Update to Windows 7 - Day 1 - Preparation

The key to a successful update of any computer is meticulous preparation. There is no other way to ensure you get all of your data transferred to the 'New' computer and that all your desktop icons, email, favourite programs, internet shortcuts and those tweaks that make your present machine individual to you.
So how do you plan your upgrade? This is how I do it :-

1. Go to Start > All Programs and make a list of all the programs/applications at present on your computer
2. When you have made the list go through it and cross off any program you haven't used in the past six months - odds are you don't need it and won't miss it.
3. Decide where you are going to back up your present computer to. This can be..
   a. A separate HDD in your present computer (Not a partition on the same HDD)
   b. A large memory stick (At least 4 Gb preferably larger)
   c. An External HDD
   d. Several CDs or DVDs (not the best solution as too much can go wrong in the file copying process)
   e. Do not try to do this with Floppy disks (you would need hundreds) or Zip drives which are not supported in Windows 7
4. In Windows find your Desktop folder and copy it to your backup folder(s)
   a. In XP you will find it at C:\Documents and Settings\%your Account%\Desktop
   b. In Vista the folder is in C:\users\%your account%\Desktop
5. Next find the Favourites folder and copy that to the backup You will find the Favourites folder in the same place you found desktop
6. Find the links folder and copy that to the backupYou will find the Links folder in the same place you found desktopNB - you may not find one in XP it depends on the version of Internet Explorer you are using.
7. Now find the Documents folder (My Documents in XP) and copy it to the backup
8. You may have a Downloads folder - if you do copy that to the backup
9. If you save or edit videos find the Videos folder and copy it to the backup
10. Likewise if you have any saved pictures on your HDD find the folder that contains them and copy it to the backup
11. If you have downloaded any music you will find the files in the music folder - copy it to the backup
12. In Vista you may find a Contacts folder in %your Account% folder - copy that to the backup
13. If you use Outlook you now need to start to back it up. First find the Outlook folder that contains the pst files.
    a. In Vista they are in C:\Users\%your Account%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
    b. In XP they are found in C:\Documents and Settings\%your account%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
14. Copy all the files in the folder to a new folder called Outlook in your backup folder
15. Make sure you have written copies of the settings for ALL your email accounts. You need for each one the following :-
    a. The email address
    b. The username
    c. The password
    d. The pop3 server address
    e. The smtp server address
16. Now back up any message rules you use
    a. Go to Tools > Rules and Alerts (Outlook 2007) > Options > Export Rules and save them to a rules folder you have made in the outlook folder in your backup
17. There are several commercial solutions to backup Outlook email accounts but there is not one recommended by Microsoft. The only other way to do it is by copying part of the registry and then copying that into your 'new' computer registry. If you don't know what you are doing this method is fraught with problems so I am not going to detail it.
18. Last but by no means least, search your C: drive for any data that you may have saved there and copy it to your backup. These can be anything from photos, MS Word files, Spreadsheets, in fact anything you have made/produced yourself. Check carefully because once you have formatted your drive ready to install Windows 7, anything you have missed is gone forever.

Right you are now ready to start the process of installing Windows 7. My copy of Windows 7 Professional has just arrived so I had better start doing what I have told you to do.

You can download this blog as a pdf here