Ezine 187 - Windows 7 Easy Transfer Lives-up to Its Name
My mission this week is to share with you my enjoyable experience of migrating user settings from XP (or
Vista) to Windows 7.
Easy Transfer lives up to its name. It really does move a user's settings from
an XP machine to a
new installation of Window 7 smoothly and completely. Now, I have been
employing Microsoft's User Setting Migration Tools since
Windows 98. While these ancestors of Easy Transfer frustrated me
because they only found 80% of the files, the Windows 7 version completed
the job effortlessly and with 100% satisfaction; I even had to suppress the desire to make-work and find another
project to test it on!
This latest version of the Easy Transfer manager typifies my vision of
how Windows 7
programmers deconstructed each feature of Vista, polished its rough edges,
added a sprinkling of intelligence, and then recreated it as a Windows 7 component.
Another minor miracle is that somehow the new Windows 7 version manages to do more 'stuff', yet
its menus are easier to navigate.
Basics of The Easy Transfer
Although the Windows 7 Easy Transfer is a joy to use, you have to give it a
chance, please download the correct version for your old 32/64 bit XP (or Vista) machine
from Microsoft's site.
I am also assuming that you have installed Windows 7 on the new machine, and
have found its built-in Windows Easy Transfer program.
However, if you intend to install Windows 7 on the SAME machine, you will have to
modify my plan and store the old settings before you install Windows 7.
My first tip is to fixate on the NEW computer, that is the one with the
Windows 7 installation. Easy Transfer is essentially a pull process,
thus once installed, you launch Windows Easy Transfer on the old operating system
and forget
about that machine. For my migration I had the luxury of a brand new
machine, which had a network connection to the old XP computer. If you
want to transfer setting on the same machine then seek the option to store
files on an external hard disk or USB flash drive. Talking of options,
I have glossed over all the other choices such as which files to omit, and
whether you want to map to a different user account on the Windows 7
machine.
On the subject of networking, I confess to a
problem; I tried to transfer 20GB of data using a wireless connection.
After about 20 minutes the transfer appeared to stall, so I cancelled, found an ethernet network cable
and retried. From that point onwards the transfer worked flawlessly.
To be fair, the operation may have stalled because I started to do stuff on
the Windows 7 machine despite the transfer Wizard telling me not to.
Tips - Shared Item Option and Windows Transfer Report
My top tip when using Easy Transfer is to look for the 'Shared Items' option. This saved me
time because it appeared to backup or 'package' all the ordinary folders,
those locations
where the user had stored stuff on their old machine. The benefit was when the transfer completed, there was all the old data in exactly the same
place as on the old machine, the user was delighted and a week later still has
not complained of any lost files - unusual for a migration.
Keep your eye on the Windows Transfer Report. Here is another
intelligent wizard, which lists all the programs that you need to
re-install on the new machine. The only surprise is that Microsoft's
recommendation is to install these programs AFTER the transfer and not before.
My friend 'Barking' Eddie says I have a problem with authority, because why
else would Guy defy Microsoft's instruction and install MS Office and other
programs before the transfer? Good news, it did not matter. In
my case, Word and Excel worked fine after the upgrade. Eddie thinks I
was just lucky, and that when you install a program its routine can detect
user settings and adjust the installation to make sure it links to these
paths.
See more on Windows
Easy Transfer
Summary of Windows Easy Transfer
Friends who know me would not say I have a critical nature, thus I have
surprised people by 'putting the boot in' to so many of the programs that I
have reviewed. My grumble has been that utilities should either
be truly easy to install, or else their creators should not hype them
in that way. At last I have found in Windows Easy Transfer a utility
that installs effortlessly and performs just as advertised.
Furthermore, if Easy Transfer does its job despite my failure to read
detailed instructions, then it's a clever program which will serve you well.
Encouraging computers to sleep when not in use is a great idea -
until you are away from your desk and need a file on that remote sleeping machine!
Wake-On-LAN really will save you that long walk to awaken a hibernating
machine; however my reason for encouraging you to download this utility is
just because it's so much fun sending those 'Magic Packets'. As Wake-On-LAN (WOL) is free, see
if I am right, and you get a kick from arousing those sleeping machines.
WOL also has business uses for example, wakening machines so that they can have
their patches applied.
Download your free copy of Wake-On-LAN
Network Utilities from
Tools4Ever
Tools4Ever provide not one but a host of handy network utilities. They
have a professional stable of products for example, SpaceGuard Disk quota
manager, Self Service Password Reset, and my favourite FreePing.
Tools4Ever use the popular internet utility model where we download a trial
version, and if we like it, we return and buy the full version.
Check out the network utilities from
Tools4Ever.
While Will and Guy have a section of computer jokes and funny pictures, our
feeling is that this not the best section of our humour site. Consequently
we would appreciate you sending examples of clean computer jokes and amusing
cartoons that made you laugh.
This is the
computer humour already have.
Windows 8 Features:
• Windows 8 New Features •
Windows 8 Metro UI •
Windows 8 Tips •
Windows 8 FAQ • Ezines
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Free Netflow Traffic Analyzer
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Windows 8 Home •
E 179 Hide Accounts • E 187 Easy Transfer
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E 186 Deprecated •
E 184 Windows Phone •
E 180 Godmode
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