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PCmover

Laplink has had PCmover available for many years. Its purpose is to successfully transfer your data and programs from an old computer to a new one. The data part of the transfer is easy enough, in fact, Microsoft has an application called Easy Transfer that will do that part. However, to transfer the programs part is difficult. You usually have to install the original programs on the new computer, and then update them as necessary, which may take a long time

The PCmover process has been adapted to include the tricky process of upgrading from XP to Window 7. As you probably know, Microsoft requires you to do a “clean” install (format the hard drive, then install) if you are running XP, then reinstall and update all your programs. I tried the PCmover process in an update from XP to Window 7. Overall, I would say it was a remarkable success. Before you start doing an upgrade, it’s wise to run Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor, available at Microsoft’s site.

The first step, of course, is to make at least one complete backup of your system – not just the data files, but the entire partition in which XP is running. Some tech people even advise making two complete backups and having them verified by the backup software.

The next step is to download and install PCmover. You can download it at www.laplink.com/PCmover. Once downloaded, you install it just like any other application. Laplink advises that you turn off any screen savers and power-saving settings. For laptops keep the power plug in. Your computer must stay awake during the entire procedure. They also recommend disabling anti-virus, spyware and similar applications because they probably won’t be transferred correctly; you’ll have to reinstall them after the upgrade.

Next, you run PCmover. You will need a serial number in order to run the program, which you should get when you download the program. The next screen of the program shows several choices for method of migration. You should choose the Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant method.

You can choose to migrate all users or only chosen ones. You’ll usually choose all. Next, you’ll be presented with a list of all your hard drives and partitions. You’ll only want to migrate the partition/drive which has XP. Next you can exclude certain file types. You probably won’t want to transfer the listed types, but it won’t hurt anything if you do transfer them.

Next is a scan for applications. You’ll get a list of all the applications on your computer. I got 112 in my list. You may deselect any of these which you don’t want to migrate. I left them all checked.

The next step creates the list of applications you have chosen, and then asks you what name to give it and where to save it. You should save it on a different drive/partition from the one you are migrating, or on an external hard drive. You can give it any name you want. I called mine “upgrade.”

Now, PCmover creates the Moving Van, the file that contains all the info to be migrated and saves it where you specified. This may be quite a large file. Mine was over 7 MB.

Now you upgrade to Windows 7 by selecting the Custom method. This will take a while, but your input will not be needed. Once complete, you reinstall PCmover on the upgraded computer, run it, find the Moving Van file and let PCmover migrate your applications and data. This transfer may take quite a while.

When completed, you should have all your applications and data that you wanted migrated available and working in Windows 7. There may be some of your applications that do not work in Windows 7. I had a few, but the problem was with Windows 7, not PCmover.

I found this migration assistant to be easy to use and quite effective to migrate applications and files

About: PCmover Vendor: Laplink www.laplink.com  Price: Ranges from $20 to $60 for a single license 

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).

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