XP 32 to Vista 64: Migrate of user files?

[Andrew Fiddian-Green]

I plan to install Vista Ultimate 64 on a PC which currently has XP Pro 32 on
it; and apparently I need to do "clean install".

Questions:

1) Is it correct that a "clean install" does not require reformatting or
repartitioning of the hard disk?

2) And therefore the installation should not erase any (user) files? (Yes I
know about all the "health" warnings you have to make, but basically are the
files erased or not?)

3) If the user files are in the "old" XP My Documents folder then will it
still be possible to open that folder under Vista and move the files to the
"new" Vista My Documents folder? i.e. is the "old" My Documents protected
under the "old" Windows login? Or should I move the documents to a "neutral"
folder on C: before starting the installation?

AndrewFG

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Andrew,

Questions:

1) Is it correct that a "clean install" does not require reformatting or
repartitioning of the hard disk?

True, you do not have to format or repartition, though I would not recommend
doing this without backing up any files that you do not wish to lose. Things
sometimes do not go as planned.

2) And therefore the installation should not erase any (user) files? (Yes
I know about all the "health" warnings you have to make, but basically are
the files erased or not?)

Refer back to #1.

3) If the user files are in the "old" XP My Documents folder then will it
still be possible to open that folder under Vista and move the files to
the "new" Vista My Documents folder? i.e. is the "old" My Documents
protected under the "old" Windows login? Or should I move the documents to
a "neutral" folder on C: before starting the installation?

They will be moved to Windows.old, and you may need to take ownership of it
before being allowed to access it. Again, I would not rely on this method to
preserve files, there is no excuse for not doing a proper backup to
removable media. Things sometimes go wrong in a setup, and there may be no
way out beyond formatting.

By the way, "My Documents" is now simply "Documents", as are many of the
"My" folders. You will see them in Vista as shortcuts, these are pointers to
the new user document folders.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Andrew Fiddian-Green]

there is no excuse for not doing a proper backup to removable media.

Things sometimes go wrong in a setup, and there may be no way out beyond
formatting.

Well my "excuse" is that the majority of my user files are music CDs that I
scanned into iTunes; obviously they are "backed up" on the original physical
media; but loading even a small library of 50 or 60 CDs takes a lot of time
that if possible I want to avoid wasting...

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Andrew,

Understood. That warning is geared more towards the person that just
proceeds without copying off all those family photos and video, or important
documents. Stuff happens, don't take chances with things you can't replace.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org