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Windows Vista's Easy Transfer feature makes transferring certain kinds of settings and data files between two computers comparatively easy. It sounds great and works well, as long as you don't expect too much. You need to be aware of the following limitations:
- It's best if the two PCs are connected. The PC you're transferring files and settings to must be running Windows Vista. If at all possible, it should be connected to the PC that you're transferring settings from. The from PC can be running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista.
 | Easy Transfer can send a humongous amount of data from one PC to another. You can schlep a key disk from one machine to another, if you have a few spare hours. Far better, though, is if you can get both PCs talking to each other on a network. Failing that, you can connect the PCs with a USB cable, use an external hard drive, or even burn and then read CDs or DVDs. Easy Transfer can work with any of 'em. |
- Easy Transfer can't install your old programs on your new PC. You have to do that yourself, manually, one at a time, generally from the original CDs that the programs came on.
 | If you use Easy Transfer but you don't install all your old programs on your new PC, weird things may happen on the new PC. You may double-click a file in Vista, for example, and have Windows say that it can't find the program associated with the file. Outlook may have trouble displaying a file attached to a message. Nothing earth-shattering will happen, mind you, but it can be annoying. |
- Easy Transfer only picks up data files, some settings, and Windows Registry entries. That means you can't expect it to pull across all your passwords, and some copy-protection schemes (on games, for example) may go haywire.
On the plus side, though, Easy Transfer doesn't pick up much of the garbage that seems to accumulate in every Windows PC, such as vestiges of long-forgotten programs and Registry entries that lead nowhere, which means you can use it without gumming up your new computer.
Shortly after Microsoft froze the design of Windows Vista, the designers ponied up the cash to buy the company that makes Alohabob, the best file-transfer program in the business. It's anyone's guess how soon the Alohabob technology will find its way into Vista, but if you hear about major improvements in the Windows Easy Transfer system, or if Microsoft offers an alternative to Easy Transfer, you can bet they came from Alohabob — and that they'll be worthwhile.
Here are the kinds of things Easy Transfer should pick up in a transfer:
- Data files: If you're transferring from Windows XP or 2000, expect to see files from your Windows desktop, the My Documents folder (including My Pictures and My Music, if you have those in the My Documents folder), and the Shared Desktop and Documents folders. If you're transferring from another Vista machine, the folder names are different (for example, Documents instead of My Documents), but the usual suspects remain the same.
- Other files scattered around your hard drive(s), as long as Windows recognizes them as common data files.
 | Easy Transfer generally chooses which files to transfer based on the filename extension. It looks for filename extensions that are commonly associated with data files, such as .doc or .jpg. |
- Settings for Windows (desktop, screen savers, taskbar options, and so on), Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer (including your list of Favorites), and Outlook Express: If your from machine runs Vista, you'll get the settings for Windows Mail.
- All your Microsoft Office settings, plus many of the Registry-based settings for other programs.
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