Windows XP to 7 Advice

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I have two questions regarding compatibility between XP and Windows 7.

Firstly, how straightforward is it to transfer emails and contacts from Outlook Express on XP to Windows Live Mail on a Win. 7 PC?
I've found information and tutorials which suggest it's a relatively simple job; however it's vital for us that we don't encounter any issues.

Secondly, I've been told Lotus Smartsuite isn't directly compatible with Windows 7; though I've since read that it can work if the programme is ran through Windows 7 Compatibility Mode. If this is correct, will we loose any data?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Mark

 

[carlb40]

When i built my present net pc 2.5yrs ago i installed win7, i previously had xp on the former pc. All i did once the pc was up and running was log into - hotmail as it was then and everything was there. Nothing needed transferring.

 

[Sheptonphil]

Live mail is nothing to do with hotmail. It's just a mail client like outlook or outlook express.

I am currently transferring five or six machines daily from XP to Win 7, either as upgrades or replacements. Mail from Outlook Express to Live mail is fairly simple if you backup the store folder first, and all contacts and accounts will export/import perfectly. However, there are things that won't happen. If you have contact groups or distribution lists, eg groups of contacts set up for different clubs, family etc then these contact groups cannot be exported. Also if you have a large filing system in OE all mail folders and emails will import intact, but in an 'imported' folder. You will have to recreate the folder structure under inbox and move the messages into the recreated folders. Some machines I transfer can have 20 folders under inbox and all have to be recreated manually, a real PITA.

Lotus works millennium works in Win7 32bit, but the store folder has to be changed as it cannot write to 'my documents' (programme has only got read permission from my docs) so a folder off root of C drive is used. You may be better off changing to office or open office, if practical.

If you need a more detailed instruction, just ask.

Phil

 

[SpinDoctor]

I'd like to add to that. When upgrading computer software, it doesn't matter what flavour you're using, Mac, the penguin, Windows... no one can guaranty it will go without incident, there are far too many factors involved. I've found over the years it's best to have a way of backing out of what you have just attempted to do, just incase the upgrade causes issues you can't live with or you have a catastrophic failure. For this I use a program to take an image of the old machine and store it on an external HDD. Then if something does fail I can simply re-image the machine with the old system and keep going until I figure out what went wrong and find an alternative solution. It's saved companies I've worked for thousands and probably my job when things went wrong while working on critical computer systems.

Snap Shot is a program I've always used to take a complete image of a machine before I do anything to it. It's very easy, very quick, simple to use and it's cheap. Snap Shot can live on the external HDD as a stand alone program or it can be installed on a boot disk. You'll need to create a boot disk which are pretty easy, I use Bart PE. There are a variety of programs out there that will image a computer and create reliable boot disks you just have to google them. Ghost was a great program for imaging computers many years ago but then Nortons took it over and ruined it.

 

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I appreciate the advice so far.

Phil - Importing the emails from Outlook Express to Live Mail seems relatively straightforward.

Just a thought - do you think it would be best to download Live Mail onto the XP machine and import the emails and contacts over from Outlook Express first? Then when the hard drive data is transferred from the XP computer to the Windows 7 computer it should work without any problems? This way the emails and contact importing will be carried out on the same pc before being copied to the Windows 7 machine.

Regarding the Lotus programme: if there are any issues, we could always keep one old XP computer back for running incompatible or troublesome programmes.


SpinDoctor - Thanks for the Snap Shot tip; I'll certainly look into it.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Sheptonphil]

Setting up live mail and importing is certainly an option if you have a large filing system, although we tend to find downloading and installing, then importing to live mail takes longer than just doing the transfer and importing the store folder, accounts and contacts.

If supplying a new machine, there is no need for imaging, but when upgrading and there is a requirement for data transfer we too tend to image first. Our software of choice for this is Acronis, and we keep the image for two weeks to ensure we haven't lost anything. It may be worth just installing to a new hard drive and keeping the old one as a backup till you are happy all is running ok. You can also then multi boot on most motherboards and choose whether to boot from new or old disc. If using this option, temporarily disconnect the old drive before setting up win 7, then reconnect afterwards. This is multi booting, not dual booting.

It's surprising though the amount of customers who want another hookey copy of Office of Autocad because their mate had a disc years ago and put it on, so expect it to come back with all the pirated software included. :roll:

Phil

 

[Sheptonphil]

Oops. Duplicated text now deleted.

Phil

 

[Woodchips2]

Hi Mark
I've just upgraded from XP to Windows 7 and it was very straightforward although took quite a few hours. I bought the software off E-Bay for £48 after being quoted close on £200 by a local computer firm to do the job.

I downloaded a Microsoft Easy Transfer programme which is free. Connect up an external hard drive, start the Easy Transfer programme and it creates a file with all your settings, files and e-mails (including contacts). It took a couple of hours to transfer some 30Gb but you can go away and do something else.

You then load Windows 7 on a custom installation which apparently wipes the disk. Run the Easy Transfer programme again which was another couple of hours. You will also need to reload all your programmes like word processing, spreadsheets etc.

You need to configure Live Mail to recognise your e-mail provider.

Amazingly it all worked and my files, e-mails and contacts are all there :roll: ! Plus I saved £150 (hammer)

Regards Keith