Moving Windows Settings and Files In Windows XP


If you promote an existing computer to Windows XP, all of your data and most of your programs must survive Setup intact. But what do you do if Windows XP is already installed on a new computer, or if you’ve decided to do a clean install on your existing system? In earlier versions, you would have to use third-party utilities or go during a tedious backup and restore process. With Windows XP, you can use a utility called the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard to handle most of the grunt work.

With the help of this wizard, you can migrate settings and files from your old computer to the new one. Even though the wizard has its limitations, it’s highly flexible and offers an inspiring number of customization options. You can save settings from any 32-bit version of Windows (as well as Windows 95) and restore saved files and settings on Windows XP Home Edition or Professional, using either of these options:

● Make a direct connection: You can connect two computers over a local area network or using a serial cable and transfer settings directly from the old computer to the new one. A Fast Ethernet connection is by far your best choice, particularly if you desire to transfer a large number of data files. Direct cable connections are considerably slower.

● Save your settings to a file: If a direct connection isn’t practical or possible (if you’re planning to clean out an presented partition so that you can do a clean install on the same computer, for example), you can save the wizard’s output to a zip file and then restore it after you finish Setup. Save the file to removable media such as a floppy disk, flash disk, Zip disk, or CD-RW, or to a network folder.

By default, the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard migrates the following items:

● User-specific settings: This category includes visual settings, such as your current theme, wallpaper, and screen saver; folder and taskbar options; accessibility options; phone, modem, and dial-up networking connections; and network printers and drives (as defined in the My Network Places folder).

● Internet settings: The wizard copies the contents of your Favorites folder and cookies to the new computer. It does not, however, retain user names, passwords, and other details saved by Microsoft Internet Explorer’s AutoComplete feature.

● E-mail: The wizard collects mail account settings, messages, and address books from Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook. It does not keep track of individual identities in Outlook Express; all mail for all identities is merged during the transfer.

● Application settings: Registry settings and preference files for a long list of programs are copied automatically. Naturally, this list is heavy on Microsoft programs—Office 97/2000/XP, Works 2001, and Money 2001, among many others. But the list also includes more than 30 third-party programs, including Netscape Communicator, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Eudora, Adobe Photoshop, Acrobat Reader, Lotus SmartSuite, Quicken, WordPerfect Office 2000, WinZip, WinAmp, and RealPlayer. The wizard does not migrate program files; instead, it copies the settings and preference files to the correct location on the new computer and uses them when you install the program.

● Files and folders: For folders that are typically used for data files—My Documents, My Pictures, and Shared Documents, for instance—all files are migrated automatically, regardless of extension. In all other locations, the wizard uses a long list of extensions to identify which data files should be transferred. You can add or remove extensions from this list and specify additional folders that you want the wizard to copy to the new computer.

Pay careful attention to the wizard’s options when moving data. The transfer method and options you choose can have a profound effect on how long the process takes and how successful you are. The following sections contain detailed instructions and tips on how to migrate files and settings safely and successfully.