Migwiz choices?

[flyer_11]

These are probably foolish questions, but in preparation for going from 32bit WinXP Pro to 64bit Win 7 HP, if using the Easy Transfer Wizard to save your files and settings, the choices for save locations are "network" or "external drive or USB".

The questions:
1. Is a second internal HD in the same computer the clean install is going a suitable (usable) destination to save your data? I never see this as an option. Would it be a "network" location even though it's in the same enclosure?
2. If you do use a home network as a storage location and the other PC is using Vista HP, will the network be there immediately after install or what will be necessary to find the "saved storage files" location at this point?

 

[Jonmor68]

1.Yes it is suitable, the second drive in the same computer is local, not "network".
A question here as you don't mention if you are upgrading, or installing new.
Are you retaining the XP instalation or are you installing W7 on the XP drive? if installing on the XP drive backup to the seond drive will be fine. W7 will put all the XP files in a Windows.old folder so you will still have access to them if needed, like if you forget to backup something.
If you are installing on the second drive and keeping XP, you will still be able to access the data files from W7.
2.W7 should setup the network when it detects the other computer if it's turned on, but you may need to set permissions on one or both computers to access the files.

 

[flyer_11]

It will be clean new install on the C drive that now holds XP. XP will be gone. I do use Ghost and always have an updated image available to either restore individual files or the entire drive if necessary.

I know the terminology for a second HD is "local" and not a network drive, that's why I was asking about its use. Other than using a transfer cable (for a new PC), from what I could see, the options to save your files were on a "network" drive or "external or USB drive". So I guess the question should have been which option would be used so I can use my "F" drive as the destination for storage? D and E are opticals.

I asked about using my other networked Vista PC as a destination thinking it might be safer to do that but then wondered how automatic a Win 7 PC to a Vista PC network would be. Seems to me a local second HD would be best but am stumped why this is never mentioned as an option.

 

[Jonmor68]

If you select the external drive option, once you decide what you wish to save, you will get an option to select a location to save it to after Windows finishes doing it's thing.
I know it's not obvious, it would have been better if you could choose the destination first.

 

[flyer_11]

Thanks for the quick answer. I suspected you should be able to use a second HD but wasn't sure where it would show up in the choices given. Since a lot of people surely have a second HD in their PC (that isn't being used in a RAID config), I wonder why this isn't listed plainly in your storage location choices? I'd even bet there are more PC's with second HD's than with external HD's yet this is the way Microsoft chose to display your options.

 

[Jonmor68]

You're welcome. I agree a better worded choice upfront could have been given, I'm sure you are not the only one confused.