Windows 8 : Upgrading or migrating from a previous version of Windows (part 3) - Using an external hard disk or USB flash drive, Using the User State Migration Tool

Using an external hard disk or USB flash drive

1. If you selected External Hard Disk Or USB Flash Drive, select the files you want to save for transfer after the wizard has attempted to estimate the size of your files. Select the check boxes next to the items you want to keep or transfer and click Next.

2. Because the files are being saved to external media, it is a good idea to enter a password for the Easy Transfer file so that no one else can access the data after you have exported it. Enter and confirm your Windows Easy Transfer password and click Next.

3. On the next page, save the migration file to an external drive. Ensure that you have connected the external drive and that it has enough space to store your migration file, browse to that drive, and click Save.

   When you save the migration file, all the selected information is transferred to this location as a .mig file.

   Figure 3 shows the process of saving the migration file from the old computer to external media. Based on the amount of data being migrated, an external hard drive is likely to be a better choice than flash media.

   

   Figure 3. Saving migration data to external disk

4. After the file has been saved, the external disk can be connected to your new computer. On the new computer, select the option to transfer files through an external hard drive and then choose this computer as your new computer.

5. Windows asks you whether the files for the migration have already been saved to an external disk. Connect the disk and select Yes to continue. If you select No, the wizard returns to the previous page.

At this point, the Windows Easy Transfer application begins reading and transferring your files from the external media. This could take some time. It is advisable not to use either computer during this process.

Using the User State Migration Tool

Another way to get information from one computer to another is by using the User State Migration Tool (USMT). This tool is useful for large migrations such as moving many computers during an upgrade. The files captured by the USMT can be deployed to new Windows–based computers to ensure that no information is lost when performing an upgrade deployment across an organization.  USMT supports the migration of the following types of information:

• Desktop items

• Application items

• User account information

• User files

The User State Migration Tool has the following requirements:

• It must run using administrator elevated privilege in Windows Vista.

• It must run using an administrator account in Windows XP.

• No applications should be open when running the ScanState.exe or LoadState.exe operations within USMT.

The USMT can accept the following operating systems as ScanState (source) computers:

• Windows 2000 Professional with Service Pack 4

• Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2

• Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2

• Windows XP Professional x64 edition with Service Pack 2

• Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit editions

Note

COPYING USMT TO MULTIPLE COMPUTERS

When the Windows Automated Installation Toolkit is installed on one machine, you can copy the USMT files to other computers in your organization.

The USMT runs from the command line, using a utility named ScanState.exe to copy the items from the source computer to a network share or external disk. After the computer has been upgraded or a new computer has been configured, the LoadState.exe utility is run on the destination computer to migrate the information from the network share to the new computer. For example, Joe runs ScanState.exe to move the user information from Kevin’s computer to the network so that Kevin’s computer can be upgraded to Windows 8. Joe then runs LoadState.exe to import the data from that share.

ScanState has many options, as shown in Table 1. Some options can be used together and some cannot; but, in many cases, the same options will be used repeatedly.

Important

KEEP TRACK OF THE OPTIONS CHOSEN

When using the User State Migration Tool to transfer data to a new computer, keep track of the options used during the ScanState portion of the migration. These options tell the utility which data to migrate and specify options for the migration itself. Many of the options used with ScanState can also be used with LoadState to ensure that the data is imported in the same way and that the same options are used when the data is copied on the new computer. For example, specifying the options for ScanState individually and attempting to use the /auto option with LoadState might cause problems with the migration. Using the same options for both operations will produce better results.

To use the User State Migration Tool, complete the following steps:

1. Open an administrative command prompt on the computer from which the information will be migrated.

2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\USMT or to whichever folder contains the files you have copied from the USMT folder.

3. On the source computer, execute ScanState.exe with the appropriate options specified to collect information from your computer for later use. The ScanState application supports the options shown in Table 1.

Table 2-1. ScanState options

Option	Description
StorePath	The path to where the migrated data will be stored.
/auto[:scriptdir]	Calls migapp.xml and migdocs.xml and sets logging level to 13 by using the scriptdir parameter to specify the location of the called .xml files.
/targetvista	Optimizes the ScanState application when the target computer will be running Windows Vista.
/genconfig:filename	Generates the config.xml file; when using /genconfig, StorePath cannot be used.
/o	Overwrites existing migration store.
/p:filename	Generates a space estimate file to help determine the disk space needed for the migration.
/localonly	Includes only files stored on local computer.
/efs:abort|skip|decryptcopy|hardlink	Controls the behavior of ScanState when it encounters Encrypting File System (EFS) files.
/encrypt:AES|AES_128|AES_192|AES_256|3DES|3DES_112	Encrypts the migration store by using the specified algorithm; 3DES selected by default. This option requires /key or /keyfile to be used.
/hardlink	Enables hard links for a non-compressed store. Should only be used in PC refresh scenarios.
/key:<string>	Specifies the encryption key.
/keyfile:filename	Specifies the path to and the name of a text file containing the encryption key.
/nocompress	Specifies that the migration store will not be compressed.
/l:filename	Specifies the location and file name of the log file.
/v:level	Enables verbose logging using the following levels: 0, 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, and 13. Level 0 is default.
/progress:filename	Specifies the progress log file name and location.
/c	Configures ScanState to continue running even if there are non-fatal errors.
/r:TimesToRetry	Specifies the number of times to retry the ScanState operation; 3 tries is default.
/w:SecondsToWait	Specifies the number of seconds to wait between retry attempts; 1 second is default.
/all	Migrates all the users on the system.
/ui:[Domain\]Username	Migrates specified users. For local users, specify user name only. For domain users, specify domain name and user name, domain\user name.
/ue:[Domain\]UserName	Excludes specified users. For local users, specify user name only. For domain users, specify domain name and user name, domain\user name.
/uel:NumberOfDays|YYY/MM/DD	Specifies that migration should exclude users who have not logged on within a specified time period. Number of days parameter can be 0 to exclude all users who are not currently logged on.
/i:Filename	Specifies location and name of .xml file that contains rules that define the settings and files to migrate.
/help or /?	Displays help at the command line.
/config:FileName	Specifies the config.xml file that USMT should use.
/offlineWinDir:WinDir	Specifies the path to the offline Windows directory that USMT should use to gather user state.
/offlineWinOld:WinDir	Specifies the path to the offline Windows old directory that USMT should use to gather user state.
/offline:FileName	Specifies the offline.xml file USMT should use to gather user state. An alternative to offlineWinDir or offlineWinOld.
/vsc	Enables volume shadow copy when file is in use.
/listfiles:filename	Specifies the location and name of a file that will list all the files gathered for migration.

After you have the source information written to the StorePath, you can upgrade the existing system by installing Windows 8 or introducing a new Windows 8–based computer (using a side-by-side scenario). Following the initial setup of the new Windows 8–based computer, you can use LoadState.exe to retrieve information from the StorePath and bring migrated user information to the new computer.

This process requires an administrative command prompt to execute from the new computer. LoadState.exe supports many of the same parameters as ScanState. Table 2 lists the parameters that are different from the ScanState parameters.

Table 2. LoadState options

Option	Description
/lac[:Password]	Creates disabled local accounts if they do not already exist on the destination computer. The password parameter is the password used for these accounts.
/lae	Enables local accounts created by /lac. The /lac option is required.
/mu:[OldDomain\]OldUserName:[NewDomain\]NewUserName	Specifies a new user name. For local users, specify the user name only. Wildcards are not allowed.
/md:OldDomain:NewDomain	Specifies a new domain for the users. The oldDomain can use wildcards (* or ?).
/decrypt:AES|AES_128|AES_192|AES_256|3DES|3DES_112	Specifies that the migration store is encrypted and must be decrypted to be used. The /key or /keyfile option must be specified.
/sf	Restores shell folder redirection.

All the options for both the scan and load operations might seem a bit overwhelming given the volume of things you can configure, but after you have determined what will work in your environment, the commands can be stored in a batch file and reused.