Transfer to Windows Vista

[PhilDoyl]

I have an existing machine running Windows XP Pro and have now bought Vista Premium full install version.
I want to transfer my XP Pro (which is activated) onto a newly built second machine.
However, I also want to keep all my existing files, programmes, settings and data on the new Vista system. I know that the XP new install will need reactivating as will Vista but can anyone suggest how I should go about the whole process so as to avoid starting from scratch and doing a full install on each machine.

 

[gbhall]

I cannot quite see what you want to do - perhaps you want the second machine to be a duplicate of your first, then upgrade your first to Vista?

To transfer all your XP programmes settings and data onto a new motherboard is not really a good idea, since the entire operating system will have to be re-installed to detect the new hardware, and hence all your programmes will have to be re-installed as well, plus XP will require re-activation. I don't see a real way round avoiding a full install for both machines, so only the data can be copied, although as I understand it, Vista, when installed over an existing OS has facilites to pick up all your existing settings and data.

 

[PhilDoyl]

Sorry, I haven't explained myself very well.
I want to install vista on my existing machine but keep all files and settings from the existing XP setup. Then use my XP discs for a new clean install on the new machine.
Will Vista let me do this without me having to reinstall all the programmes and settings again from scratch?

 

[Tmagic650]

I would remove the disk drive that has the XP install and your programs on it. Set up a new clean hard drive to install Vista on. Set up a fresh dual boot XP and Vista on the old machine, and put your existing XP and programs drive in the new system and boot from it. Chances are that after some delay, the XP drive should settle in on the new system, with all your programs intact. At this time in Vista's young life, I wouldn't trust that all your XP programs will be compatible with Vista. Play with Vista for a while and get used to it. Meanwhile, you have another XP machine that still works

 

[PhilDoyl]

Thanks for the help Tmagic650 and dbhall.
I think that a new HD in my existing machine is the way I will go. It means a lot more work and reinstalling all my programmes onto this new drive will be time consuming but this way it will be cleaner with latest drivers etc. Once everything is working I can copy any data and other files off the old drive manually. Once all this is done the old drive can be moved into the new computer, reformatted and XP installed from scratch.
I will let you know how it all works - in a few weeks

 

[Rick]

Install Vista from scratch.

Definitely don't do an upgrade unless you understand and agree with the possibility of unreliable, quirky behavior. All sorts of bizarre results crop up during and after upgrades... Some more serious than others.

If you absolutely must keep your installed programs and settings the way they are, they just perform an upgrade. Keep in mind that Vista is very particular about what version of Windows it will upgrade. Also, if you have 64-bit Vista, you actually won't be able to upgrade unless you have XP x64 and you're almost certainly going to have problems with your existing applications and hardware.

 

[SNGX1275]

Definitely don't do an upgrade unless you understand and agree with the possibility of unreliable, quirky behavior. All sorts of bizarre results crop up during and after upgrades... Some more serious than others.

ExtremeTech disagrees at least a little:

Windows Vista's Setup program—the multitude of code that installs the operating system—doesn't copy files and wriggle the new operating system atop the old one, resulting in a mishmash of both, as was more or less the case with prior Microsoft OSes. Vista's compartmentalized installation routine actually copies an image of Vista onto the hard drive and then plows through things like hardware detection and configuration.

It goes on to show benchmarks showing no difference. Although they do caution you

That's not by any means a blanket recommendation to choose an upgrade over a clean installation; the intention here was only to see how the two compared in terms of performance. Nothing more should be read into it.

 

[sumukh]

Windows Vista

Why don't you go through this bible of Windows Vista?

 

[Char_X]

I have an existing machine running Windows XP Pro and have now bought Vista Premium full install version.
I want to transfer my XP Pro (which is activated) onto a newly built second machine.
However, I also want to keep all my existing files, programmes, settings and data on the new Vista system. I know that the XP new install will need reactivating as will Vista but can anyone suggest how I should go about the whole process so as to avoid starting from scratch and doing a full install on each machine.

You can use Acronis True Image for that. You can make an image of your XP system and transfer it to the new machine. True Image has a special feature for transferring data from one drive to the second one.