Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 (Part 6 - Epilogue)

In writing this series of articles about migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, I have been slowly moving my production time from my old system to the new one (I use a KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse switch)). My old system had some issues and needed to be retired. But as fate would have it, my old system's time had started to run out.

In the middle of last week, I found the old system had lost its ability to recognize USB keyboards and mice. I had to take it off-line and set it up with a PS2 keyboard and mouse. The only item I had left to migrate was my PIM (Personal Information Manager). I use Microsoft Outlook as my PIM and have a Palm TX handheld and an LG Chocolate cell phone to synchronize to Outlook.

But this did allow using Windows Easy Transfer differently. I need to get some of my settings back in-place fast. I had read about pulling the settings from the old system to the new system when they are both on the same network, so I decided to give it a try. I started Windows Easy Transfer on my old computer from the DVD just like I had done before, but this time I choose A Network, and then followed the instructions (basically, starting Windows Easy Transfer on my new computer and entering a key). The Windows Easy Transfer key acts like a password to help protect files and settings when you transfer them over the network. I selected the settings I needed and started the process.

It worked beautifully! It did a great job of bringing in my application settings, especially Microsoft Outlook, as the custom toolbars came right back. But it did not bring it my e-mail addresses or data files. But I did expect at least that, so I had to put the databases in the right locations and set up my e-mail accounts manually.

Also, moving to the 64-bit platform, I knew I would run into driver issues, and sure enough, it did. This problem did not affect me but might be an issue to others who own a Palm handheld or smartphone and use HotSync. I have been using a Bluetooth connection to sync my Palm TX for years, but when I installed the Palm Desktop and HotSync to get the Microsoft Outlook conduits, it wanted a driver for the cable connection. Come to find out that there is no 64-bit USB driver for Palm handhelds and smartphones. Palm recommends using a Bluetooth connection to sync when running 64-bit versions of Windows.