WHEN to use files and settings transfer

karambel · 20 Oct 2010

I have a new off the shelf toshiba R705 with windows 7 ultimate upgrade (because that was all they had at best buy and my husband HAD to have it that day). The old laptop was XP. I have installed most of the old and new programs he needs but I am worried about some of the settings.

For example, I haven't put his old favorites on the new machine because I am afraid that there are other files that contain passwords and user names that automatically pop up. I would love for him not to have to put these in again as every time something doesn't work the way it did before he becomes a 5 year old.

I have backups of his outlook pst files and the auto complete files but i can't get into the Documents and Settings folder to put them in (the documents and settings folder is locked! and i haven't figured that out yet). I wonder if the files and settings transfer will take care of that.

There are also settings for things like Efax etc that I would like to have transferred. I don't know where setting for these things are stored.

Having said all that, I would be willing to transfer things over manually but I am worried I don't know all the files that need to be transferred. I'm not worried about things like documents or pictures or music, etc.

Is it too late to use the files and setting transfer program if you have already installed office, word perfect, and several other smaller programs?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Deirdre

Ztruker · 20 Oct 2010

Documents and Settings in Windows 7 is a Junction Point. Basically a hard link to where Win 7 keeps things. Favorites is in C:\Users\(user name)\Favorites.

karambel · 20 Oct 2010

Thanks for replying. I think, however, that my original question was poorly worded.

First, is it advisable to use the files and settings wizard after you have already installed several programs?

Besides fairly obvious things like favorites, there must be files that contain other settings for IE, like passwords and user names that i haven't had to type in for a long time. I don't know what or where those are. Does the files and settings wizard transfer those?

Does the wizard allow you to chose what files you want transferred?

Finally, last question, promise: With XP i knew where files were. For example, to backup my outlook pst files i navigated to Documents and Settings/user/local settings/microsoft/outlook. Have those locations changed?

OK.. one more question: My documents and settings folder is locked and access is denied. How do i get in there?

I apologize for having so many questions. It's been so long since I had to set up a new OS.

Thanks,

Deirdre

Trucidation · 21 Oct 2010

Login stuff (names, passwords) for IE are likely stored in cookies. I don't think they're easy to transfer over simply by copying a file or using the wizard so I'll leave this for an expert to give a definitive answer.

Quite a few folder locations got changed; in my uninformed opinion I'd suggest finding a utility which helps you backup and transfer things like Outlook files. I'd feel safer just keying in settings manually, as much as a pain as that might sound.

Just a quick observation on that last question; that "My Documents" you can't get into is probably the junction, look for the actual folder.

Personally, I can't stand soft links, junctions, libraries, etc. I don't need the file system to handhold me. It's supremely annoying when it says the file was saved in folder X but turns up in folder Y, which happens to be shared in a library with folder Z. Ugh.

mborner · 21 Oct 2010

karambel said:

Thanks for replying. I think, however, that my original question was poorly worded.

First, is it advisable to use the files and settings wizard after you have already installed several programs?

Besides fairly obvious things like favorites, there must be files that contain other settings for IE, like passwords and user names that i haven't had to type in for a long time. I don't know what or where those are. Does the files and settings wizard transfer those?

Does the wizard allow you to chose what files you want transferred?

Finally, last question, promise: With XP i knew where files were. For example, to backup my outlook pst files i navigated to Documents and Settings/user/local settings/microsoft/outlook. Have those locations changed?

OK.. one more question: My documents and settings folder is locked and access is denied. How do i get in there?

I apologize for having so many questions. It's been so long since I had to set up a new OS.

Thanks,

Deirdre

You need to be logged in as administrator. I can't think of any other reason why you wouldn't have access to your Documents and Settings folder. The correct path for .pst should be; C:\documents and settings\username\application data\microsoft\outlook.
The .pst should be pretty easy to restore in Windows 7. Just keep one thing in mind; After you install Outlook in windows 7, don't configure your email until after you restore the .pst file because if you configure email first, the last step in configuring your email account will be to automatically send/receive your email messages. These new messages will be deleted when you restore .pst.

It sounds like you got a pretty good handle on your other files. Personally, I would move everything over manually, as I'm not familiar with the transfer wizard.

Ztruker · 21 Oct 2010

Please see my previous post. Documents and Settings is a Junction Point, not an actual folder as it was in XP. Everything you want is now under the Users (C:\Users normally) folder tree.

A Google search for documents and settings windows 7 yields lots of results that may help you understand the user folder structure used in Vista and Windows 7. The first link: Accessing Documents and Settings folder in Windows 7 gives a good overview.

karambel · 23 Oct 2010

Thank you All. I appreciate the good advice. Deirdre