WindowsXP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard Questions

[klytu]

I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP SP2 last weekend. After
upgrade I had in place a single user account with adminstrative
priveleges, but with no password required. (I am the only user of the
machine and had set up Win98 that way for convenience) I noticed later
that this single account is broken somewhat, there is some specific
software that cannot be installed using it (an example is games from
MSN Gaming Zone). To workaround this, I created a second account that
has administrative priveleges. The second account has no difficulty
installing any software and works as expected.

Now, what I would like to do, if possible, is transfer the favorites,
start up menu, Outlook Express settings and email, and Desktop
configuration from the original broken account to the new user account
and then remove the "broken" one. I just don't want to transfer any
"broken" settings over to the new account. I planned to use the Files
and Settings Transfer Wizard to do this. Is this the correct way to do
what I want? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Any suggestions or comments appreciated!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP SP2 last weekend. After
upgrade I had in place a single user account with adminstrative
priveleges, but with no password required. (I am the only user of the
machine and had set up Win98 that way for convenience) I noticed later
that this single account is broken somewhat, there is some specific
software that cannot be installed using it (an example is games from
MSN Gaming Zone). To workaround this, I created a second account that
has administrative priveleges. The second account has no difficulty
installing any software and works as expected.

Now, what I would like to do, if possible, is transfer the favorites,
start up menu, Outlook Express settings and email, and Desktop
configuration from the original broken account to the new user account
and then remove the "broken" one. I just don't want to transfer any
"broken" settings over to the new account. I planned to use the Files
and Settings Transfer Wizard to do this. Is this the correct way to do
what I want? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Any suggestions or comments appreciated!

I can't answer your questions about the wizard but I will make some comments
about manually moving files and settings.

Favourites: This is a folder, \documents and settings\<account
name>\favourites. To move these, simply open two explorer windows. In
one, locate the Favourites folder for the broken account, in the other the
same for the new account. Simply copy the contents of the old Favourites
folder to the new one. You *might* have to restart Internet Explorer to
see them, otherwise the change is immediate.

The Desktop is the same thing, and files can be copied directly. Same with
the Start Menu, as long as the references in the Start Menu are to items
outside of the \Documents and Settings structure.

Incidentally, this arrangement means that it's easy to back these areas up.
Simply include those folders in the backup set.

Outlook Express Accounts: In OE in the old account, go to Tools, Accounts,
select the account you want to move, and choose Export. Save the .iaf
file(s) in a convenient location (I often create a folder for this called
c:\migrate). Also, go to Tools, Options, Maintenance, click on Store
Folder. Note the directory name - you can copy and paste this into a text
file you save with Notepad. You'lll use this later when you import the
messages.

Now, switch to your other account, restart OE, go to Tools, Accounts, and
import the .iaf file you saved. Once that's done, go to File, Import,
Messages, OE6, select "import from an OE6 store directory", and point it to
the location you saved in the text file.

HTH
-pk

 

[klytu]

I can't answer your questions about the wizard but I will make some comments
about manually moving files and settings.

Favourites: This is a folder, \documents and settings\<account
name>\favourites. To move these, simply open two explorer windows. In
one, locate the Favourites folder for the broken account, in the other the
same for the new account. Simply copy the contents of the old Favourites
folder to the new one. You *might* have to restart Internet Explorer to
see them, otherwise the change is immediate.

The Desktop is the same thing, and files can be copied directly. Same with
the Start Menu, as long as the references in the Start Menu are to items
outside of the \Documents and Settings structure.

Incidentally, this arrangement means that it's easy to back these areas up.
Simply include those folders in the backup set.

Outlook Express Accounts: In OE in the old account, go to Tools, Accounts,
select the account you want to move, and choose Export. Save the .iaf
file(s) in a convenient location (I often create a folder for this called
c:\migrate). Also, go to Tools, Options, Maintenance, click on Store
Folder. Note the directory name - you can copy and paste this into a text
file you save with Notepad. You'lll use this later when you import the
messages.

Now, switch to your other account, restart OE, go to Tools, Accounts, and
import the .iaf file you saved. Once that's done, go to File, Import,
Messages, OE6, select "import from an OE6 store directory", and point it to
the location you saved in the text file.

HTH
-pk

Thanks for the comments, they were quite helpful in giving me a clue as
to what settings I wanted to back up and transfer to the new account.
However, I was finding it tedious trying to manually migrate taskbar
settings and configuration files from other applications to the new
account. In the end I gave up on that method, and took a shot with the
"Files and Settings Transfer Wizard". It worked fine and did not
recreate any broken adminstrative settings from the old account. The
only things I had to tweak, as you indicated above, were some of my
shortcuts in my Start Menu that were linked to some areas in the
Documents and Settings structure.