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Suggestions for migrating data/applications from one computer to another? (Win xp to xp)

T

Tebor0

Member
For personal use I've always just done a clean install of all my apps and dealt with the loss of general settings and anything I might have forgotten to backup but this time around I'm working with others computers.

I've been asked to upgrade 4 computers at work and I'm aiming for a seamless transfer. Basically I'd like it so that the person can sit down and use the new computer as if nothing has changed except for the box below their desks.

--The hardware is going to be completely different and just swapping out the hard drive isn't really an option. (nor do I want to deal with hardware driver conflicts)
--It'll be an xp to xp transfer.
--I likely will not have the CDs for all the applications installed on each desktop.
--I'd like to keep as much as possible. Applications/settings/emails/passwords/etc.

Unless I'm mistaken.. ghosting the drive seems out of the question since I'll be using different hardware.
The default windows xp file transfer wizard won't transfer applications (office/adobe/etc)

It looks like an application like PCMover might be my best choice. Thoughts/alternative suggestions?
 
There's no way around dealing with the drivers.

If all four are the same, you could build a slipstreamed install disk with nLite
 
You could use Sysprep to remove the old drivers, then put the current hard drive in the new computer and let the OS reinstall the new drivers.
I would suggest you clone or ghost the old drives to a backup drive, just in case something goes wrong and you need to get back to the point before any mods are done.
 
Definitely going the slipstream route. I'm actually in the process of building the image right now 🙂 I'm happy and comfortable with the OS install so far. It's just everything else that I'm worried about.

Unfortunately I'm not able to transfer the old hard drives into the new builds. The new computers are tiny and use 2.5" drives unlike the old HDs which are standard 3.5".
Good point though, ghosting is near the top of my list of of things to do for backup purposes. I just wasn't sure if the ghost image would be usable on the new computers and I'm leaning towards 'no'.
 
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