How To Migrate Windows XP To Windows 7

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Microsoft will end support for Windows XP April 8, more than a decade after its debut. Upgrades have existed for years, but millions of people in companies worldwide are still using the old platform.

Unfortunately, there is no direct upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7, which many people consider to be the superior platform. The best path to Windows 7 from XP is a clean installation, assuming the user has a licensed copy of Windows 7 on disk. Full instructions for the migration are available here: http://tinyurl.com/crn-winXP2win7.

To run Windows 7, a machine must have at least an Intel Core 2, or the 64-bit AMD equivalent, running at least 1GHz, plus 4 GB of RAM and about 20 GB of available hard drive space.

To begin moving data, use Windows Easy Transfer from Microsoft, a free transfer utility for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows XP or Vista. Windows Easy Transfer can be used to connect two machines with an Ethernet or LapLink-style cable to select and copy all user profiles and data.

Most importantly, through all the installation steps, select ’Custom Install’ -- not ’Upgrade’ -- when rebooting the system from the Windows 7 disk.

PUBLISHED MARCH 18, 2014