Data Migration to Vista Made Easy

The big migration to Windows Vista has officially begun. For system builders, this will mean lots of work ordering, installing and upgrading Microsoft's new OS on both new and old systems.

For most customers, moving to Vista will mean moving to entirely new systems. Many if not most PCs now installed lack the processing power and memory capacity demanded by Microsoft's new OS. For users installing new Vista PCs, the big question becomes, How do I get my data and settings over to the new system?

Data migration is a voodoo science. Ask 10 system builders how they transfer their clients' data, and you'll probably get at least five different answers. For example, some use Windows' built-in File and Settings Transfer Wizard. Others prefer to go the manual route, individually selecting data to transfer. But with only one exception, most PC file-transfer applications neglect one of the most important considerations of any old-new migration: the ability to transfer entire applications from an old system to a new one.

Thankfully, over the course of researching the most efficient method of migrating data, I have found a new application from an established software company that is not only capable of quickly transferring music, photos, and other data, but also all-important applications. It's Laplink's PCmover. I believe PCmover is the best solution now available, one that every system builder should have in their toolkit.

Before I delve into this application, I want to explore Microsoft's promise of simple data migration via a new Vista application known as the Windows Easy Transfer utility.

Windows Easy Transfer: Turnkey Data Migration?

Given the importance of transfering data from old PCs to new ones, it makes sense that Microsoft would develop its own solution. Unfortunately, in my tests, Windows XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is of average quality at best.

But Microsoft claims to have a new, improved file-transfer application ready for Vista. It's called the Windows Easy Transfer utility, and it's bundled into Vista. The program works like this: After downloading and installing the application onto the older Windows XP system, you connect the two systems with a proprietary Easy Transfer USB Cable. This USB 2.0 cable can generate data-transfer rates of up to 1 GB per second. Then you run the program on both systems.

But based on limited information now available from Microsoft, it's not clear whether their utility will allow for the all-important migration of applications as well as user data. (For more, see Microsoft's Community site, Are You Ready For Windows Vista?)

When I queried the company about this, a A Microsoft spokesperson replied, "Windows Easy Transfer makes it easy to set up your new computer by automatically transferring important information from your old computer to your new one, such as files and folders, e-mail messages, Windows and program settings, contacts, photos, music, and Internet favorites." Unfortunately, this reply doesn't answer my question.

Two Other Options: Spare Switch and Intellimover

When I began researching the ideal data-migration methodology, I expected to have to wade through four or five solutions. Much to my surprise, this was not the case. After sorting through a number of also-rans (including the Windows File and Transfer Settings wizard), I initially evaluated three software packages, each offering a unique and promising take: Spare Switch, Intellimover, and PCmover. Ultimately, only PCmover offered all the features I wanted.

The first package I evaluated, Spare Switch, is made by the company of the same name. Spare Switch promises easy data transfers, without cables, by using a network of servers as a go-between. This allows an old PC to compress and then upload the data to be migrated to the Spare Switch servers. The new PC then accesses this data and downloads it.

It's a pretty unique hook. But in my tests, the Spare Switch software does not allow for the migration of applications (such as Microsoft Office, iTunes, etc.) from an old system to a new one.

The second program, Intellimover from Detto, offers speedy data-transfer rates via a proprietary USB cable offering data-transfer rates of 1 GB per minute. But this solution also lacks the ability to move applications between systems.

For these reasons, I cannot recommend either Spare Switch or Intellimover. So let's move on to the utility I do recommend.