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Windows XP: Working with the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (1)

Dave Cook shows you how to migrate those all-important settings and files from your old PC to a new one. 

When you upgrade to Windows XP, your data, some personal settings, and much if not all of your existing programs should survive the move intact. But let’s suppose you’ve splashed out on a new computer. Assuming Windows XP is pre-installed, what’s the quickest way to transfer your settings and data from the old computer to the new one? That’s easy – you use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard included with Windows XP works on any 32-bit version of Windows. Thanks to this wizard, it is now much easier to move personal settings and important data files to a computer running Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional.

Migration can be in a number of ways. The simplest and quickest method is to connect the two computers over a local network. Another option, if a little slower, is to use a serial cable and transfer everything via a Direct Cable connection.

Perhaps you’re installing a clean copy of Windows XP, either on its own or in a dual-boot scenario. How then do you transfer your settings to Windows XP? One way is to save the wizard’s output to a file and then restore it once Setup has finished. Alternatively, you could copy the file to floppy, or to a more practical media such as CD-R.

Default Settings

Be warned, though, that using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is not always as straightforward as it should be. If, for example, your computer is set up a little different from the norm – perhaps your data files are stored somewhere other than the My Documents folder – it’s possible the Wizard’s default settings may not transfer your critical data. Should this be the case then you’ll need to pay close attention to certain areas of the wizard. We’ll show you how to do that in part two.

That said, the wizard’s default options should work fine for most users. Here’s the gist of what gets migrated when you transfer files and settings using the wizard’s default options.

·          Personal settings such as current wallpaper and screen saver; modem and dial-up network connections; any network printer and drives assigned in the My Network Places folder

·          Data files stored in, for instance, the My Documents and Shared Documents folders (but see above for limitations)

·          Some Internet settings including the contents of the Favourites folder (note that user names and passwords are not transferable)

·          Outlook and Outlook Express (limited) mail account settings, messages, and address books

·          Certain application and registry settings, including a number of Microsoft and third-party programs.

Note that the wizard doesn’t actually transfer the above programs to another computer, but rather it copies your preference settings to the correct location. These settings are recognised once you install the program on your new computer.

Next Time

Right, that’s enough for now. In our next look at the wizard, we’ll show you how to safely transfer those all-important files and settings over to a computer running Windows XP.