Windows XP Profile Mover?

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I was told that XP had a Profile Mover that would allow me to move all the
settings from one profile to another. I can't find this app, or any
reference to it.

I guess I should say that the need for this is because we are upgrading from
a WINNT 4.0 server to a 2003 server and the local user's setting will be lost
unless I can figure out how to move profile in toto. My network guy at work
said that this tool was the way to do it, but he is currently off and my boss
wants it done by the end of the week, preferably yesterday. ;)
 
cyberdude said:
I was told that XP had a Profile Mover that would allow me to move
all the settings from one profile to another. I can't find this app,
or any reference to it.

I guess I should say that the need for this is because we are
upgrading from a WINNT 4.0 server to a 2003 server and the local
user's setting will be lost unless I can figure out how to move
profile in toto. My network guy at work said that this tool was the
way to do it, but he is currently off and my boss wants it done by
the end of the week, preferably yesterday. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, if your network guy is out of the office, and he's responsible for the
server bits, perhaps this is not the right time to do the job.

Since you mention a server, I have to imagine you're talking about a domain,
not a workgroup. Depending on how they are migrating to the new 2003/AD
domain, you may not need to do anything at all on the clients....which is
highly preferable.

That said, there's a File & Settings Transfer Wizard (programs menu,
accessories, system tools) but it's really not that useful if you have a
large number of users/workstations to deal with. You can also check out
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/usermigr.mspx
and
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...c27ccef1239/6af18a7be046a832#6af18a7be046a832
 
cyberdude said:
I was told that XP had a Profile Mover that would allow me to move all the
settings from one profile to another. I can't find this app, or any
reference to it.

I guess I should say that the need for this is because we are upgrading from
a WINNT 4.0 server to a 2003 server and the local user's setting will be lost
unless I can figure out how to move profile in toto. My network guy at work
said that this tool was the way to do it, but he is currently off and my boss
wants it done by the end of the week, preferably yesterday. ;)
Click to expand...


If you need a scripted approach to handle a large number of
machines and users, the User State Migration Tool is your friend.

Description of the User State Migration Tool for Windows XP Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321197

If you've only couple profiles to transfer, the File And Settings
Transfer (F.A.S.T.) Wizard should suffice.

HOW TO Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard By Using the Windows
XP CD-ROM
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;306186

HOW TO Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard with a Wizard Disk in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306187

Or, there is the "old fashioned," manual way:

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151



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Bruce Chambers

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It's hard telling why you think your settings on workstations would be
altered by getting a new server unless a new domain is being created with
all new users.

(I would have made the new server a backup domain controller first, then
made it primary with all the related authority switches, then removed the
old server. This would have had zero influence on workstations other than
UNC links to shared files.)

But, we just outsourced our servers and decided to create a new domain, so
we had exactly the same need to make old profiles work in the new domain.

All IT management tools that do this have weaknesses and I've found a quick
an dirty way to bypass that. I believe that there may be weaknesses to my
method but no one has found any yet.

Steps to take on each workstation:

1. Copy the old profile to the "Default User" profile.
a. log in as an administrator from boot, not after logging off as the
migrating user.
b. Right click My Computer and select Properties, then on the Advanced
tab click on Settings under the User Profiles group.
c. Select the user and click Copy
d. Browse to "C:\documents and settings\default user" or type it in to
the destination folder.
e. Allow it to delete the contents first.
2. Create the new user (if local usernames are used) or Join the computer to
the new Domain (if domain usernames are used).
3. Log in as the user in the new domain.

All the settings and files will be exactly the way they were but in a new
profile.

4. IT type cleanup is required afterwards to delete the duplicated files as
desired and backup things.


Note; Using this process can create a generic default user profile for a
specific computer. Create a dummy admin user, then tweak the profile in
every way deisred, then copy that profile to default user. (Frist make sure
no Outlook profiles exist, etc.)

PC
 
This sounds great. I'll try it. One question - why the note about Outlook
profiles? I ask specifically because I tried the wizard on one machine which
did have outlook profiles (making a backup of the profiles first) and lost
the ability to get to the profile. Now I'm unable to get any user to open
that particular profile - even the backup.

And to answer your other question, we had a NT PDC so I could not make this
2003 a BDC then promote it, especially since my network people insisted that
I disconnect the NT server from our LAN because it was a security risk.
 
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