Using Windows Easy Transfer

Although USMT will generally be used in most enterprise environments, some businesses may find Windows Easy Transfer a simple and useful alternative to using USMT. This section briefly describes the basic functionality of Windows Easy Transfer, which can be particularly useful in bench deployments. Before you use Windows Easy Transfer, check for the following prerequisites:

• The destination computer must be running Windows 7. Windows 7 can create a Windows Easy Transfer data collection disk to execute the data collection portion of the migration on previous versions of Windows, but the destination computer must be running Windows 7.
• The source computer can be running any of the following operating systems:
  • Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows 7
• You must decide which user state data to migrate. Windows Easy Transfer does not offer the same degree of control as USMT, but you can choose which user accounts to migrate and the types of files and settings to migrate from each.

Windows Easy Transfer, shown in Figure below, steps the user through a series of pages to define and execute the user state migration. Whether you are refreshing computers or replacing computers, Windows Easy Transfer can move user accounts, files and folders, program settings, Internet settings and favorites, and e-mail settings from a computer running earlier versions of Windows to Windows 7.

Before using Windows Easy Transfer, though, you must prepare it for use by copying it to media that you can use to run it on earlier versions of Windows. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Close all running programs.
2. Start Windows Easy Transfer by clicking Start, pointing to All Programs, selecting Accessories, selecting System Tools, and then selecting Windows Easy Transfer.
3. On the Welcome To Windows Easy Transfer screen, click Next to continue.
4. Select the method you want to use for transferring files from your old computer from the following options:
   • A Windows Easy Transfer cable
   • A network
   • An external hard disk or USB flash drive
5. Click This Is My New Computer.
6. Click I Need To Install It Now.
7. Choose the destination for the Windows Easy Transfer files. If you want to use a USB Flash Drive (UFD) or portable USB hard drive, make sure it's plugged into the computer. If you want to put the files on a network share, make sure the computer is on the network. In any case, any computer on which you want to run Windows Easy Transfer using these files must also have access to the same hard disk or network share.
8. Choose the path of the folder in which to put the Windows Easy Transfer files and then click OK.

After preparing the Windows Easy Transfer files, you will have a removable drive or network share that contains program files that you run on the source computer-the computer from which you are moving the user's documents and settings. Use the instructions in the following sections, depending on the scenario: Refresh Computer or Replace Computer.