Employee transitions can be chaotic, particularly if the employee's computer is a repository of confidential company information or other business-critical data. As an administrative assistant, you can protect this valuable computer information by transferring it to a safe location.

Following the easy steps here, adapted from Ed Bott's Your New PC: Seven Easy Steps to Help You Get Started! (Microsoft Press, 2005), choose the method of transferring computer files that best meets your company's needs. A popular transfer option is the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, available with Microsoft Windows XP. To ensure that you don't waste time moving unnecessary data, you can use this wizard to pick and choose the types of information that you want to move.

Other employees might need access to some information on the departing employee's computer. If you have a network in your office, you can store the data on a SharePoint site for other people to see. If you don't have an office network, you can safely back up the information to a CD. Before you store the disk in a safe location, clearly identify the disk by creating a CD disk label and CD case label with the free CD label template.

The following information and tools can help you lessen the chaos of employee transitions while safeguarding vital company information.

• Transfer important data for safekeeping (Article)
  Learn which method for transferring computer files is right for you.
• Back up important files and settings (Article)
  Learn how to back up and move some common types of data.
• Transfer data by using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (Article)
  Use this wizard to choose the exact information that you need to transfer.
• Use SharePoint Services to create your team Web site (Article)
  Share critical business information with other team members by storing it on a SharePoint site.
• Copy files to a CD (Article)
  Burn your data onto a CD to create backup copies or to share files with other people.

• Data backup CD face labels (Template)
  Use this free Word template to create labels for the CD disks that you use for data backup.
• Data backup CD case inserts (Template)
  Clearly identify your valuable backup CDs with this case insert label.