Data Migration to Vista Made EasyData Migration to Vista Made Easy

After you've downloaded PCmover, install the software on both systems. That is, you'll need a copy installed on the XP system you'll be transferring data from, and the Vista system to which you'll be transferring this data. Attach the USB cable to both systems. Windows will automatically detect the hardware and is capable of automatically installing the drivers; so choose the automatic driver-selection process. Fire up PCmover on the older, XP-based system. Register the older system's serial number. PCmover's software license and registration is tied to this specific PC. You can move data from this system to any number of new PCs, but you cannot install and use the software on another old PC without buying a new serial number. System builders, you'll want to add the cost of the software to your migration rates, depending on how many licenses you purchase. Now launch PCmover on the new Vista system. Once you run the application and declare it to be the new system, the software will automatically begin to search for a connection to the older XP system. Select the method of migration. Ideally, this will be "USB cable"—which is definitely the fastest method. But you can also specify a network connection or a hard drive. If you specify a network connection, you'll be prompted to identify the new Vista computer on the network. PCmover will perform a short "snapshot" of the two PCs. When that's completed, you'll be prompted to continue with an automated data migration. You can also customize the process. For example, you might choose to avoid migrating desktop settings. You can also specify which users' data/applications will be migrated, and to which accounts on the new PC this content will be transferred. As shown in the next screenshot, PCmover also lets you select which users' data and settings will be moved to the new PC. If you choose, you can also transfer data from one user account to another.
Next, map the hard drives. You can choose to transfer the contents of each drive to a specific drive on the new system. For example, you can map the C: drive on the XP system to the C: drive on the Vista system. Or you could map a second drive on the XP system to the C: drive or any other drive on the Vista system. And if you plan to physically move an entire drive over the new PC (recommended, in the case of a media drive), you can de-select a drive. As shown in the next screenshot, you should use the drive-mapping selection box to specify which drives will send and receive the transferred data:
When you've completed all your settings, click the Done button. The software will begin the transfer process. When it's finished, you'll need to reboot the Vista system. After the Vista system re-starts, you'll be prompted with PCmover's StartUp This applet. It lets you choose which programs transferred from the old system will launch when the new system starts up.