Success!!
So I waited a bit and the 404 error cleared. I downloaded the recommended version of 1.8.whatever. Then I cut all the existing mods out of the new mod folder on the new computer and when I edited the new forge profile to match the new version of fml, it all worked.
I chose that one because that's what my son said to choose...kids these days...
Now I'm getting 404 messages when trying to download other versions of the installer. I'll try again tomorrow.
Appreciate the help here.
Feels like I'm making progress here...
I've made it a bit further - now when I edited the profile for 1.7.10 for my new profile "FML" I get an error screen that says -
Forge Mod Loader has found a problem with your minecraft installation
The mods and versions listed below could not be found
Forge : minimum version required is 10.12.1.1079
The file 'logs/fml-client-latest.log' contains more information
here's that log:
I got a new laptop recently and was able to move all my saves and resource packs and most everything else to the new .minecraft folder but I'm really struggling moving Forge. I've been able to create new profiles and select "forge" as the version, but when I click play, minecraft just crashes.
Any help would be appreciated.