How to Migrate 1 user profile to another

[fionajohnson]

Hello,
First, let me tell you I am not computer/network savvy at all

I have Windows 7 installed and I need to migrate everything from 1 user to another on the same machine. I looked at the easy migrate tool, but it seems to only work if 2 computers are connected to migrate from 1 to another. Is there a way to be logged in to bothe old and new user at the same time to accomplish this?

I have also downloaded USMT with Windows AIK, but I have no idea where to start with this. I am not technologically savvy at all, so I am having a hard time even knowng where to start.

Any help would be appreicated!
Thanks
Fiona

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi Fiona, welcome to the forums

Have you looked at http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11470-windows-easy-transfer-transfer-computers.html

It can be used on the same machine too


OS

 

[fionajohnson]

Thanks! I just checked it out and it looks promising...

 

[mborner]

It's a common question, with a common response; Why would you want to do that? It appears that most people, after installing Windows 7, and getting their one and only administrator account custom tailored just the way they like, they want to create a second account (usually a standard account) that looks and works exactly the same without having to go through all the settings, themes, and customizations again. It's perfectly understandable, but a little more difficult to implement, to the point that it may just be worth it to do just that.
I'll spare you the UAC/Administrator lecture, as it has truly run its course on this board. Just know this; I hope you know what risks you are taking by running daily operations logged in as an administrator all the time.

With that, rule number 1; You cannot modify, move, or change an account profile while it is logged in. As an example, we'll use two fictitious accounts, an administrator account that we'll call "admin" and a standard user account we'll call "std". **

** we'll assume that it's the admin account profile that you want to copy to the std account profile.

In folder options, click on the "view" tab and select the dot that says "show hidden files and folders" Also, un-check the box that says "hide protected system files".

Log off the admin account and log in to your std account. If both accounts are administrator accounts that's fine, just keep track of admin and std. From the std account log in, navigate to C:\users. create a new folder here and name it whatever you like. Open up the admin folder and select all of its contents. Now, right click and drag all of the contents to the new folder. In the context menu that appears, select "copy here"

You now have two user profiles in your user folder that are exactly the same, except for the name.

Log off your std account, and log into admin. From admin, navigate to C:\users. Backup, and then remove the std account from C:\users.
log back off of admin and back into std. Navigate to C:\users and rename the new folder that you created to the exact same name you had as std.

Finally, log off and then back on both accounts.

******REMEMBER******** Switching user accounts will not log off the other account. You must go to Start/shutdown and select "log off user"

 

[lucids]

I realise this is an old thread and i had to rejoin as lost my previous login.

Tried the above to the letter twice and it simply does not work. Using Windows 7SP1 ultimate x64 (fully updated clean install).

I note that when the admin account is copied when logged in as std the instructions do not mention showing hidden and system files, those it says are to be enabled in admin profile only, thus only used to provide a full backup of the original std profile, from the admin account before deletion.

When logging in to the std account after the deletion of its folder (when logged in as admin) a temporary profile is created that is used for the account and deleted on log off.

As per instruction from the std account the new folder with admin files is renamed to the original std profile name then log off. Upon re log in to the std profile the system still uses the temp account. There is thus no migration of user profiles at all and the above instructions don't work.

Is there another way to perform the above task that does work successfully?

 

[samohtrelhe]

Migrating users the right way

I recommend using Microsoft User State Migration (USMT). USMT is the MS authorized way to handle profiles.
And for those not fancying fiddling round in command lines, do it via USMTGUI.

USMTGUI is a straight forward GUI for USMT.
Since MIGWIZ (Easytransfer) is no longer updated - gone as of Windows 10 - USMTGUI is the only user migration GUI left.

Backup the profile and then restore it. You can also restore the profile to another user/another domain.

usmtgui.ehler.dk