I tested a pre-release version of the software that had some rough edges, many of which should be smoothed out by the time it’s ready for release. The PCmover program has been around for a few years, but it needed a major rewrite for Windows 7. I can remember using the Laplink program (the company’s name at that time was Traveling Software) on MS-DOS-based PCs back in the 1980s.
Laplink Software is one of the true greybeards of the PC industry. <- Previous page PCmover tries to do what Microsoft won’t Next: Can this PC be upgraded? Should it? –> So how well did it do on this migration? Is it worth the extra cost? Laplink Software’s PCmover steps into the gap, promising to move programs and data and settings. The result is a process that can fairly be characterized as tedious. Microsoft’s Windows Easy Transfer utility moves settings and files, but not programs.
You can’t directly upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Part 3: PCmover tries to do what Microsoft won't In this section, the pros, cons, and tips for each one. I also considered and rejected a third option. With the help of image backup software, I was able to compare and contrast separate upgrade paths: a clean install, with and without Windows Easy Transfer, and a migration using the PCmover software.
There’s more than one way to complete this transition. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor said it would work. Are its ancient CPU and limited RAM up to the challenge of a 2009-vintage OS? I was skeptical. Although it had plenty of resources for its time, it can be upgraded in only the most limited ways. This ultraportable Sony VAIO was originally manufactured in August 2005, more than four years ago. Part 1: Can this PC be upgraded? Should it? I’ve divided this report into three parts: Along the way I also tried out a new edition of Laplink’s PCmover software, which is specifically designed to ease this sort of migration. The XP-to-7 odyssey was an interesting one, with surprising results and several lessons I can share with anyone contemplating a similar adventure.
But this machine, once a triumph of Sony hardware engineering, could easily be deemed ready to retire.Īfter careful consideration, I finally decided to go ahead with the upgrade, taking careful notes and snapping lots of screen shots along the way. It would have been a no-brainer had this been a two-year-old PC that Lisa had downgraded to XP to avoid the tribulations of Vista. But as for that Sony? That took a little more thought. The birthday will happen whether I want it or not. Once while pondering my fifty-somethingth birthday (as of today, I am the same age as Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons combined), and the other while deciding whether to upgrade my friend Lisa’s four-year-old Sony notebook to Windows 7. How old is too old? I had a chance to think about this question twice over the weekend.