Windows XP to Win7 (best way to transfer data) without losing a thing?

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Spitfire7

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Jan 18, 2007
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I have done some searching, but since my question is pretty outdated there didn't seem to be anything specifically answering my question yet.

I still have XP and I know its way overdue for an upgrade. Well, I just got a brand new Win7 version. This is not the upgrade, but the real full install. I have years and years worth of business and personal stuff on my XP C: drive. I am wondering if there is an easier way to make this transition to Win7 without losing anything.

My idea is this: Buy a brand new hard drive and move my current XP hard drive to a slave or backup storage position in the computer. In theory correct me if Im wrong, but wouldn't this allow me to have the option to start up in XP or Win 7?

Also while in Win7, couldn't I look in the "My computer" folder at my drives to still access files on the old XP drive even though it still has an OS on it? If so, then I could just drag and click/transfer files from the old XP drive to the new Win7 drive right? This would make life very easy and nice.

Some concerns are that I wont be able to access the old XP drive from the new win7 since the old XP drive will still have a conflicting windows OS on it. Now if it were just a backup storage I know that wouldn't be a problem, but since it currently has a window XP start-up on it, I have the feeling that, that will cause some issues right? I am thinking a fix would be switch that in bios to start up with the NEW Win7 hard drive and OS and its as easy as that?

So please help and give me all pros and cons, plus fixes, and possibly other ways to achieve this the best and easiest way possible. Thanks.
 
Solution
USAFRet
For all of your stuff under "My Documents":
While still running XP, create a new folder tree - call it MyStuff or similar. Under that, MyDocs, MyMusic, etc.
Copy/Paste everything from the existing My Documents folders into that new structure.

What this does is move those files out from under the existing NTFS permissions that are currently applied on the My Documents folder tree. Attempting to look in those folders will result in "Access Denied".
While you can, after the fact, "take ownership" of those folders (and files in them), this one step of prep work gets around that completely. On rare occasions, though, the "take ownership" does not work, and all your stuff is trapped.


Now that your personal stuff is safe and accessible, on...
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mauller07

mauller07

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Mar 28, 2010
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if you install windows 7 onto the new hdd and just sitck the xp drive in as a secondary drive you will only get the option to boot to 7 as that hdd is set to be the first boot disc in bios and the xp install will not be on the windows boot options.

best to just do it that way and just move work files over as you need them.
 
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Hawkeye22

Hawkeye22

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Feb 10, 2006
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Don't install your XP drive until after you have windows 7 installed. You can then use the XP drive as a secondary and just transfer files over. If your bios boot screen has the option to "boot", sometimes listed like "F12 -Boot", you should also still be able to boot from the XP drive if necessary.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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For all of your stuff under "My Documents":
While still running XP, create a new folder tree - call it MyStuff or similar. Under that, MyDocs, MyMusic, etc.
Copy/Paste everything from the existing My Documents folders into that new structure.

What this does is move those files out from under the existing NTFS permissions that are currently applied on the My Documents folder tree. Attempting to look in those folders will result in "Access Denied".
While you can, after the fact, "take ownership" of those folders (and files in them), this one step of prep work gets around that completely. On rare occasions, though, the "take ownership" does not work, and all your stuff is trapped.


Now that your personal stuff is safe and accessible, on to the Win7 install.
0. Gather the Win 7 disk, and any and all installation files and disks for all your applications. Including any serial numbers/activation keys/username-password combinations.
1. Remove all drives, even thumb drives
2. Connect only the drive (the new one) that you want Win7 on.
3. Install.
4. Verify it works...updates, all that jazz.
5. Verify the boot order. Just the new drive, or maybe the new drive and the DVD.
6. Connect your old XP drive
7. Install any applications you use.
8. Cruise into the old drive, and copy over the documents you saved in that new folder tree you created above - MyStuff.
 
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Spitfire7

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Ah, that is great help guys. Then I will remove my XP drive (didn't think of that), then install the brand new drive and install win7 on it. Then after that is fully installed, I will then put my XP drive back in as a secondary drive. Then I will boot win7 and then transfer files from the XP drive over to win7 drive while on the win7 desktop. That sounds easy enough. Thanks guys for the help on that. I figured it would be something easy like that, but just didn't know if the XP OS would mess something up in the transferring process.

I am slightly confused why I would need to do the new tree process. What are your concerns for me not doing that and just doing a basic transfer from the old XP My docs to the new Win7 Docs?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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When you reconnect the old XP drive, and attempt to access "My Documents" you will get an "Access denied". Those folders are tied to your previous NTFS user account in XP. Usually, you can transfer ownership to your new user, but in rare cases that fouls up.
And if this is years of business data, better safe than sorry.
 
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ex_bubblehead

ex_bubblehead

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Why not just use "Windows Easy Transfer Wizard"? That's precisely what it's intended for. It's built in to every copy of Windows 7, and can be downloaded and installed on XP. Just run it on XP, let it backup all of your data to external media, wipe the drive, install Windows 7, then run the wizard in Win 7 to restore the data.
 
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Spitfire7

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As far as I know yes this is true for the upgrade version of Windows7, but for the full copy I heard this is not included. Can you confirm that the normal full install copy of win7 has this transfer Wizard? I also heard weird things about XP not really being able to upgrade. I would have to have Vista to upgrade to Win7.
 
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ex_bubblehead

ex_bubblehead

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All versions of both Vista and Win7 include the Easy Transfer Wizard. I don't know where you got your erroneous information. You are correct that there is no direct upgrade path from XP to Win7. The transfer wizard doesn't care from what to where (just not 64-bit to 32-bit, or Vista/Win7 to XP). Just wipe the drive and install Windows 7..... Done.....
 
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