Transferring Files from XP to Windows 7 – Easy Transfer Part 2

Making the move to a new operating system can be a challenge, but there are ways to make it a little easier.

In Part 1,  of this series, we discussed backing up your computer and introduced Windows Easy Transfer. Now we will outline the steps for using Easy Transfer.

Once you have downloaded and installed Windows Easy Transfer on your old computer and started it up, the program will prompt you on what to do. It will ask how you want to transfer items.

Choose whatever method you want. If you are upgrading the same computer to a newer OS, you will need to choose the external hard disk or flash drive option. If you are transferring from an old to a new computer, it will depend on whether you have a cord to connect your computers or if you are transferring over the network, or if you still want to use the external drive.  It will then ask which computer you are using, an old or a new. On my XP machine, it only gave me the option of being the old computer. After this point, depending on the method you chose, you may have different screens than what I describe. I chose to save to an external drive or flash drive.

You will then see a window that will scan your computers for files to transfer.  You can leave it as the default or you can customize the files you want to transfer by clicking on Customize. A new menu will pop up, and you can uncheck certain locations, or you can choose to customize even more by clicking Advanced at the bottom of the menu. This allows you to navigate to more specific folders in each location and choose exactly what you would like to transfer.

 Once you have made your selections, make certain you check the size of the file to be certain it will fit on your external drive or flash drive. This is shown right above the Next button. If the file size is OK, click on Next. A window will pop up asking you to set a password. If you feel you need to protect the file, add a password and then confirm it, making sure to note it down. If you do not want a password, simply leave the boxes blank and hit Save.

The Assistant will then ask you to locate your external device, name your file (something you will remember for when you open it on the new OS), and then click save. Once it finishes, it will show you your transfer is complete and note the drive you saved to.

Please note, if you are using two computers and you saved to an external drive, when you plug the drive into the new computer, it will likely be a different drive letter.

Once you have safely saved your files that you want backed up, you can begin the operating system installation. After going through the installation, you can then use the Windows Easy Transfer program built in to Windows 7 to transfer the files you have saved. Check out Part 3 to learn about that process.

-Audra