Move in with Windows 7

Francis D'sa | 24 February 2010

You just gifted yourself a new computer loaded with a brand new copy of Windows 7. Let us help you to transfer your settings and data to the new machine with ease.

By Francis D’Sa

This happens in with almost all upgrades—the biggest pain is shifting all your data and settings to your newly acquired/upgraded machine with a new operating system. It really gets on your nerves when you have to go through all those painful steps—backing up the older data, writing important settings on a piece of paper, then installing the new Windows operating system, adding a user profile, setting up the environment and finally restoring all that data from the older PC! Tiring, isn’t it? Plus, many Windows XP users, especially those with older PCs who were cynical about upgrading to Vista because of its system requirements now find themselves skipping a whole version, meaning settings and file locations don't always match up. Migrating your user profiles and data from the older Windows XP to the newer Windows 7 can be tedious and time consuming unless you know a few faster and easier shortcuts.

Welcome to Windows Easy Transfer—this utility from Microsoft is the best way to get your data across to a new PC. The procedure is very simple and does not need any major education degree or training. So let’s begin with this simple migration tool by following the step-by-step instructions as shown in the screenshots ahead. All you need is a USB storage drive with enough room to hold all your data from the older computer. Let’s start by gathering the data which needs to be saved from your older Windows XP machine.

Note: This workshop is also applicable to Windows Vista users. Power up your computer and pop your Windows 7 DVD into the DVD drive. Browse to the folder ‘D:supportmigwiz’ and execute the file ‘migwiz.exe’ (assuming that the D drive here is your optical drive with the Windows 7 DVD in it)

The next window will inform you about the options available for transfer—click ‘Next’. Select the transfer method as ‘An external HDD or USB flash drive’. We are using this method as an "easy transfer cable" is not easily available and the network option isn't applicable unless you are using your computers on a network. In the next screen click on ‘This is my old computer’. A quick scan through all your folders and files will inform you about the amount of data that will be considered for backup and transfer. Additionally, you can click on the ‘Customize button’ and select the necessary files, shortcuts and program settings to be backed up and the ‘Advanced’ button gives you more options to select additional files from anywhere on the computer. Once you are done selecting and sorting your data that needs to be transferred, click on the ‘Next’ button. The screen ahead will ask you to enter a password to secure this data while it's being copied. The next screen will ask you where these settings and data need to be saved. Plug in your storage device and select its drive letter.

Note: your external storage drive need not be formatted, but should contain enough space to accommodate all the files from this computer.

Create a folder of your choice (if needed) and click the ‘Next’ button. The data you selected for migration will be saved onto the external storage drive. The process will take time depending on the amount of data that needs to be backed up. One can even save the data on the desktop itself and burn the package onto a DVD manually if a suitable external drive is not available. Once the data is backed up, complete the transfer wizard and power off the system.

The steps ahead will be to transfer the data to the new PC. If it isn't already done, install Windows 7 and finalize the operating environment by making sure all system drivers are in place. The process here is quite simple and straight-forward. Simply open the USB drive in ‘Computer’ and double-click on the file that was created by the transfer utility in Windows XP. The wizard will automatically analyze the file and display the data on the next screen. Choose the ‘Customize’ button and select the data you want to transfer (by default, everything is selected). Now here is the step you need to be careful about—your older computer would have had a profile with a user name, while the new one will need a different username. Click on the ‘Advanced Options’ link on the bottom-right of the transfer utility window and choose what you would prefer to do with the backed up data. If you want the profiles and data to be restored into the current user profile, you can skip this step; else choose to create a new user profile on the new PC. The wizard will help you create a new profile and you can enter the exact user name as it was on the older computer if you prefer. Once done, your data will be associated with the selected profile and the restoration process will begin. After the migration is complete, you can check a transfer report and confirm which files and settings have been migrated over. Finally, you can restart your computer and log in using the new profile. Delete the unwanted user account if you prefer.

Important information: The Windows Easy Transfer utility will only transfer your data, profiles and program settings. You will need to install all your programs and applications manually on the newer computer.