Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 Step 4


Step 4: Moving your files and settings back to your computer

After you've installed Windows 7, now you're ready to run Windows Easy Transfer again and move your files and settings back to your computer.
Be sure you run Windows Easy Transfer before you reinstall your programs. That's because Windows Easy Transfer moves your files back to where your old programs will expect them to be when you reinstall them.
Picture of the Choose what to transfer to this computer screenUser accounts from Windows XP are moved to Windows 7.

Move files and settings back using Windows Easy Transfer

  1. Make sure your external hard disk or other storage device that contains your Windows Easy Transfer migration file is connected to your computer.
  2. Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click Computer, and under Hard Disk Drives, double-click your storage device.
  3. Browse to the location where you saved the Easy Transfer file, called Windows Easy Transfer – Items from old computer, and double click the file.
    If you gave the file a different name when you originally created it, browse to that file and double-click it.
  4. If you entered a password when creating the Easy Transfer file, type the password, and then clickNext.
    Note

    Note

    If you receive an error that you don't have enough free disk space to migrate your files back to your computer using Windows Easy Transfer, you can use Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files left over from yourWindows 7 installation and free up additional disk space. To learn how to do this, read the "Post-install clean up (optional)" section at the end ofStep 5: Reinstall your programs and update drivers.
  5. On the Choose what to transfer to this computer page, you can decide how the user accounts fromWindows XP are transferred to Windows 7.
    • To accept the current account mapping, click Transfer.
    • To change how the Windows XP accounts are mapped in Windows 7, click Advanced Options.
  6. On the Your transfer is complete page, click See what was transferred to view a list of the user accounts and files that were moved from Windows XP to Windows 7. Click See a list of programs you might want to install on your new computer to view what was previously installed onWindows XP.
  7. Click Close. If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Restart now.
If you transferred more than one user account, you might be prompted to change the password the next time you log on. If you're prompted to do so, click OK, and in the dialog box that appears, do one of the following:
  • If you want to give the user account a password (recommended), type a new password, retype it, and then press Enter. There's no need to type the old password from Windows XP.
  • If you don't want to give the user account a password, leave the boxes empty, and then press Enter.

Moving DRM‑protected content

 

Next: Reinstall your programs and update drivers.