By

Mohannad Zaghlola
You can view the list of user profiles stored on
a computer running Windows 7 by opening
System within Control Panel, clicking
Advanced System Settings, and then clicking
the Settings
button in the User Profiles area of the
Advanced System Settings tab.
From this dialog box, you can view the size of
user profiles, delete user profiles stored on
the
computer, or change the user profile from a
local profile to a roaming user profile.
A roaming user profile is a profile stored on a
server that is accessible from any computer
running Windows 7 on a network.
Administrators implement roaming user
profiles when people do not use a specific
computer, but they might log on to any
computer in the
organization.
Roaming user profiles also allow central
backup of user data.
Windows Easy Transfer is a utility that
comes with Windows 7 that you can use
to transfer user profile data from
computers running Windows XP, Windows
Vista, or Windows 7 to new computers
running Windows 7.
There are three separate methods that you can
use to migrate data with Windows Easy
Transfer. The method that is appropriate
depends on the circumstances of the migration.
To migrate profile data with Windows Easy
Transfer, you can use any of the following:
1-Easy Transfer Cable This is a special cable
with USB connectors that you can acquire from
hardware vendors. You connect one end to the
source computer and the other to the
destination computer. Both computers are
turned on during the migration, and Windows
Easy Transfer runs on both computers at the
same time. You can perform only a side-by-side
migration using this method.
2-Network To use the network migration method, you must
have two computers Running Windows Easy Transfer
connected to the same local area network. Both
computers are turned on during the migration, and
Windows Easy Transfer runs on both computers at the
same time. You can perform only a side-by-side migration
using
this method. When performing a network migration, you
configure a password on the source computer that you
have to enter on the destination computer.
3-External Hard Disk or USB Flash Drive You can specify
an attached external hard disk or USB flash drive. It is also
possible to specify an internal hard disk drive or network
share when using this method. You can perform a side-by-
side migration as well as a wipe-and-restore migration
using this method. You protect your data by entering a
password on the source computer that you must again
enter before importing the data on the destination
computer.
Unless the source computer is running Windows 7, you will need
to install the Windows Easy Transfer application.
To install Windows Easy Transfer on the source computer,
perform the following steps:
1. Run Windows Easy Transfer on the destination computer
and select the transfer method that you are going to use.
2. Select the This Is My New Computer option. If you have
chosen the Easy Transfer Cable or Network options, go to
step 3. Otherwise, click No when prompted as to whether
Windows Easy Transfer has already saved your files.
3. On the Do You Need To Install Windows Easy Transfer On Your
Old Computer? page, select I Need To Install It Now.
4. On the How Do You Want To Install Windows Easy Transfer On
Your Old Computer? page, select either USB Flash Drive or
External Hard Disk or Shared Network Folder. The Windows
Easy Transfer application installation file will be copied to this
location and you will then be able to install the application on
the source computer.
After you have set up Windows Easy Transfer
on the source computer, you are ready to
perform migration.
If you want to migrate only a single user
account, you can log on with that account
to perform the transfer.
If you want to migrate all accounts on the
computer, you need to log on with a user
account that has local administrator
privileges.
Start Windows Easy Transfer, select the
transfer method, and then, on the Which
Computer Are You Using Now?
Select This Is My Old Computer. If you are
using the External Hard Disk or USB
storage device method, Windows Easy
Transfer will then perform a migration
check and provide an estimate of the size
of the data you can transfer to the new
computer on the source computer.
If you are using the Network or Easy Transfer
Cable method, you will select items for
migration on the destination computer.
When selecting items for migration, you can accept the
default values or customize what to migrate for each
user account and all shared items.
To customize, click Customize under each user
account. This will allow you to select whether you
want to transfer each user’s Documents, Music,
Pictures, Videos, Program Settings, Windows
Settings, and Other Items.
If you want to be more specific, you can click
Advanced, which brings up the Modify Your
Selections dialog box. This dialog box allows you to
select which accounts
to migrate, as well as which files and folders
Windows Easy Transfer will migrate to the new
machine.
By selecting Advanced, you can determine
what you want to do with the user
accounts being migrated from the source
computer to the destination computer.
You have the option of mapping a user
account on the old computer to a specific
user account on the new computer or you
can have Windows Easy Transfer create a
new account
The first step to take when running Windows Easy Transfer
on the destination computer is to specify the transfer
method that you are going to use and that this is your
new computer. Depending on which method you are
using, one of the following will happen:
If you are using the external hard disk or USB flash drive
method, you will be asked to specify the location of the
Easy Transfer file and to enter a password to open it.
If you are using the network method, you will need to
enter the Windows Easy Transfer key before the
transfer will begin. The source computer displays this
key. You will then go through the process of selecting
what to transfer that was described previously.
If you are using the Easy Transfer Cable method, the
wizard will attempt to detect the cable and then will
initiate the transfer. You will then go through the
process of selecting what to transfer as described
earlier.
USMT 4.0 is a command-line utility that allows you
to automate the process of user profile
migration. The USMT is part of the Windows
Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and is a better
tool for performing a large number of profile
migrations than Windows Easy Transfer.
The USMT can write data to a removable USB
storage device or a network share but cannot
perform a direct side-by-side migration over the
network from the source to the destination
computer.
The USMT does not support user profile migration
using the Windows Easy Transfer cable.
USMT migration occurs in two phases, exporting
profile data from the source computer using
ScanState and importing profile data on the
destination computer using LoadState.
You can use USMT to migrate profile data to
computers running Windows 7 from
computers running Windows XP, Windows
Vista, and Windows 7.
You can also use the USMT to migrate data
from computers running Windows 7 to
Windows Vista.
You cannot use USMT to migrate mapped
network drives, local printers, device
drivers, passwords, shared folder
permissions, and Internet connection
sharing settings.
Unlike Windows Easy Transfer, where you
select the particular items you want to
migrate when you are running the
application, with USMT, you configure a
set of migration rules prior to the
migration that specify what data to
export from the source computer.
There are four different .xml
migration files used with the USMT:
MigApp.xml
MigUser.xml
MigDocs.xml
Config.xml
Custom XML files
This file contains rules about migrating
application settings. These include
Accessibility settings, dial-up connections,
favorites, folder options, fonts,
group membership, Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC) settings, Microsoft
Office Outlook Express mailbox files,
mouse and keyboard settings, phone and
modem options,
Remote Access Service (RAS) connection
phone book files, regional options, remote
access, screen-saver settings, taskbar
settings, and wallpaper settings.
This file contains rules about user profiles and user
data.
The default settings for this file migrate all data in My
Documents, My Video, My Music, My Pictures,
desktop files, Start Menu, Quick Launch settings,
favorites, Shared Documents, Shared Video, Shared
Music, Shared desktop files, Shared Pictures,
Shared
Start menu, and Shared Favorites. This file also
contains rules that ensure that all the following file
types are migrated from fixed
volumes: .qdf, .qsd, .qel, .qph, .doc, .dot,.rtf, .mcw, .
wps, .scd, .wri, .wpd, .xl*, .csv, .iqy, .dqy, .oqy, .rqy,
.wk*, .wq1, .slk, .dif, .ppt*,.pps*, .pot*, .sh3, .ch3, .p
re, .ppa, .txt, .pst, .one*, .mpp, .vsd, .vl*, .or6, .accd
b, .mdb, .pub, .xla, .xlb and .xls. The asterisk (*)
represents zero or more characters.
MigDocs.xml This file contains information
on the location of user documents.
Config.xml This file is different from the
other migration files as it is used to
exclude features from the migration. You
can create and modify the Config.xml file
using ScanState.exe with the /genconfig
option.
It is also possible to create custom XML files to
be used with the migration. For example,you
can create a custom XML file that reroutes
folders, specific file types, or specific files.
You would use rerouting if you wanted to move
all the files of one type, such as .avi files,
that
may have been stored in different places on
the source computer to a specific folder on
the
destination computer.
You run ScanState on the source computer during the
migration. You must run ScanState.exe on computers
running Windows Vista and Windows 7 from an
administrative command prompt.
When running ScanState on a source computer that has
Windows XP installed, you need to run it as a user that is
a member of the local administrators group.
The following command creates an encrypted store named
Mystore on the file share named Migration on the file
server named Fileserver that uses the encryption key
Mykey:
scanstate \\fileserver\migration\mystore
/i:migapp.xml
/i:miguser.xml /o /config:config.xml /encrypt
/key:"mykey"
Running ScanState and LoadState with the /v:13 option
creates a detailed log file. You should use this option if
you are having problems migrating data.
LoadState is run on the destination computer. You
should install all applications that were on the
source computer on the destination before you run
LoadState.
You must run Loadstate. exe on computers running
Windows Vista and Windows 7 from an
administrative command prompt.
To load profile data from an encrypted store named
Mystore that is stored on a share named Migration
on a file server named Fileserver and which is
encrypted with the encryption key Mykey, use this
command:
loadstate \\fileserver\migration\mystore
/i:migapp.xml /i:miguser.xml /decrypt
/key:"mykey"
When planning a migration using Compressed A compressed
USMT, you need to decide migration store is a single
where you are going to store image file that contains all
migrated data that is data
generated by ScanState on
the source computer and being migrated. The image
required by file can be encrypted and
password-protected. It is not
LoadState on the destination possible to navigate to this
computer. USMT supports
three types of migration file using Windows Explorer.
stores: Hard-link Hard-link migration
Uncompressed Uncompressed stores are used in wipe-and-
migration stores use a load scenarios only. The
hierarchy of folders that mirror hard-link migration store is
the user profile data being stored on the local
migrated. You can navigate an computer while the old
uncompressed migration store operating system is
using Windows Explorer. This removed and the new
creates a duplicate of the operating system is
backed-up files inanother installed.
location.
Use the /hardlink option with ScanState to create a
hard-link migration store. Hard linking does not
create a
duplicate of the migrated data and hence uses
less space than the uncompressed or
compressed stores when those are used on the
volume being migrated.
Hard-link migrations require only 250 MB of free
space on the volume being migrated, regardless
of the amount of profile data being migrated.
ScanState with the /p option allows you to estimate
the size of the migration store prior to performing
a migration. All migrations require a minimum of
250 MB of free space on the volume being
migrated.
You can use USMT to perform offline
migrations. Offline migrations involve
booting the computer into a Windows PE
environment that includes the USMT files
and then running ScanState
against the installation of Windows on the
computer’s hard disk drive.
You must still run the LoadState feature of
the migration from within Windows 7. You
cannot run LoadState when booted into a
Windows PE environment.
An advantage of offline migrations is that the
person performing the migration does not
need administrator access to the computer
on which they are performing the
migration.
You cannot perform an offline migration on a
computer where BitLocker is. It is
necessary to temporarily suspend
BitLocker to allow USMT access to the files
to be migrated.