Dell has just shipped our new desktop computer, which I purchased mere hours before our car fell $800 into disrepair. Fortunately, we have some Christmas fund leftover so we should weather this financial tsunami, although if you’d like to send a check to support relief efforts, you’ll probably feel really good about yourself for doing so.

I’m not writing to solicit funds, but charity of a different sort: your techno expertise.

Because the family computer resides in a big, heavy, hutch-bearing desk – that is an absolute bear to move – I want to make sure that the transition from old to new is thorough so I don’t have to keep moving the monstrosity away from the wall. I’m not sure if we’re keeping the old computer for auxiliary use or not, but even if we keep it, it will probably be out-of-use for a period. So this is where we stand. Oh yeah, we’ll be making the move from XP to Vista.

There’s not a lot to transfer from the old computer – some documents, music and pictures. Most of the software is dated or easily downloadable freeware (Adaware, Acrobat and stuff like that) and I’ve decided to start from scratch with financial information. Is there any basic stuff I should be mindful of saving that people like me often forget about?

I had added a second, 80GB internal hard drive to the old computer, on which is stored all of our music and pictures. Should I just remove it and install it in the new computer, or would it be better to transfer the music and pictures to my external drive and then to the new computer?

Might there be compatibility issues with installing the old internal hard drive in the new computer?

Will resetting up the wireless network be a pain in the ass, because it was the last time I did it?

Any other words of advice or comfort you care to offer is appreciated greatly.

On a related note, I thought this was amusing.

On Saturday morning, I was on the Dell Web site looking at two computers. They were essentially the same systems, only one was new and the other refurbished. I noticed that the refurbished model came with free shipping, but not the new one. I decided to call a sales rep and see if I couldn’t finagle free shipping on the new model.

She – the rep, a pleasant young lady of undeterminable beauty – began by telling me that free shipping on desktops required a purchase of over $600 (or some such figure) and that since the system I wanted was cheaper, it didn’t qualify. I then pointed out that the refurbished model was eligible for free shipping, and it cost even less than the new one. “It would cost the same to ship either one,” I added, helpfully.

She then came back with a half-baked explanation that since the refurbished model had already shipped out once, the FedEx fee to ship it out a second time would be less and this allowed them to offer the free shipping incentive. “Baloney!” I thought, but didn’t say. Instead I thanked her for her time and told her I would have to rethink a purchase from Dell.

Fast forward to Sunday morning – there in my Sunday newspaper was an insert for Dell Computers. One of the special offers listed was the exact system I was considering, and get this, there was free shipping!

So in short, Dell could have lost a sale by not offering to knock the shipping cost off of my bill when I talked to them on Saturday, yet on Sunday, they did just that. Otherwise, I swear to God, I would have bought an Acer.