Most consumers will experience Windows 7 one of two ways, either by upgrading their existing PC or by purchasing a PC with Windows 7 preloaded. At work, most of our business customers have their own in-house IT support (or a dedicated partner that they work with) to deploy new versions of Windows.

For the customers that want to upgrade their own PC (and have experience installing Windows), an overview of the process is provided below.

For customers running Windows Vista:

Once Windows 7 is available on October 22nd, customers will be able to upgrade from their current edition of Windows Vista to a corresponding edition of Windows 7. For example, it is fairly straightforward to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium or from a 32-bit version of Windows Vista to a 32-bit version of Windows 7. The process involves inserting the appropriate Windows 7 installation disc, running the setup program, and choosing the “Upgrade” installation option. An Upgrade is the fastest and easiest type of installation and will preserve your files, settings, and programs.

For customers running Windows XP:

Customers who wish to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 will need to follow a different upgrade process due to the changes in PCs since the introduction of Windows XP in 2001. To upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 you must first determine if your PC meets the minimum system requirements using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Assuming it meets the requirements, you can install Windows 7 using the “Custom” installation option. A custom installation does not preserve your files, settings or programs so you need to first back up your data to an external drive and re-install your programs once installation has completed.

If you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 and installing it yourself, we have detailed step-by-step instructions here.

If you are a business customer, please note that there are other migration options for you that include a broad range of deployment tools and guidance to assist your migration to Windows 7. This also includes solutions to assess application and hardware compatibility. Please visit the Springboard Series.

For customers who want to upgrade to Windows 7:

We’ve received a lot of questions from our customers about getting Windows 7 before October 22nd. While you won’t be able to go into a store and purchase a copy until then, you can take advantage of our pre-order option which is available now via the Microsoft Online Store as well as a variety of participating retailers.  If you’re an eligible college student, you can also take advantage of a sweet deal on Windows 7 for $29.99 by visiting http://www.win741.com/. And, if you have multiple PC’s at home, then on October 22nd for a limited time, you’ll be able to get the Windows 7 Family Pack Offer, which will provide 3 Upgrade Licenses for $149.99.  Look for more details on this soon.

For more information on moving to Windows 7, I suggest you read our Windows 7 Upgrade FAQ which answers many of the commonly asked questions regarding moving to Windows 7.

Windows Easy Transfer is an application designed to help people move their important files, user accounts, and application settings from their old PC to a new PC. The new version of Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7 comes with improvements based on feedback received from Windows Vista customers. I wanted to take a closer look at these improvements.

For the new version of Windows Easy Transfer, people can move their files from PCs running Windows XP and Windows Vista.

NOTE: For the Windows 7 RC, Windows Easy Transfer can also be used to move files from a Windows 7 Beta PC to a PC running the Windows 7 RC.

The first thing people will likely notice about the new version of Windows Easy Transfer is that is has an updated, cleaner and much simpler UI.

People can transfer files 1 of 3 ways:

• Using a Windows Easy Transfer Cable (direct PC-to-PC)
• Over a network
• External hard drive

Many folks have PCs in their homes that are used by multiple family members and thus may also have multiple user profiles. The new version of Windows Easy Transfer detects all user profiles on a single PC and allows customers to pick and choose which of the user profiles they want to transfer files from. The idea behind enabling this scenario is that it permits users to “split” a PC. For example, let’s say a family PC becomes a kids-only PC after the purchase of a new laptop for the parents. With the selectivity Windows Easy Transfer now offers, selected user profiles can be migrated to one PC and other user profiles can be transferred to another. The UI also displays the size for each user profile.

Windows Easy Transfer also allows for enhanced selectivity of what is to be transferred. It is now possible to see every file that is selected for the migration and make changes on a per file basis. Do you have a big file (like a video) you don’t want to transfer to your new PC? You can now prevent that file from being transferred.

The same “enhanced selectivity” I spoke about above for gathering files also applies when restoring files. It is now possible to see every file that is pending restoration and make changes on a per file basis. Did you include a file in the transfer that you don’t want to migrate to your new PC? No problem – just deselect that file.

We are also introducing a new feature with this version: Windows Easy Transfer Reports. Any time after a migration has been completed it is now possible to view a report that details everything that was moved during the migration, where it was moved to, and a list of programs that were installed on the old PC complete with links for more information including where to re-download if possible.

If you are an IT professional and have multiple PCs you would like to migrate, check out the User State Migration Tool for Windows 7 and new features like hard-link migration and migration from windows.old. 

Give Windows Easy Transfer a try if you haven’t already!

Robert McLaws is letting folks know the beta of Windows Easy Transfer Companion is available at Microsoft.com. You can download the beta here. The beta works on both Windows XP and Windows Vista and is designed to help you move your applications from Windows XP to Windows Vista when upgrading to a new Windows Vista PC.

Windows Easy Transfer Companion will work with over 100 programs in transferring over to your new Windows Vista PC. It will also alert you if a program will not transfer or might have problems transferring (transferring without “high confidence”). You can transfer your applications though an Easy Transfer Cable (like the one offered from Belkin) or through your home network (LAN).

I decided to test Windows Easy Transfer Beta out myself. I prepped my Windows XP PC to transfer the applications I have installed over to my new Windows Vista Home Premium PC. Just like Windows Easy Transfer Companion, let’s call my Windows XP PC my “Old PC” and my Windows Vista Home Premium PC my “New PC” for this post. After Windows Easy Transfer Companion prepares for the transfer, it tells me that my Old PC is ready and gives me Companion Key that I will need to enter on my New PC.

   

Once I enter the Companion Key into my New PC - my Old PC detects it is now connected through my network and the transfer begins on my New PC. It will first do a series of scans from my Old PC to my New PC. After those scans are completed, it will detect which applications are transferrable. They are displayed in groups of how well they transfer. As you can see, I have two applications that will “transfer well”: Macromedia Flash Player and Windows Live Photo Gallery (very cool!). I am going to choose to just transfer Windows Live Photo Gallery.

 

It prepares for the transfer again and the transfer begins with statuses of the transfer appearing on both my Old PC and my New PC.

 

And the transfer is complete.

 

After the New PC rebooted, I went to test out Windows Live Photo Gallery after the transfer on my new PC. Windows Live Photo Gallery failed to open. Apparently Windows Live Photo Gallery requires the Microsoft SQL 2005 Compact Edition framework installed as a prerequisite. I neglected to transfer this from my Old PC as (see in above screenshots) it was not advised. No worries though! I went to Microsoft.com, downloaded the framework, and installed it. Windows Live Photo Gallery fired right up after that. Overall though, this tool worked great.

You can click here to view my Windows Easy Transfer Companion Screenshot Gallery.

For background information on Windows Easy Transfer and Windows Easy Transfer Companion, I suggest reading Nick’s post from a few months ago that discusses using Windows Easy Transfer and the technology behind what is now Windows Easy Transfer Companion.