Yes, you read right, we’re going to show you how to network Windows 7 and Windows 98. Now, some people might be wondering if we have ran out of ideas or experiences to write about regarding Windows 7; which is understandable, considering the wealth of information and resources that exist across the web about Microsoft’s latest operating system there are still a small batch of Windows 9x

One particular story I came across on a forum is a user running Windows 98 with GB’s of files he said he would like to bring over to his Windows 7 machine. I found the challenge an exciting one and decided to find out if it was possible to network a modern version of Windows with a 12 year old version way past it’s expiration date.

The answer is, it’s very much possible, but involves more hands on configuration than what you would require between two Windows 7 PC’s. It’s a testament to how far we have come. Networking PC’s today in Windows 7 is so much easier, HomeGroups make it a cinch to share files and resources such as a printer.

Lets get started:

I tried this with Windows 98 SE and Windows 7 64 bit and it worked just as a I describe.

Hurdles you might encounter:

- Setting File sharing

- Ethernet Adapter if you don’t have one installed in the Windows 98 machine, this will make it a challenge.

- You might need to have your Windows 98 disk on hand especially for installing and configuring TCP/IP

In Windows 98

On the desktop, right click ‘Network Neighborhood’

Click Properties

Go to the ‘Identification’ tab

Enter a WORKGROUP name

Enter a ‘Computer name’:

Click Apply and OK

Changing Workgroup settings in Windows 7

You should use this workgroup name also on Windows 7 machine.

In Windows 7, click Start, right click Computer

• Click Properties
• Under ‘Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings’
• Click ‘Change settings’
• Select the ‘Computer Name’ tab
• Next to ‘To rename this computer or change it’s domain or workgroup, click Change.

Enter the WORKGROUP name we created in Windows 98.

Make sure the workgroup name is the same as the one on the Windows 98 machine, you might be required to restart the machine for settings to be applied. Do so.

Once Windows 7 has restarted, you are going to apply an IP address.

• Click Start, click Network
• Click Network and Sharing Center
• Under Control Panel Home
• Click ‘Change Adapter Settings’
• Right click your Network adapter
• Click Properties
• Select TCI/IP 4
• Click Properties
• select ‘Use the following IP address’:

Enter 192.168.0.1

Click OK

Click Apply and OK

—————————————-

Back to the Windows 98 machine

On the desktop, right click ‘Network Neighborhood’

Click Properties

Select the ‘Configuration’ tab

Select TCP/IP

(again, if it’s not listed, click Add and follow to wizard to install one, you should make sure you already have an Ethernet adapter installed or this will be a futile experience).

Click Properties

Select IP Address tab

Select ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’

Click OK

In the Primary Network Logon: box, select: Clients for Microsoft Networks

Click File and Print Sharing

Check ‘I want to be able to give others access to my files”

You might be prompted to insert your Windows 98 CD and restart your computer (good luck with that).

———————————————

Still in Windows 98,

Open My Computer

Right click the C: drive or wherever Windows 98 is installed

Click ‘Sharing’

Select ‘Shared As’

Share Name, for example: ‘WIN98BKUP’

If you don’t want to share the drive, you can individually share the folder if you want instead.

Access Type: Full

Give it a password just to be safe: call it: win98

Confirm the password

Click OK

Click Apply and OK

Restart the machine.

—————————————————

You should now see both machines appear on each others Network:

My Windows 7 machine even shows up in Windows 98

In Windows 7, click Start,

Click Network

you should see the Windows 98 machine show up

The C: drive that was shared appear as a folder

Double click it, enter the password we created: win98

Browse it and copy and paste over whatever files you need

How to Network Windows 7 and Windows 98 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

It’s been over a year since the release of Windows 7 and the market has spoken, Windows 7 is a hit! The migration is still in progress though, considering that Windows XP usage dropped below 60% for the first time there is still a considerable amount of users out there running the 9 year old operating system. Recent data has shown that Windows 7 is up 18% while Windows Vista is down 12%, alternative operating systems such as Linux and Mac OS X are also down 0.85% and 5% respectively. I am still journalizing my experiences with Windows 7 one year later and one of the things I want to continue doing is help with migration scenarios. Today we are taking a look at the Windows.old folder.

What is it? What does it do?

Windows.old is basically a backup copy of your old Windows installation (Windows XP or Vista) for example if you have upgraded from those operating systems to Windows 7. The intended purpose is to store your old files and settings just in case you either need to reinstall the previous version of Windows or need to recover important files and settings.

Windows.old comes in handy as an alternative to using Windows Easy Transfer if you have enough disk space to store it. It is still highly recommended you use Windows Easy Transfer though since it guarantees a smooth, reliable migration.

In this article I am going to show you how to use Windows.old, in a future article, I will show you how to use it to reinstall Windows. One of the changes to licensing in Windows 7 is that, you need to have a previously installed and activated version of Windows (XP or Vista) to qualify for the upgrade version. I have authored tutorials about this, but factors exist that might prevent users from utilizing system imaging.

Windows XP

As you can see in the above screenshot, I have a well used Windows XP system with applications such as Microsoft Office installed.In this scenario, I have to do a Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Custom Clean install over Windows XP Professional 32 bit. As you can see in the screenshot below, I am informed that the installation will do a Custom Clean install.

I had no other choice, since I cannot start the installation from within a 32 bit operating system and there is no upgrade option. The availability of 64 bit processors since late 2003 means that a lot of people want to utilize their hardware to the fullest. Although these systems were initially preloaded with a 32 bit version of Windows, users were guaranteed that they can do an upgrade to a 64 bit version of Windows in the future.

Technically you can’t, Microsoft even recommends people who have a 32 bit operating system such as Vista installed, upgrade to a 32 bit version of Windows 7 and vice versa. Not a lot of users think this way; factors include, access to more memory, better performance, security and availability, even enthusiasm are factors for going 64 bit. In the case of moving to 64 bit, say you forgot to use the available tools for backing your personal files and settings, this is where Windows.old might be ready to save the day.  Of course, you will have to reinstall all your programs and drivers.

During the installation Windows 7 detects that there is already an existing installation on the drive and will move any important files and settings to Windows.old. Once the installation is complete you can find the Windows.old folder by clicking Start > Computer > (open the drive on which Windows 7 is installed, usually C:), at the root of the drive, you should see it there. If not, click Organize on the Command Bar, go to the View Tab and select the radio box for ‘Show all hidden files, drives and folders’. Then click Apply and OK.

Windows.old

Inside the Windows.old folder, you will see three folders: Documents and Settings, Program Files and Windows. We are going to look at using Documents and Settings to restore our personal files such as Documents and Emails. One of the changes Microsoft made is  to remove programs previously bundled with Windows such as email, video editing, instant messaging. You can download the successors to these programs for free at http://explore.live.com, it’s now called Windows Live Essentials 2011.

Windows 7 desktop

So, you don’t see any of your Documents and Music files you had in your folders in Windows XP, after doing the custom clean install. Before you panic lets first look if the Windows.old folder was created.

If it’s there, open the Documents and Settings folder, look in your old account folder, in my case it’s adacosta, there you will see all of your files.

Recovering your personal files

After discovering your personal files, all you need to do is copy and paste them to their respective folders in Windows 7 such as Documents, Music, Picture, Videos, etc.

Click Organize on the command bar, click Select All, click Organize again, then click Copy. (Quick tip, press CRTL + A on your keyboard, then CTRL + C).

Then click Start > Documents > Organize > the click Paste or use the keyboard command CTRL + V).

That’s it, of course, the My Music folder will be placed here, if you want to have it situated in the Music folder instead, select, press Alt on your keyboard, click Edit drop down menu, click Move to Folder > select Music > then click Move. The same can be done for your My Pictures and My Videos folder if you have any files stored there.

Recovering your Email Messages

Now, this is one of the big concerns when moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. Where is my email program, where are my emails? As I noted earlier, there is no built in email program in Windows 7, you have to download one, you are not limited to the free Windows Live Mail program, if you prefer an alternative such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, you can use those too. Just for this article, we are going to be using Windows Live Mail. Before importing our messages into Windows Live Mail, we first need to find where the messages are located, then copy and paste the folder in a location that is discoverable by Windows Live Mail. Click Start, open Computer, click Organize on the Command Bar > Folder and search options > View (tab) > in the Advanced settings: list, select ‘Show hidden files, folders, or drives‘ under Hidden files and folders. The click Apply and OK.

Click Start, open Computer > open the C: drive, open the Windows.old in the search box, type the following extension: .dbx

You will now see multiple files with the extension .dbx select all of these files, click Organize, then click Copy. Click Start, open the Documents folder, create a new folder, call it Backup Mail. Open it, click Organize then click Paste.

Once you have configured Windows Live Mail, press Alt on your keyboard (this is for Windows Live Mail wave 3), then select File > Import then click Messages.

Select Microsoft Outlook Express 6, if you have upgraded from from Windows Vista and used Windows Mail that came built in as the mail client, select that. If you upgraded from Windows XP or Vista and used a previous version of Windows Live Mail such as version 2008 (build 12.0.1606), select that option, then click Next.

At the Location of Messages screen click Browse navigate down to Backup Mail folder we created earlier containing the .dbx files.

Click Next, you will now see the Select Folders screen, go with the default All Folders, then click Next.

You will now see your messages import, click Finish to complete. If you don’t see your emails populated, make sure you expand the Storage folders tree in the Folder pane, expand the Imported Folders then expand Local folders then click Inbox. If you don’t see this folder, restart Windows Live Mail and try again.

Windows Live Mail 2011 users can start the import process by clicking File menu then click Import Messages follow the same instructions for importing. That’s it!

Should you delete the Windows.old folder? The Windows.old folder can take up a considerable amount of disk space, but I don’t recommend you immediately delete it, just in case you might need to copy over a missing file or folder. Also, if you need to reinstall Windows XP or Vista in the future and you don’t have access to your recovery media, Windows.old might be all you got left to do so.

In our next article, we will be looking at using Windows.old to do a downgrade installation otherwise known as uninstalling Windows 7.

How to Recover Documents, Music and Email After Upgrading with the Windows.old folder is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

If you want to move all of your data from one hard drive to another the easiest way is to clone your hard drive, and now individuals who purchase an Intel SSD will be able to clone their hard drive for free with the Intel SSD Cloning Utility.

The free hard drive cloning tool appears to work similar to the free Acronis True Image software offered by Western Digital, and requires that you have an Intel SSD drive in order to function. You’ll also need an external hard drive case or connector so that you can connect the Intel SSD to your computer at the same time as your standard hard drive. When you are done you can install your old hard drive in the external case for easy access to large files.

By cloning your existing hard drive to your Intel SSD you’ll be able to pick up right where you left off with all of your documents, files and settings ready to go. Cloning your hard drive to a new one can cut hours off of upgrading to an SSD.

One important thing to consider is that the amount of data on your hard drive needs to be smaller than your SSD so you may need to clean up your downloads and media files to fit on a smaller SSD. If you need to find large files a program like TreeSize is a free and easy way to do so.

We have an Intel SSD in the house for testing and will use the Intel SSD Cloning Utility to move our data over to it shortly. We will be giving a full review of the SSD and comparing it’s performance to the traditional 500GB hard drive we are taking out of the system. We also have an Intel SSD to give away to a lucky reader, so look for that review for your chance to win.

Free Hard Drive Cloning Tool From Intel for Intel SSD Migration is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

If you’ve recently purchased a new Mac, you may be wondering how to migrate all of your information from your old Mac to your new one. All you really need is a cable to connect the two Macs together, or an external hard drive with a Time Machine backup of your old Mac.

Prior to using either of these options, it may be a good idea to run Disk Utility and fix any disks on your old Mac that need repaired. To get to Disk Utility, go to Finder>Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility. Once in Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD. To find out if there are issues that need repaired, select Verify Disk. It will report back and issues with your hard drive. If there are any, select Repair Disk. If you are migrating from a Time Machine backup, do the same thing, but select your backup from the Disk Utility Hard Drive list.

From Another Mac:

If you are wanting to copy everything from your old Mac to your new one, and don’t have a Time Machine backup, use this method. You will need either a USB, FireWire 400, or FireWire 800 cable. This may depend on how old your previous Mac is, as not all Macs have the same types of ports. For this How To, I used a FireWire 800 cable to connect my 2010 21.5″ iMac to my 2007 15″ MacBook Pro. Note that both Macs will be unusable throughout the duration of the transfer. If you need to use your old Mac while setting up your new one, scroll down to see how to transfer information from a Time Machine backup

1. Start up your new Mac and go through the set-up process. Stop when you get to the screen that asks, “Do You Already Own a Mac?”
2. Select “From another Mac” and click Continue.
3. It will then ask you to connect the two Macs with a cable. If you are transferring files from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, be sure to plug-in the power adapter.
4. Restart your old Mac while holding down the “T” key on the keyboard. This will restart the Mac into “Target Disk Mode”.
5. Once the old Mac has restarted, the screen below should appear. The FireWire symbol should continue to move around the screen.



6. Select what information you would like to transfer to the new Mac. For a more detailed look at Users and Settings, click the arrow to the left of those categories. For most users the default options will be fine, but if you don’t want to transfer over all users from the old Mac, this is where you would de-select that user. When ready, click transfer.
7. Information will then be copied over to your new Mac. This may take over an hour.
8. Do not disconnect the power of either Mac.

From a Time Machine backup:

This method may be a better option for people who need to use a computer while setting up their new Mac. Be sure that your Time Machine backup has been updated with the most current information from your old Mac.

1. Start up your new Mac and go through the set-up process. Stop when you get to the screen that asks, “Do You Already Own a Mac?”
2. Select “From a Time Machine backup” and click Continue.
3. Connect your external hard drive that contains the Time Machine backup from your old Mac and click Continue.
4. Select what information you would like to transfer to the new Mac. For a more detailed look at Users and Settings, click the arrow to the left of those categories. For most users the default options will be fine, but if you don’t want to transfer over all users from the old Mac, this is where you would de-select that user. When ready, click transfer.
5. Information will then be copied over to your new Mac. This may take over an hour.
6. Do not disconnect the power of the Mac or the external hard drive.

That’s all there is to it. Provided you copied all settings, files, and applications from your old Mac, everything should be located in the same place that it was on your previous Mac.

What Now?

You may want to make sure that software titles have the appropriate serial numbers as to not any violate EULA contracts. For example, Adobe CS5 Design Premium can be installed on two computers for personal use, as long as only one copy is being used at a time. If you would have the software on two computers already and copy it over to your new Mac, you would be violating the EULA contract and could be taken to court. Other software that may have similar EULA contracts include pretty much any software you paid for, such as Office for Mac, iWork, or Final Cut Pro.

Once you have set up your new Mac, I strongly suggest making a new Time Machine backup as soon as you can. Plug in your external hard drive, select Time Machine in System Preferences, click select disk, and choose your external hard drive from the list.

How to Migrate Files to a New Mac is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.

We continue our look at moving from previous versions of Windows to Windows 7. Yep, there are many Windows XP users out there who continue to enjoy it. But they are hearing about Windows 7 a lot lately and all the really cool new features it offers, from desktop improvements to how you do things easier like networking, organization of files and better performance. You want a piece of that action, but there are some things you still don’t know about it, like. Can I upgrade to Windows 7? Will my current hardware work with Windows 7? What about my personal settings, will those survive the move to Windows 7…from Windows XP?

Well, I want to find out too, since I have friends who are still running Windows XP. So what I did was, setup a scenario which involved Windows 7 and Windows XP to find out if it was possible or even easy to make the move to this major upgrade of Windows. Now, back to those questions:

Can I upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows XP?

I checked and the answer is no, see the screenshot above. Good news though, Windows XP users will definitely qualify for upgrade pricing. The reason why Microsoft has decided not to support a Windows XP upgrade path to Windows 7 stems from the complexity involved. The Windows Team wants the best possible experience, because of the significant changes that have occurred since Vista, there are just too many variables involved that can potentially make the upgrade experience an unsatisfactory one. So, a clean install is the recommended and only way to get Windows 7 installed on your system for Windows XP users. Don’t worry yet, I know you have files and settings you don’t want to lose, I am going to take a look at getting those over.

Will my current hardware work with Windows 7?

That depends on what you have. Windows 7′s official requirements call for the following:

• 1 GHz 32 or 64 bit PC
• 1 GB of RAM (2 GBs for 64 bit systems)
• 16 GBs of free hard disk space (20 GBs for 64 bit)
• DirectX 9 compliant video card with 128 MBs of video RAM
• Internet Connection for access to additional services and activation of appropriate software

If you are in the above line up, you should be good to go. Some persons will be able to get away with some unofficial hardware configurations. I for instance have been running Windows 7 on 512 MBs of RAM. But I have a customized setup not requiring all the features of the OS. So your mileage will vary. Many have described Windows 7 as a significant release of the OS that actually improves the performance of your PC.

Will my applications work with Windows 7?

Now this is a tough one. Windows is known as the operating system that tries its very best to make it easy to run your old applications on the latest version. But there is always the possibility of compatibility issues. Windows 7 in particular just like Windows Vista will likely have problems with applications that also had problems in that version. Please note though, this does necessarily apply to all applications, there have been successful reports of applications that did not work in Vista, now working just fine in Windows 7. To help users evaluate their current setup, Microsoft recently provided the Windows Upgrade Advisor which analyzes and checks your system for potential software and hardware conflicts. Its a great starting point for Windows XP users who want to move to Windows 7. With over 1.2 billion Windows PC configurations though, there will certainly be hiccups.

Before you even pop the Windows 7 disk into your disk drive, you can do a few things. Like check the manufacturer of your devices for updated drivers or information about Windows 7 support. For applications you can do the same by checking the developers web site for updates or new versions.

What to do if its not compatible?

You have a few options:

1. Wait until a new version or update is released.
2. Acquire another brand that works with Windows 7.
3. Don’t bother with the upgrade at all.

Number 2 and 3 in particular might be tough decisions to make considering that the application or device is already working just fine in Windows XP. But users must understand that upgrading to Windows 7 is not just upgrading for upgrades sake. The operating system is easier to use, more reliable and definitely more secure. The day will come when you won’t receive updates for Windows XP anymore and that current device will most likely become unsupported when a problem does arise. This is not a scare tactic, its just how the hardware and software industry works. There is always a new version in the works to replace the old one. This is all theoretical though, so don’t worry.

For potential customers of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate, Microsoft is providing a feature called Windows Virtual XP, which enhances the application compatibility experience in Windows 7. This is great especially for business customers who might still be running legacy applications on Windows XP. Another great thing about Virtual XP is, you can run your legacy applications side by side within Windows 7 without having to interact with the Windows XP operating side of things. It’s a powerful utility for users and businesses who want to maintain compatibility while transitioning to the latest. To learn more about Windows Virtual XP, check out my experiences with it here

In the screenshot from earlier, the Compatibility Report suggest that we use the Windows Easy Transfer utility. And that is what we will now do. Lucky for us, Windows 7 already comes with the Migration Tools on the disk. To find it, just navigate to x:supportmigwiz, ‘x:’ represents the name of your disk drive. In this folder, you will see a collection of files, the important one you need to look for and double click is ‘migsetup‘. This will launch the setup program for Windows Easy Transfer software that will be installed on your Windows XP computer.

Preparing to install the Windows Easy Transfer software on Windows XP

The last time I used Windows Easy Transfer to move files from Windows 7 to a new Windows 7 PC, I discussed the different options available for transferring your items to a new computer.

Windows Easy Transfer wizard

Identifying the PC from which you are transferring files

Scanning data and accounts to be transferred

Choosing the location where the Easy Transfer file will be saved, optional password

Saving data and settings

A successful backup of your files and settings!

So we have backed up everything. The next step now involves installing Windows 7. One thing Windows XP users must note, your applications will not survive a clean install and will require reinstallation. So please make sure you have those program disks available when you are ready to do so.

You have two options, you can launch Windows 7 setup in Windows XP or you can boot from the Windows 7 disk. If you plan on booting from your disk, ensure that your BIOS is set to boot from its optical drive. If you decide to launch setup from within Windows XP, you must select ‘Custom (advanced)‘ option. What does this entail?

Preparing to do a clean installation of Windows 7

Preparing the partition on which Windows 7 will be installed

Windows 7 has definitely made it clear about moving to it from Windows XP and the pre-requisites necessary. Its a clean install, applications will not be available and you should of course backup before attempting the migration. Since we have done all of these necessary things, we will go ahead and start the installation. The installation is typical of a clean install, if you don’t know what that is like, please refer to my experience here

So, after completing the installation, you would like to restore those personal files and settings. Connect your external drive or wherever you backed your Windows Easy Transfer file to. Launch the Windows Easy Transfer wizard – Start > type: Transfer > hit enter.

Selecting the Restoration method and identifying your computer

Connecting and navigating to where your Easy Transfer file is stored

Enter your password if you created one and select what to transfer

Restoring your data

After restoring your data and settings, you can view a report of what was transferred, along with what you will need to reinstall.

…and finally, a restart to apply necessary settings.

Follow the wizard and navigate to the location where the Easy Transfer file is stored. Enter your password if you had created one and the wizard will complete the restoration of files and settings. You can check the Easy Transfer Report when it is finished, which will detail what you will need to reinstall, along with what was restored. After this is completed, you will be asked to restart your computer.

…and there you have it, a successful migration from Windows XP to Windows 7

Windows XP users should note that applications that once came bundled with Windows XP are not included in the OS such as Email and video editing software. You can download third party equivalents or download and install Windows Live Essentials which includes updated successors to these programs. There are commercial solutions available from Company’s such as LapLink that promise to provide a way to easy migrate personal files, settings, applications and drivers to Windows 7 if you really must avoid the clean installation process. You can learn more about that here

Conclusion

Windows XP users can take confidence in the migration experience that Windows 7 provides. Yes, there are some requirements that are involved and appropriate planning of course can help to overcome some of the hurdles. The experiences promised at the end is definitely worth it!

Recommendations:

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Find out how ready your Windows XP system is for Windows 7.

External hard disk – these can come in very handy. If you have lots of data stored on your Windows XP PC, you will need a good amount of storage to back it up. External hard disk these days are very affordable and you can pick up a 500 GB below US $80.

Have those program disks nearby – After completing the migration, you will need to reinstall all your necessary programs. Common apps include office productivity suites, finance software and any other favorite applications you often use in Windows XP.

Check for updates – after completing the installation, check for updates for the operating system, computer and your applications. This will improve stability, security, performance and compatibility.

Have security software installed. There are many free antivirus solutions out there, your existing one for XP is most likely not compatible with Windows 7. Antivirus programs tend to work specifically with the operating system version. You can find a list of available antiviral programs for Windows 7 here

Resources

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

How to install Windows 7 on your Netbook using a USB Key

Related

How to Install Windows 7

Using Windows Easy Transfer in Windows 7

Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

So far we have looked at two ways of installing Windows 7 on your PC Clean/Custom Install or In-Place Upgrading. Many persons will be buying Windows 7 on a new PC when its released and would like to get their personal data from an old PC to the new PC running Windows 7. Windows 7 offers an easy, convenient way to make the move with the built in Windows Easy Transfer utility. As you can see in the screenshot below, I have a lot of files on my old PC running Windows 7, and I would like to get those files over safely over to my new computer also running Windows 7. First lets find out what it is Windows Easy Transfer:

My old computer

Windows Easy Transfer guides you through the process of transferring files and settings from one Windows computer to another. Using Windows Easy Transfer, you can choose what to transfer to your new computer and how to transfer it. You can transfer most files and program settings. Specifically:

• • Files and folders. Everything within the Documents, Pictures, and Shared Documents folders. Using advanced options, you can select additional files and folders to transfer.
  • E‑mail settings, contacts, and messages.
  • Program settings. Settings that keep your programs configured as you had them on your old computer. Windows Easy Transfer does not transfer the programs themselves. Some programs might not work on this version of Windows, including security programs, antivirus programs, firewall programs (your new computer should already have a firewall running to help ensure safety during the transfer), and programs with software drivers.
  • User accounts and settings. Desktop backgrounds, network connections, screen savers, fonts, Start menu options, taskbar options, folders, specific files, network printers and drives, and accessibility options.
  • Internet settings and favorites. Internet connection settings, favorites, and cookies.
  • Music. Electronic music files, playlists, and album art.
  • Pictures and video. Pictures—which includes any visual file type (for example, .jpg, .bmp, .gif)—and personal videos.

Windows Easy Transfer sounds like just the solution I am looking for to move my personal data to my new computer.

Launch Windows Easy Transfer

Launching Windows Easy Transfer utility

1. You can find the Windows Easy Transfer utility by clicking Start > type: Transfer. Or click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Windows Easy Transfer.

2. When you start the Windows Easy Transfer, a wizard gives you an overview of what you can transfer and what will happen after the process is completed. Click Next to begin.

3. You have three methods of transferring your data from your old computer using Windows Easy Transfer:

• An Easy Transfer cable is specifically designed to work with Easy Transfer to move your personal data from an old PC to a new computer.
• Network which is the method I will be using for this tutorial, requires that both PC’s have a network port installed and using a CAT5 cable to connect both computers.
• If you have an external hard disk with sufficient space, you can let Easy Transfer backup your data in a single file.

4. After clicking the Network option, you are asked to identify the computer you are using now. In this case, I am on the new computer.

5. Next you will be asked to install Windows Easy Transfer on the old computer, my old computer is already running Windows 7, so I will click that option.

Our next step now as the instruction says is to get an authorization key from the old computer before continuing.

On the old PC, follow the same procedures by selecting the same method you will be using to transfer your files, with the exception of identifying the Old computer when asked.

6. Once the authorization code has been generated, go back to your new Windows 7 PC, click Next and enter it and click Next.

Entering authorization key on new computer.

Easy Transfer analyzing the old Computer

7. A connection will now be established between both computers and Windows Easy Transfer will do a set of scans on the old PC to determine what can be transferred. You will be able to select accounts and shared files that you might want to transfer.

Creating an account on the new computer

8. Choose Advanced Options if there is some specific options you would like to apply such as Creating a specific account for your personal files on the new computer. My old computer has the account ‘Andre Da Costa’, I would also like that account on the new computer, so what I will do is click in the ‘User account on the new computer:’ list box and click Create User, enter appropriate information and click Save.

New Computer left, Old Computer right, Transfer in progress

Recommendations:

• Do not use the old and new Computer’s during the Transfer process.

Errors during Transfer, you can retry transferring, if you continue experience errors, check all files and click skip and transfer the file or files manually.

When the Transfer process is complete, you can view a report of what was transferred along with what you will need to reinstall.

The time it takes will vary depending on the data set (amount of information) you have stored on the old computer in addition to the user accounts that you might be transferring. I must say the transfer was a success except for an error I had with Easy Transfer reporting Windows Live Mail open on the old computer, refusing to transfer my storage folder. But after loading Windows Live Mail on the new computer, everything seemed to be ok, I could access all my messages and newsgroups  just fine.

Windows 7 (new computer), successful transfer..

And there you have it, an easy, convenient, secure and reliable process of transferring personal files and settings from your old computer to your new PC running Windows 7. My default wallpapers, taskbar layout, account picture, even my Firefox Bookmarks, Windows Live Writer settings were all transferred successfully.The only thing I need to do now is reinstall the applications recommended by the Windows Easy Transfer utility.

Lessons to learn

What I have discovered is that although Windows 7 64 bit will allow an Easy Transfer of personal files and settings from 32 bit Windows to 64 bit Windows, it will not do a vice-versa, see the proof below.

Oh really? I didn’t know that!

Interesting huh? I thought so too, but it brings up the question, is this a sign of the final hurrah for 32-bit Windows? Microsoft has not stopped development of 32-bit applications or operating systems, since Windows 7 will be available in both 32 and 64 bit flavors when its released to manufacturing. It does however bring up the issue of supporting 32-bit technology going forward where Windows is concerned. I asked a trusted colleague Bryant Zedegan, editor of popular Windows enthusiast community AeroXP.org why Microsoft would prevent Easy Transfer from 64 bit to 32 bit computers, here is what he had to say:

In strictly logical terms, blocking migration from 64bit to 32bit Windows likely exists in order to discourage rolling back to an old instruction set. Based on what Windows Easy Transfer is able to migrate, I doubt that there would be any significant issues with allowing for migrating data in the 64-to-32bit direction; it’s just one of those things where Microsoft wants to ensure that migration to x64 happens without users rolling back.

BryantZ

In a sense, the industry has been going through a transition from the old architecture for quite some time. Its something that happens every now and then as advances occur, examples include the transition from 16 to 32 bit instruction set during the the 90′s. 64-bit has been much slower because of early lack in available device drivers and programs that can harness the full benefits of what 64 bit has to offer such as a larger memory address space, meaning the ability to utilize 4 GBs or more of RAM, increased performance and stability. The release of Windows XP Professional x64 in April of 2005 and Windows Vista x64 in fall of 2006 help to boost the transition, a vast majority of Windows based desktops and notebooks now come with 64 bit processors built in and large amounts of memory. Windows Vista 64 bit has also seen greater adoption in recent times. But this does not mitigate the fact that there is still a large deployment of existing 32 bit only systems out there such as my Dell Dimension 8300 purchased back in March of 2004 that I have upgraded over the years and runs even Windows 7 32-bit well with full functionality such as advanced Aero window management effects.

Conclusion and Recommendations

My primary aim was to at least maintain some consistency between both desktops where personal files and settings are concerned. Although I learned a hard lesson, I was able to transfer back some of my personal files and settings manually from the User folder and AppData directory in Windows 7 64 bit to Windows 7 32 bit, I still lost some personalized settings along the way though. My recommendations for persons in a situation similar to mine is to use the create an Windows Easy Transfer file method and keep a copy of the file if you plan to continue using 32 bit Windows on that same computer you transferred from. This creates a safety net for restoring your personal files and settings, although a lot of available space will be needed for storing this information during the transition.

Resources

Step-by-Step: Windows 7 Upgrade and Migration

A Look at Improvements to Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7

Explore the features: Windows Easy Transfer

Using Windows Easy Transfer in Windows 7 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

This October Windows 7 will be released to the public and unlike past upgrades most users, including those who are using Windows XP, won’t be able to upgrade to Windows 7 without backing up data to an external hard drive and reformatting their computer. For novice computer users this can be a tricky process but thanks to PCmover, upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 is simple.

How simple? So simple that it only takes 4 steps to get the latest and greatest version of Windows installed.

1. Install PCmover on the Windows XP or Vista computer to be upgraded.
2. Run PCmover and select the upgrade option.
3. Install Windows 7, selecting the do not reformat” option.
4. Install and run PCmover which will automatically restore all applications, files, and settings.

The reason PCmover is able to keep your applications installed without the need to re-install every single one is because PCmover actually emulates the program installation process removing the need for you to find disks and serial numbers for most programs.

Not only does PCmover perform an in place upgrade without hassle but it also makes sure that emails and address books aren’t lost in the switch. Jack Wilson, Laplink’s Chief Technology Officer, explains, Live Mail is a great option, but the user will need to migrate their Outlook Express or Windows Mail data, including address books. PCmover manages this transition automatically, making sure the user doesn’t lose anything.”

Sure most geeks, like me, will just reformat their computer and install Windows 7 but for people who know just enough to be dangerous or are a bit nervous about upgrading to Windows 7 PCmover looks like a good tool to ease the transition. It’s not clear if the version available on the Laplink site right now is the version that supports Windows 7 upgrading so you should probably bookmark the site and purchase it when you buy Windows 7 in October. PCmover costs $40 and is valid for one move only so keep that in mind if you have more than one computer to upgrade in your house.

PCmover Makes In Place Upgrade To Windows 7 Easier is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.