Migrating someone from Win9x to Vista... locally-stored emails?

[VirtualLarry]

I just talked to someone today, that is willing to pay me to migrate their files, from an "old" (kind of hinted at Win9x-era) PC, to a "new" PC. The "new" PC was a different neighbor's PC, that I reformatted for them previously, and added an SSD, though only a 60GB. (I was thinking of telling them I could fresh install Vista 64-bit for them, and swap to a 240GB BX200 SSD I have, for a decent price.)

After talking with this person briefly, they mentioned that they had emails, and didn't use web mail. So I'm going to have to migrate some sort of email account, and mail spool. (I really, really, hope that they remember their password, and didn't just store it 10 years ago and forget about it.)

If they're using the integrated "Mail" client in Win98se, can just just export their .PST file to a file, and re-import it in Vista? Will I need to migrate the e-mail account details and setup, or will exporting things and re-importing things fix everything up for me? (I've never dealt with this before.)

And, will Win9x even work with USB flash drives? I have a sinking feeling that Win98se, although having SOME USB support, didn't have native support for the "USB Mass Storage" device class, and thus needed flash-drive-specific drivers. (I know that WinME and Win2K and XP and newer support USB Mass Storage devices.)

I might even have to bust out my 1.44" floppy collection, and my USB floppy drive, to do this.

Or should I set up a temporary NAS to dump the files to, and then retrieve them on the
Vista machine? I hardly even remember doing networking with Win98se, though I'm pretty sure it supported IPv4.

Edit: Also, if anyone wants to discuss the ethics of helping someone "upgrade" to Vista, when it will be EOL in a year (?), feel free. I just thought of that. I really shouldn't charge them to migrate, when they're just going to have to migrate again in a year. I should either offer to upgrade them to Windows 7, or Windows 10, or help them find a newer PC.

 

[bruceb]

Presuming they are using Outlook Express follow the info here:

https://askleo.com/how_do_i_move_my_outlook_express_folders_to_my_new_machine/

This will let you use the files with a later version of Outlook Express or some other compatible program on the new computer.

Also see here to move to Windows Live Mail:

https://www.question-defense.com/20...ss-dbx-files-into-windows-7-windows-live-mail

Also I think Outlook can import Outlook Express .dbx files

http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/how-can-i-convert-dbx-to-pst/

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Just connect the mail client to gmail or something using IMAP, upload the mailboxes/messages, then download them on the new machine.

A NAS is a convenient way to transfer files, but if it's actually Win2k or XP, USB thumb drives work fine.

I wouldn't put somebody on Vista now - newer, superior options are available.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Edit: Also, if anyone wants to discuss the ethics of helping someone "upgrade" to Vista, when it will be EOL in a year (?), feel free. I just thought of that. I really shouldn't charge them to migrate, when they're just going to have to migrate again in a year. I should either offer to upgrade them to Windows 7, or Windows 10, or help them find a newer PC.

I would not complicate this further. If he asked for Vista, give him Vista. When I had to migrate someone off of Win9x I had to use a 9x era zip drive to get the stuff off because that computer didn't have USB ports or even a NIC. And that was then to an intermediary computer that had an IDE bus that could support the zip drive and also had USB ports to finally get the stuff onto a USB drive. And all that was done to get them onto, by request, an XP machine. Last year. You can fix the computer, but you can't fix the customer.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So it seems that this won't be as difficult as I thought, possibly. It seems as if the "old" machine in question is actually an XP machine. The comment about Win9x when we were talking, was in reference to some old video game.

 

[Ketchup]

In that case, take it to 7. For an XP person, the gui on 7 is better, and it runs better than Vista. Run the free upgrade to 10 (possibly on a different drive). Give him the computer with 7, but he will be able to upgrade to 10 whenever he wants.

 

[cubby1223]

And, will Win9x even work with USB flash drives? I have a sinking feeling that Win98se, although having SOME USB support, didn't have native support for the "USB Mass Storage" device class, and thus needed flash-drive-specific drivers. (I know that WinME and Win2K and XP and newer support USB Mass Storage devices.)

I might even have to bust out my 1.44" floppy collection, and my USB floppy drive, to do this.

Or should I set up a temporary NAS to dump the files to, and then retrieve them on the
Vista machine? I hardly even remember doing networking with Win98se, though I'm pretty sure it supported IPv4.

It's a standard IDE hard drive, pull it out and connect it as a second drive to the new machine. Copy files. Done.

I just talked to someone today, that is willing to pay me to migrate their files, from an "old" (kind of hinted at Win9x-era) PC, to a "new" PC. The "new" PC was a different neighbor's PC, that I reformatted for them previously, and added an SSD, though only a 60GB. (I was thinking of telling them I could fresh install Vista 64-bit for them, and swap to a 240GB BX200 SSD I have, for a decent price.)
...
Edit: Also, if anyone wants to discuss the ethics of helping someone "upgrade" to Vista, when it will be EOL in a year (?), feel free. I just thought of that. I really shouldn't charge them to migrate, when they're just going to have to migrate again in a year. I should either offer to upgrade them to Windows 7, or Windows 10, or help them find a newer PC.

I wouldn't even bother. You can purchase a high-end core 2 duo full system (q45 chipset, 3ghz cpu, ddr3 ram) with windows 7 license for $60 shipped. Who knows what surprises you will find with the neighbor's system - bad hard drive, bad capacitors, bad dvd-drive... You will spend more money upgrading the "new pc" than what it is worth in the marketplace. If I were in your position I'd recommend the "new pc" be handed directly to a recycling facility.

 

[sm625]

Be careful migrating old emails. I have several decade+ old emails that I have migrated several times. One time after migrating, I looked in my outlook and the emails all appeared to be there. But when I actually opened them I noticed that they were all copies of the same email. I had to go back into my old drive and get them again. No idea how something like this can even happen since the headers and subject lines were all migrated correctly, just the bodies were lost. But then again, this is microsoft...