Files and Settings Transfer problem

[NTL]

I just replaced my old PC. Old PC and new PC both XP Pro SP2 with latest
updates applied.

Before I did this I used Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to save the
settings from my old PC onto a SD card.
FAST wixzard created a 157MB file on my 1GB card. The file is in the root
drive and is called USMT2IMG.DAT

I cannot open this file on the new PC, I get the message telling me that "no
information can be found in this location", or "please insert disc1"

When I googled on this problem I found lots of users with a smiliar problem,
but could not find any solution.

Please help if you can.

My old PC is now dead.

Thanks,

Sandy

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I just replaced my old PC. Old PC and new PC both XP Pro SP2 with latest
updates applied.

Before I did this I used Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to save the
settings from my old PC onto a SD card.
FAST wixzard created a 157MB file on my 1GB card. The file is in the root
drive and is called USMT2IMG.DAT

I cannot open this file on the new PC, I get the message telling me that
"no information can be found in this location", or "please insert disc1"

When I googled on this problem I found lots of users with a smiliar
problem, but could not find any solution.

Please help if you can.

My old PC is now dead.

Here are some articles that might help with the problem:

How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard with a wizard disk in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306187

Dealing with corrupt Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (F.A.S.T) image
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/fast.htm

 

[Guest]

There are a variety of solutions already posted in this section to address
this problem - if you search this section you will find them. Lots of
seemingly helpful solutions, even web pages dedicated to this issue.

However, I have tried most of them, burned many hours of futility, and still
can not perform a settings transfer. I even have an image of the old hard
drive to work from. The File and Settings Transfer Wizard system just does
not seem to work.

You would be better off spending your time simply re-creating the settings
from scratch.

Good Luck

 

[Ron Martell]

There are a variety of solutions already posted in this section to address
this problem - if you search this section you will find them. Lots of
seemingly helpful solutions, even web pages dedicated to this issue.

However, I have tried most of them, burned many hours of futility, and still
can not perform a settings transfer. I even have an image of the old hard
drive to work from. The File and Settings Transfer Wizard system just does
not seem to work.

You would be better off spending your time simply re-creating the settings
from scratch.

Not correct - it does, and usually works very well. However it does
have a few requisites that are not well documented.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Ron Martell]

I just replaced my old PC. Old PC and new PC both XP Pro SP2 with latest
updates applied.

Before I did this I used Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to save the
settings from my old PC onto a SD card.
FAST wixzard created a 157MB file on my 1GB card. The file is in the root
drive and is called USMT2IMG.DAT

I cannot open this file on the new PC, I get the message telling me that "no
information can be found in this location", or "please insert disc1"

When I googled on this problem I found lots of users with a smiliar problem,
but could not find any solution.

Please help if you can.

My old PC is now dead.

Hi Sandy:

On your new computer create a folder and name it Transfer.
Then create a subfolder in the transfer folder and name it USMT2.UNC
Finally copy the file from your memory stick into the USMT2.UNC folder
and then rename it to IMG00001.DAT

When this is done start the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard on the
new computer and tell it to restore the data from the Transfer folder.

That should work.

If it doesn't then see the following web site:
Dealing with corrupt Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (F.A.S.T)
image by MVP Ramesh Srinivasan http://windowsxp.mvps.org/fast.htm

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Not well documented? Then how are you supposed to know how to use it?
When I ran my "Transfer" the dialog box indicated that the transfer was
succesful. I turned in my old computer with the warm and fuzzy feeling I had
my settings safe - I also had an image of my old hard drive - I thought I was
set. But, after trying many peoples suggestions, I never was able to recover
my settings.

This is supposed to be a useful tool for people to use when getting a new
computer - something that arguably does not happen every day. It should be
intuitive and fool-proof, otherwise you get the long listing of problems that
are poted in this webpage.

Sorry for the rant, but this "tool" cost me a lot of time and frustration.
It would have been easier to simply just recreate the settings right from the
start.

 

[Ron Martell]

Not well documented? Then how are you supposed to know how to use it?
When I ran my "Transfer" the dialog box indicated that the transfer was
succesful. I turned in my old computer with the warm and fuzzy feeling I had
my settings safe - I also had an image of my old hard drive - I thought I was
set. But, after trying many peoples suggestions, I never was able to recover
my settings.

This is supposed to be a useful tool for people to use when getting a new
computer - something that arguably does not happen every day. It should be
intuitive and fool-proof, otherwise you get the long listing of problems that
are poted in this webpage.

Sorry for the rant, but this "tool" cost me a lot of time and frustration.
It would have been easier to simply just recreate the settings right from the
start.

One very common cause of problems is that one version of FASTW is used
to create the files and then another version is used to attempt to
restore them.

The best way to avoid this is to create a FASTW wizard disk (a USB
Memory Stick will work if there is no 3.5 diskette drive in one or
both machines) on the new computer and then use this wizard disk on
the old computer to create the transfer files, even if the old
computer is also running Windows XP.

Another common cause of problems is failing to create a "containing"
folder for the transfer data to be saved into. If you just tell the
wizard to save the data to drive C: (or F: or whatever) then it wil
create its own USMT2.UNC folder in the root directory of that drive
and then save the files there. It can then be problematic to get the
files to restore properly. Best practice is to create a special
folder (I use the name Transfer for these) on the intended drive and
then tell the wizard to save the results in the X:\Transfer folder
rather than just Drive X:\. The restore program should then be told
to look in the Transfer folder to find the data to restore.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."