
The Files And Settings Transfer Wizard solves many of the problems associated with the USMT in that it provides a simple GUI front-end to allow the configuration and transfer of both settings and files. The USMT works and is not entirely a bad solution when migrating large numbers of user profiles-but there’s a simpler way. In addition, the USMT is entirely command-line based and requires you to configure its operation through several. If you needed to move a user profile from one Windows 2000 computer to another, for example, you couldn’t do it. The USMT was a powerful innovation at the time, but it was somewhat limited in its usage, in that it could only move user profile settings from Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP3 or later to Windows 2000 Professional. With the introduction of Windows 2000, Microsoft presented the User State Migration Tool (USMT). Introducing the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard Here’s a close look at what this tool can do for your migration efforts. Luckily, the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard (FSTW) can help.

For those of you who won't have those options, however, you’ll need to be proactive so that you can fully protect your user’s files and settings.

Of course, if you're using roaming network profiles and network file storage, or if you're choosing to perform an upgrade installation instead of the generally preferable clean installation, then the XP Professional task will be rather simple. Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and upgrade your existing desktop clients to Windows XP Professional, you’ll need to have a plan in place to migrate your users’ settings and documents.
