Please ignore what they offer. It was barely usable back then and fails in so many ways that rather than discuss why we don't use it, let's move forward to what can save our files.
2. No. We can't move/save most applications.
Well done area again so let's move past this hot zone and get our files safe.
3. Backup. For me that's any files I want to preserve. I use simple copy and paste from my old machine to external hard drives. Plural? Yes. One copy is not safe enough. I'll make a copy of what I can't lose then use software like SyncBack to synchronize a pair of external drives.
Now I can hide one of those until later. I can also use DropBox for a few free GB of extra can't lose space.
-> I have used Microsoft's Easy Transfer and it does work as advertised. Do you need to re-discuss the old topic of why applications don't migrate?
Bob
I am trying to migrate from XP to Windows 7 for the well known reasons. I've spent several days on this unwelcome resented task imposed by force. If I don't hear a way to do it by tomorrow I will give up and go out get a Mac or something (though I don't suppose my troubles will be instantly over). I resent this change for the same reason as other people, and doubly because I have two XP devices, a main computer and a Acer netbook.
Start with backups. I had never used the Windows Backup programme because I don't understand the concept, as will become evident. However I have often enough made copies of all my documents, photos and even music on an external disk and I have two on two disks up to date of everything.
It is given out that that is not enough and you have to have a copy of the soul of your computer which you do with a proper back up programme. So I did that with the computer Windows backup prog. and the result is a file .bkp and I can't see what is in it so I wonder what use that can be? If I click it it just takes me to doing the backup again. Also when doing it it tells me that at the end it will need to register information about my computer on a floppy. I didn't think they still existed but I got the last one my computer shop had, and it is far too small. Nor could I register anything on a CD and before I could try a pen drive I ran into other problems. Maybe this thing is unnecessary, two people told me 'don't bother'.
I started with my netbook. I went through the Windows 7 Upgrade Advosor thing. The only thing it told me I needed was an Atheros Ethernet Controller which I downloaded. Then I went to Windows Easy Transfer, have tried it 10 times, did disable antivirus, and each time it tells me failed because my computer is working in a different language than the transfer program. Headbang.
I think this means my computer language is Italian*, not some programming language. I was unable to find in Microsoft anything in Italian. I change the computer language into English (more hours wasted + it easily slips back). It still tells me same thing. Headbang.
There are some screwy things about downloading this. The panel for Run is in Italian whichever language I imposed on the computer and which displays in a bar and anyway it never seems to install and I have to download it each time I use it.
Any suggestions? Any migration programs THAT WORK?
*(My main computer speaks Italian because it is in Italy and my netbook too because I bought it there though I use it mostly outside Italy. I could have bought it UK, but I preferred an Italian version because because I preferred its keyboard which gives me accents etc. convenient for writing in Italian, French etc. as I have to do sometimes. The downside is it really means I have to deal with four languages, English, Italian, English computerese, and Italian computerese; knowing the first two and a smattering of the third is no guarantee of always understanding the fourth. I'd be glad of switching.the computer to English entirely, but not if the keyboard characters no longer correspond. )

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