Windows 8 has been around for a few weeks now and has had a generally positive reception.

If you weren't one of the early adopters who rushed out to buy it on launch day, you might now be starting to think about an upgrade or considering buying a new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed.

But what about all of your programs and data? Does the thought of having to reinstall and transfer everything put you off making the switch?

Well fear not; migrating to Windows 8 needn't be as difficult as you think.

Read on and we'll take you through the various options that are available, whether you're upgrading an existing system or moving everything across to a new PC.

Windows 8 upgrades for existing systems

If you have a PC running Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista or Windows 7 then you should be able to upgrade.

To find out if you can, go to windows.microsoft.com and download the free Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. This will analyse your system and tell you whether it's suitable. If it is, then the Assistant will take you through the process of purchasing and installing the new OS.

As a first step in the process the Assistant looks at all your existing software and will check if it's compatible with Windows 8.

You'll be alerted to any possible problems before continuing.

What happens next varies a little depending on your old version of Windows.

On Windows 7 systems everything should be transferred intact so that you end up with a system that's ready to go as soon as the upgrade is complete.

If you're running XP or Vista, your files will be copied over but you'll need to reinstall all of your applications.

Make sure you have the necessary installation media and licence keys before you start.

On pre-SP3 XP or older systems, you can still install Windows 8 – if the hardware is up to it – in which case your documents, photos, etc, are saved to a Windows.old folder.

You can retrieve them from there once the upgrade is complete. This also applies on any system if you select the 'keep nothing' option during the upgrade; as long as you don't format the disk your files will still be saved in a Windows.old folder.

Using Windows Easy Transfer to move to Windows 8

If you've decided to make a fresh start and do a clean installation there will doubtless still be some files that you want to retain.

Fortunately, there are tools for earlier versions of Windows that can help you with this process.

On Windows 7 systems you can use Windows Easy Transfer, which is supplied as part of the OS to copy your data to an external drive or network location.

XP and Vista users can visit http:///dhSU1h to download an appropriate version of Windows Easy Transfer for their systems.

Once you've saved the data you want with Easy Transfer you can go ahead and install Windows 8.

When the installation is complete, open the Search charm and type 'transfer' to find Windows Easy Transfer on the Windows 8 system.

You can then connect the drive or network where you saved the data and import it to the new system.

The disadvantage of Easy Transfer is that it only handles files, so be sure you have copies of any software you need to reinstall after the upgrade; in particular you'll need the installers for any programs you've bought as downloads.

Transfer via backup

If you already have a backup program, then provided it's compatible with Windows 8 you can simply install it and restore your data from the latest backup copy.

It's a good idea to make a fresh backup to an external drive or DVDs before you start the upgrade, and verify that you can access the media before you proceed. There's nothing worse than finding your backup is unreadable.

Again, this is a good way of moving data, but you'll still need to reinstall programs.

Using disk-to-disk copy to move to Windows 8

If you've bought yourself a shiny new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed, then of course you'll want to move your files across from the old one.

You can use Windows Easy Transfer, or a backup as above, but if you're handy with a screwdriver then there's another way.

You can take the hard drive out of your old machine and connect it to the new one. External enclosures can be bought for a few pounds that allow you to plug the old hard drive in via a USB port.

You can then simply use Windows Explorer to drag the files you need across. Your programs will need to be reinstalled though.

A slightly different approach to this for people with a network is to use a NAS drive to save the data you want to keep so that it's accessible over the LAN. Whilst convenient, this method isn't really suitable for large volumes of material.

Using Laplink PCmover to move to Windows 8

For those who want a lazy man's approach and don't mind spending a bit of money, PCmover from www.laplink.com will cost you £27.95 for the Home edition, and allows you to transfer not only files, but also your applications between machines.

Spend a bit more (£39.99) on a boxed Ultimate version and they even throw in a cable so that you can connect two PCs via their Ethernet ports to do a direct transfer.

Whilst it's not a cheap option, PCmover is attractive for its ease of use, particularly if you want to migrate applications from XP or Vista systems.

You can choose exactly what you want to transfer, then simply let the machine get on with it.

The Ultimate edition has the added bonus of a SafeErase program so that you can wipe the personal data from your old PC before disposing of it.

Upgrading Windows or moving to a new PC is never something to be undertaken lightly. Select the right tools for the job, though, and it needn't be as daunting a task as you might think.

Tutorial: Windows 8 upgrade: how to migrate to Microsoft's new OS