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You can spend the better part of a week figuring out how to make a new PC behave like the old one. V-Communications' $50 PC Upgrade Commander, a utility for transferring your programs, data, and configurations to a new computer, makes the chore easier.

You install and run PC Upgrade Commander on both computers, click through a short and simple wizard, and let the program transfer your files over a LAN, through the included parallel cable, or via removable media drives.

Though Upgrade Commander makes the job easier, it doesn't make it easy--you'll still have to reconfigure many programs. If an application is already installed on both computers, this utility leaves it as it is on the new one; and your old settings, your preferences, and some data may not make the journey. In my tests, running the program gave the new PC's Outlook Express the address book and accounts--but not the in-box folders or rules--from the old PC.

Of seven tests, two ended badly. The undo feature did fix the second disaster. The old PC, with all of its valued data and applications, remained unaffected in both cases.

SUMMARY

PC Upgrade Commander Eases the task of moving data and programs to a new PC. $50 V Communications www.v-com.com

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