transferring the various settings will take
In my case, it took a little over an hour to transfer 73GB.
Now for the frosting on the cake:
Full Report Informs You of Transfer Confirmation
Once the transfer is completed, a post-migration report is generated, providing a comprehensive view of everything that was transferred to your new computer. You can rest assured knowing you did everything correctly and quickly identify any issues. Because of possible incompatibility and licensing issues, some programs and applications may not be transferred to the new computer. The utility provides a list of all programs and applications installed on the old computer along with links to latest versions of the programs (if provided by the software developer).
In addition, if there is a corrupt file or setting, your transfer won't hang up--it will simply finish and provide a full report of anything that didn't transfer.
I'm now creating this post with the new machine.
P.S. Although it turned out to be unnecessary, I exported my IE Favorites to an external drive before begining the process. Ditto for my NIS Identity Safe logins.
P.P.S I had mostly just ths OS and programs on my 1TB C drive, which is why there were only 73GB to be transferred. If you are one who also puts data on your C drive, then your documents, pictures and other data files will also be transferred.
P.P.S. According to the Acronis documentation, there is also a method for creating a clone of the C drive that is on one's existing machine and then simply bolting that drive into the new machine. Acronis will allegedly help one find all the new drivers that will be needed for the new hardware, however, given my bad luck with Acronis, I chose not to go that route:
During recovery, the program may be unable to find some driver(s) in the specified sources and will display an error message(s). In this case, you can click Ignore to continue recovery or click Cancel to cancel the process and then try to find the required driver. You can then continue with the recovery process.--Acronis documentation
