Transfer Files From Windows XP To Windows 7

Everyone is making the move to Windows 7, so if you need to transfer your files and setting from Windows XP to Windows 7, you have a few different options. You can simply copy files from your Documents folder onto a network attached storage device, or copy them to a thumb drive or external hard drive. This is fine for a lot of users, but if you want to easily transfer Favorites, mail settings and not have to worry about missing anything, then you’ll want to use the Windows 7 Easy Transfer Wizard. This article describes both methods so choose the one that best suits your needs.

Windows 7 Easy Transfer

You will want to download the Windows Easy Transfer program and install it on your Windows XP machine. It should already be installed on Windows 7. Next, log in as Administrator on both PCs. You’ll need to determine how you will be transferring the files off of the old computer. You will need to do it using either an external USB drive, a network drive or by purchasing an Belkin Easy Transfer Cable for Windows 7.

Next, start the transfer wizard on both computers and walk through the first few options, such as telling it this is “My new computer” or “This is my old computer.” You will also need to tell both computer which method you plan on using to transfer the files over.

On the old computer, Windows will scan each user name and allow you to explore what files you want to transfer over. You’ll probably want to take them all, but be aware it cannot transfer programs over–you will need to reinstall them separately. Once it has scanned and copied the files to and external disk (or if you’re using a transfer cable) you will then need to go back to the new computer and let it know the files are ready to be imported. It will do the rest.

Copy Files From One Computer To Another

If you decide to go the more manual method, you will need an external hard drive, a thumb drive large enough for all of your files, or a network attached drive. You should take a moment to move everything off of your desktop and put it into your My Documents folder just for organizational purposes. Next, right-click the Start button and select Explore. Look for the Documents and Settings navigation and it will show all of the folders for all of the users on that computer. Copy all for those folders and move them into Windows 7. You probably will not want to import all of that data over, but at least you’ll have it in case you need those files.

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