Common Migration Scenarios

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista

You use Windows® User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0 when hardware and/or operating system upgrades are planned for a large number of computers. USMT manages the migration of an end-user's digital identity by capturing the user's operating-system settings, application settings, and personal files from a source computer and reinstalling them after the upgrade has occurred.

One common scenario, when only the operating system is being upgraded is referred to as PC refresh. A second common scenario is known as PC replacement, where one piece of hardware is being replaced, typically by newer hardware and a newer operating system.

In This Topic

PC Refresh

Scenario One: PC refresh using a compressed migration store

Scenario Two: PC refresh using hard-link migration store

Scenario Three: PC refresh using Windows.old and the hard-link migration store

PC Replacement

Scenario One: Manual network migration

Scenario Two: Managed network migration

Scenario Three: Offline Windows PE migration using Windows PE

PC Refresh

The following diagram shows a PC refresh migration, also known as a computer refresh migration. First, the administrator migrates the user state from a source computer to an intermediate store. After installing the operating system, the administrator migrates the user state back to the source computer.

Scenario One: PC refresh using a compressed migration store

For example, a company has just received funds to update all of its computers to Windows® 7. Each employee will keep the same computer, but the operating system on each computer will be updated.

1. An administrator runs the ScanState command-line tool on each computer. ScanState saves each user state to a server.

2. On each computer, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment, which includes Windows 7, Microsoft® Office, and other company applications.

3. An administrator runs the LoadState command-line tool on each computer. LoadState restores each user state back to the source computer.

Scenario Two: PC refresh using hard-link migration store

For example, a company has just received funds to update the operating system on all of its computers to Windows® 7. Each employee will keep the same computer, but the operating system on each computer will be updated.

1. An administrator runs the ScanState command-line tool on each computer, specifying the /hardlink command-line option. ScanState saves the user state to a hard-link migration store on each computer, improving performance by minimizing network traffic as well as minimizing migration failures on computers with very limited space available on the hard drive.

2. After quarantine of the hard-link migration store, an administrator uninstalls the older operating system.

3. On each computer, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment (SOE), which includes Windows 7, Microsoft® Office, and other company applications.

4. An administrator runs the LoadState command-line tool on each computer. LoadState restores each user state back on each computer.

Scenario Three: PC refresh using Windows.old and the hard-link migration store

For example, a company has just received funds to update all of their computers to Windows 7. Each employee will keep the same computer, but the operating system on each computer will be updated.

1. An administrator clean installs Windows 7 on each computer, making sure that the Windows.old directory is created by installing Windows 7 without formatting or repartitioning and by selecting a partition that contains Windows XP or Windows Vista.

2. On each computer, an administrator installs the company’s standard operating environment (SOE), which included Windows 7 and other company applications.

3. An administrator runs the ScanState and LoadState command-line tools successively while specifying the /hardlink command-line option.

PC Replacement

The following diagram shows a PC replacement migration. First, the administrator migrates the user state from the source computer to an intermediate store. After installing the operating system on the destination computer, the administrator migrates the user state from the store to the destination computer.

Scenario One: Manual network migration

A company receives 50 new laptops for their managers and needs to reallocate the 50 older laptops to new employees.

1. An administrator runs the ScanState tool on each of the old laptops, and saves each user state to a server.

2. On the new laptops, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment which includes Windows 7, Microsoft Office, and other company applications.

3. An administrator runs the LoadState tool on the new laptops to migrate the user states to the appropriate computer.

4. On the old computers, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment which includes Windows 7, Microsoft Office, and other company applications. The old computers are now ready for the new employees to use.

Scenario Two: Managed network migration

A company is allocating 20 new computers to users in the accounting department. The users all have one computer with their files and settings: the source computer.

1. On each source computer, an administrator runs the ScanState tool using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM, a logon script, a batch file, or a non-Microsoft management technology. ScanState collects the user state from each source computer and then saves it to a server.

2. On each new computer, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment which includes Windows 7, Microsoft Office, and other company applications.

3. On each of the new computers, an administrator runs the LoadState tool using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), a logon script, a batch file, or a non-Microsoft management technology. LoadState migrates the user states from the migration store to a new computer.

Scenario Three: Offline migration using Windows PE

A company is allocating 20 new computers to users in the accounting department. The users all have one computer with their files and settings. In this scenario, each user's one computer will serve as both the source and destination computer.

1. On each source computer, an administrator boots the machine into Windows PE and runs ScanState to collect the user state to either a server or external hard disk.

2. On each new computer, an administrator installs the company's standard operating environment which includes Windows 7, Microsoft® Office, and other company applications.

3. On each of the new computers, an administrator runs the LoadState tool, restoring the user state from the migration store to the new computer.

See Also

Concepts

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