Reply With QuoteProbably the easiest method is to use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard integrated into XP. Instructions.
Okay, another pre-build PC question:
I've got a bunch of Outlook Express email on my old PC that I'd like to transport over to my new machine. I'd like to bring over my .WAB address book and also all my sent and received emails so I can import them into the Outlook on my new machine. What's the easiest way to do this? I'm pretty sure I did it once before but buggered if I can remember how...
Probably the easiest method is to use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard integrated into XP. Instructions.
Are you looking for tips on how to move the files, or on which files to move?
For the former, a little USB drive is great. Or if both PCs can be on the network at the same time, copying file across the network is pretty easy too.
For the latter, look in
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\<Some Garbage Hex String>\Microsoft\Outlook Express
for the emails and the address book will be in
C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book
Ah, this seems pretty cool. Is this wizard also featured in Vista as well as XP? ie will I be able to use it to import the data back into Outlook on the new Vista rig once I've exported it from the old XP machine?Originally Posted by mono
Okay, this confuses me. I've output my Outlook data to a USB drive using the XP's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. But it's unclear to me if I'll be able to import this data into my new Vista machine.
Vista uses something called Easy Transfer Wizard? I installed that and ran it but it requires that both machines be running at once to transfer the data live. This is not an option for me as I'm taking one machine apart to build the new one. I just want to copy everything onto a portable drive and then later attach that to the machine to import the data.
EDIT: nm, it seems like it's easier just to copy this stuff over manually from the directory paths to a USB drive and then back again onto the new machine. Thanks Nick for the paths.
Last edited by Gary Whitta; 08-12-2007 at 06:52 PM.
Oop, you're too fast. yeah, manual copying is the most likely to work. I also seem to remember that the Vista install disc has it's own, improved, file transfer wizard. Pop the Vista DVD into your XP rig and let it autoplay; you should see a link to the file transfer utility. perhaps give that a whirl.
Ironically it seems like it's easier to just do it manually once you know where the files are than to use the "wizard" which in my experience tends to fuck things up more often than not.
Ooh, one other question, about iTunes music - is it just as simple to transfer music over by copying the iTunes music folder to an interim HDD and then having iTunes re-import the music from that folder on the new machine? This would seem to be simple enough but I'm not sure how this applies to purchased music with all the DRM and whatnot.
One thing I must remember to do is de-authorize iTunes on the old machine before I disassemble it...
Depends. Do you care about preserving the other metadata? Ratings, playlists, times played, stuff like that?
Why would it not surprise me if upgrading to Vista from XP is a pain in the ass? You mean to tell me that the Transfer Wizard isn't supported by Vista? WTF was the point then? I am SO staying away from Vista as long as possible.
Ok, let me clarify this for some of the people having problems here.
Outlook = Premium product
Windows Mail (Vista ) = Outlook express
You can not port Outlook to outlook express.
However, you can install Office which has outlook, and then you can easily port Outlook from XP to outlook for Vista.
I don't care about any of that, I just want to make sure all my music including purchased songs are preserved.
Well I use Outlook Express on XP which means the data should import into Windows Mail for Vista... right? It's just a bunch of .dbx files and the .wab address book.
Why on earth do you use Outlook Express. If you don't want to pay for Outlook, pick up Thunderbird which is free. Outlook Express is a huge ball of exploits, bad coding and suck.
I have been thinking about getting the full version of Outlook. Can you import your existing address book and emails from Express into the full Outlook?
Yes! You have to import each separately, but you have that option.
And once you do, your data is in one PST file that you can move from one machine to another easily.
Well, my archive PSTs are currently at about 6 gigs each so "easy" is a relative terms sometimes.
Realize that Outlook and Outlook express are completely different programs with very little in common outside of the pane layout.
Also, they both suck.
As opposed to?
I'm open to alternatives but Thunderbird isn't there yet.
The REAL goal here is to save another person from Outlook Express.
I switched from Outlook 2000 to Thunderbird due to Vista incompatibilities, and I'm quite happy with it. The built-in spam filter kicks the crap out of what I was using for Outlook (SpamBayes) primarily because SpamBayes doesn't auto-whitelist items in your address book.
There really wasn't any good way to bring my settings forward from what I can tell - you have to run the "transfer settings" wizard on your old PC, which wasn't an option since my old PC died (all I salvaged was the hard drive). I was able to get the contacts over, but that's it.
GMail, frankly. If I could have the equivalent of gmail, interface and all, as a standalone program, that would rule. As is, I have all my non gmail email forwarded to gmail (except for work).
That wish may be granted sooner than you think.
Incidentally, if you have your own domain, you can still use Gmail for your personal mail account with Google Apps. Works great.
In that case, it's a snap. Just deauthorize your old version of iTunes, cart all the songs across, and import them at the other end.
Chalk me up as another satisfied user of Windows Easy Transfer (WET). I migrated all my account settings, emails, contacts, calendar, etc. from Outlook 2003 on my old WinXP machine to Outlook 2003 on a Vista Home Premium 64-bit one. I'd originally planned to migrate everything via Outlook's export to .pst functionality but after a few false starts with it I figured I'd give WET a shot. It was by far the most straightforward method I've used for this sort of thing. Once WET was setup on both computers it was relatively painless to select which apps' settings to be transfered over the office network.
They really ought to let you export from one machine, and import to the next. As in Gary's case, WET isn't that useful if you're going to rebuild or reinstall your rig.
AFAIK you can use WET to export settings to a thumb drive/DVDs/other offline storage, but I didn't go that route since I had both computers still up and running.
Ah, so you can. There's an option to save the exported data to a removable drive or network location. You can also download the XP version of WET from MS:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/i...splaylang%3den
It's a moot point for Gary, but it could come in useful for some other folks.
I have been happy with Jungle Disk to backup and copy .pst, music, and other key files to a new computer... I know there are a ton of other online backup solutions that utilize the amazon web services infrastructure...
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