New Windows XP data transfer tool and end of support notifications

[Brink]

As the end of support for Windows XP on April 8th nears we’re continuing to focus on ensuring customers are aware of the deadline and helping them to migrate to a modern operating system such as Windows 8.1. Today we have some news on both those fronts.



To help customers on Windows XP prepare to move to a new PC, we are announcing a free transfer tool that will be available beginning this month. We have partnered with Laplink to provide Windows XP users with a free data migration tool called PCmover Express for Windows XP which copies your files and settings from your Windows XP PC to a new device running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. This tool will copy your files, music, videos, email and user profiles and settings from your old PC to your new device, transferring across your home or work network, and even enables Windows XP users to customize exactly what they want to bring over to their new device.

PCmover Express will be available for download in English starting later this week via WindowsXP.com as well as French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish coming later in March and it will be available in Korean, Chinese, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese after that. But if someone doesn’t want to wait for the tool to be released in their local language, they can access Laplink’s tool in other languages as well via Microsoft’s Download Center.

For Windows XP users wanting to transfer applications from their old computer, Laplink is also making available its software that migrates apps called PCmover Professional at a special price - see here for details.

On March 8th, 2014, Windows XP customers using the Home or Professional editions who have elected to receive updates via Windows Update will receive an official notification on their desktop screen via Windows Update informing them that support for Windows XP will end on April 8th, 2014.



The notification will include a link to our Windows XP End of Support website where Windows XP users can find all the information they need on the end of support for Windows XP and what it means and how they can stay protected against security risks and viruses after April 8th. The notification will reoccur on the 8th of every month unless disabled by the user.For customers unsure of what version of Windows they are using, they can go to AmIRunningXP.com, a website designed to automatically tell if a PC is running on Windows XP or a newer version of Windows like Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1. If it detects Windows XP, the website provides guidance on how to upgrade ahead of the April 8th end of support deadline.

More...

See also: Free data transfer - End of support Windows XP - Microsoft Windows

 

[MrWhoopee]

How thoughtful of them to provide this tool in such a timely fashion!

 

[UsernameIssues]

>For Windows XP users wanting to transfer applications from their old computer...

This forum can expect an increase in posts about apps that will not update and will not uninstall. I've encountered several 32bit installers "transferred" by Laplink to a 64bit OS. Some will run, but others halt with the warning that it is the wrong app for a 64bit OS.

I cringe when I see that Laplink has been used to move apps. The last computer that I worked on had most of Dell's bloatware for a desktop "transferred" to a Toshiba laptop - including modem drivers, digital phone line monitor and Dell's software update management tool. Oddly enough, most of it ran.

 

[HerrKaLeun]

If you still run XP you likely don't have programs worth keeping.

 

[King Arthur]

If you still run XP you likely don't have programs worth keeping.

Overgeneralization much?

There are plenty of legitimate software that are only happy when they run inside Windows XP. Many older games, and in particular Japanese visual novels, come to mind among other examples. Heck, even older Microsoft-published games like Age of Empires II had problems running under Vista/7 until it got its HD re-release last year.

This is to say nothing of drivers for older hardware (I've found that a Windows 7 driver for a particular printer lacked features its XP driver had) and older hardware themselves that still work perfectly fine.

Security is no doubt an important thing to keep ahead of, but the reality of the world is that when something needs doing then pragmatism, practicality, and economics decide the day.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Now that the transfer tool has become available, I have downloaded it and am reading about its use. It seems that it is not a direct transfer tool (doesn't transfer via flash drive or direct network connection) , the transfer takes place over the Internet. That could mean some long transfer times for people (like me) with slow Internet connections. Laplink will provide a "high speed transfer cable" free with the purchase of the pro version of PC Mover, which is also the version you need to move your "apps". Doesn't look promising to me. I will be testing the free version soon.

Please stand by.

 

[Total]

How can you upgrade from xp to win 7 on the same computer ? Will the pcmover program do that ?

 

[Computer0304]

Well finally there is a transfer tool.

 

[RoasterMen]

Is that software worth using? What if XP users wants some unsupported files be left deleted?

 

[MrWhoopee]

Ok, here it is. I just completed the transfer from an XP machine to a 32-bit Win 7 machine.

First off, it is a live transfer (machine to machine) over your local network. It does not create a transfer file, you cannot use it to upgrade a single computer from XP to 7.

Secondly, it is SLOW! I transfered 3gb of data, it took 2 hours!

Third, it does NOT transfer any programs. That is reserved for the Pro version, which is for sale.

It did run without problems. It transfered documents, pictures, favorites (including favorites bar), desktop contents and wallpaper. It did place the pictures and documents in the correct folders.

In conclusion, this piece of software is without value. It did not do anything that can't be done with a flash drive in 1/10 the time.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there.

Forgive my being obtuse here but what does this actually DO that Windows explorer or a program like Acronis can't do already ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE FASTER using a usb stick / drive (and you get a backup too)-- you aren't copying APPLICATIONS but only DATA (inc music etc)

This IMO can be accomplished far more easily and quickly via these sorts of programs -- also by using something like a USB stick / drive you've also got a BACKUP too of your files / data.

The laplink method over any sort of network - using Wireless which is what I would imagine most people who would probably use the laplink method will take HOURS if not days - assuming they have any sort of decent size video / music collections.

Ms would have done far better to have come to an arrangement with Acronis / Macrium or whatever to provide a limited free version of these programs (rather like you get when buying some types of external USB portable drives).

Technical users or most users on these forums will probably have LAN (wired connections) but the average joe will be reliant on Wi-Fi -- and even with a decent Wi-Fi system try and see how long it takes to copy 300 GB data for example.

Incidentally in any case - even on an XP system you should ALWAYS HAVE BACKUP -- and if you already have backed up your data simply restore it to the new machine (Data here - not applications as this process isn't for upgrading the OS).

Seems to me this hobbled laplink software is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. They obviously want you to buy the PRO version which works with a cable --even here though IMO you are better off with a decent backup program.


(Finally in any case you can use IE itself for FTP if you really want to copy files from one computer to another using this type of method - or even any old free FTP program so the whole piece of software is totally redundant anyway. However using a transfer via a USB stick / drive is simply the quickest and easiest for most people and this of course doesn't require any sort of LAN and can be done without having to connect the computers together (another sort of issue for non technical people).

Cheers
jimbo

 

[UsernameIssues]

~~~
...what does this actually DO that Windows explorer ... can't do already...
~~~
...but the average joe will be reliant on Wi-Fi ...

In other forums that I frequent, members (average Joes?) have a hard time grasping the abstract concept of folder structures. They open Word, create a document and save it wherever Word saves stuff. They would not know how to find their documents via Windows Explorer. And they would never be able to find/transfer IE's Favorites and the Favorites bar.

This transfer tool seems to handle finding the files (as long as the files are in the correct location?) and putting them into the new* folder structure.

*users vs. documents and settings

As far as the idea of backing up files... that too is beyond lots of users.


Along the same lines, I was helping a person to stop using Word as I described above. I wanted this user to get used Windows Explorer. The next day, I get an e-mail asking me "why the info at the top is different from the info in the window". It took a few e-mails before I realized that this user had discovered folder aliases (My Documents vs. Documents).

When that user asked my why MS made things so confusing - I had no answer. What could I say?

 

[Computer0304]

And isn't this endorsed by Microsoft unlike the others?

 

[MrWhoopee]

And isn't this endorsed by Microsoft unlike the others?

Which explains all too clearly why it is so inadequate and useless. What I find odd is that M$ has, in the past, produced tools for this purpose (FASTwiz and Easy Transfer) which are actually pretty good. Why contract this to someone with such a poor track record? I thought Laplink was long gone.

 

[Mark Phelps]

I'm a long-time user of LapLink products and (yes) I actually used the PCMover Pro version to transfer a complete setup from one machine to another -- and it worked! Furthermore, the Pro version allows you to build a file of the transfer stuff, copy that to the new PC, and do the transfer local to the second PC. That does not take hours to do.

But, that said, I have to agree that PCMover without the apps migration feature is an app that is not needed. MS already provides such a feature in Windows Easy Transfer -- which also does NOT migrate apps.