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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: Windows 7, now in RTM stage is going to be released on October 22nd. If you intend to install Windows 7 but do not want to lose your personal settings in Vista by doing a fresh installation of the OS, then you have direct in-line upgrade option to the rescue.
Vista users might recall the same upgrade functionality which was available for moving to Vista from XP. However, if you are still on XP and you plan to upgrade to Windows 7 , then there is no upgrade option for you. Microsoft advises for a clean installation for moving to Windows 7 from XP .
Upgrading from Vista to Windows 7
The upgrade option for Vista owners is from the same SKU version of Vista to the same version of Windows 7. One thing users should be aware of is that, they cannot do direct in-line upgrade from a 32-bit Vista version to a 64-bit Windows 7 version.
For doing so, they have to resort to a clean installation. So, if you are having Vista Home Premium, then you'll be able to perform direct in-line upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. In case you have bought the upgrade copy for Windows 7 Professional and you currently own Vista Home Premium, then you'll be able to perform a clean installation and not a direct in-line upgrade. Also, do read the advisory articles for Windows 7 as a reference for the hardware suitability.
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After you have selected 'This is the old computer' option, the Easy Transfer tool starts saving users' files and settings of the XP system that need to be migrated to Windows 7. |
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To start the Easy Migration tool, navigate to support\migwiz folder of the Windows 7 DVD and double click on file migsetup.exe. |
After you have selected what all user settings and data has to be migrated, you can then save the migration file in a USB drive and also allot a password to it for security. |
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In the next window after you get the welcome screen, you have to select external hard disk or USB drive as option to transfer medium to migrate the data and settings. |
Once all the settings and files have been saved on the external location, you get a transfer complete confirmation window which states where the file has been saved. |
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Now after installing Windows 7, go to Start> Accessories> System Tools and click Windows Easy Transfer to initiate the process of migrating XP's user settings and files. |
After entering the password on the following screen, you can select what user settings and files you want to import into Windows 7. |
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Once the user settings and files have been migrated, you can see the transfer report to check what all has been migrated and what not. |
Select 'This is the new computer' option and then on the following screens, navigate to the location of USB drive where the migration file has been saved. |
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While doing network based migration from XP to Win 7, you have to pass the Windows Easy Transfer key that was generated on the XP based machine while running the tool on Win 7 machine. |
For a clean installation, Windows 7 requires about 16 GB of free hard disk space, whereas for upgrade, the free hard disk requirement is of only 9GB and the installation will be done on the same partition of your Windows Vista. During the upgrade process, user's data and existing applications will automatically be migrated to the newer version of the operating system.
The old Vista files are preserved from C:\Windows folder to C:\Windows.OLD folder in the hard drive. The upgrade option does not create a dual boot for both Vista and Windows 7, and can only be created with a clean installation. Therefore, if you intend to have a dual-boot on your system, then it is advisable that you do prefer a full copy of Windows 7 over the cheaper upgrade options for Windows 7.
Migrating from XP to Windows 7
Though XP users can't upgrade to Win 7, they can still migrate all their personal settings to it, using a tool called Windows Easy Transfer. With this tool, you can can maintain settings while installing Windows 7 on a XP based machine. You can migrate the files and settings of XP to Windows 7 and later after installing Windows 7, you can reinstall the applications that you had on XP. The settings include desktop and personal document files and the user profile settings.
There are two scenarios in which you can run a Windows Easy Transfer tool. One, when you want to install Windows 7 on the same machine on which XP was installed. In this case, you can save migration settings on an external drive or a USB drive and then after installation, you can import the saved settings. Second, you have an old machine having XP installed on it. Now with time you want to upgrade to newer version, Windows 7 on an upgraded hardware machine. In that case you can migrate the settings and files over the network between the two machines.