{"id":62302,"date":"2014-03-11T18:18:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T16:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=62302"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:49:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:49:40","slug":"pcmover-express-windows-xp-to-windows-7-and-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/pcmover-express-windows-xp-to-windows-7-and-8\/","title":{"rendered":"PCmover Express: Moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 and 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With\u00a0<a title=\"Download PCmover Express for Windows\" href=\"http:\/\/pcmover-express-for-windows-xp.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PCmover Express<\/a>, Microsoft helps users move from the <a title=\"Windows to end XP support: how to cope\" href=\"http:\/\/features.en.softonic.com\/windows-to-end-xp-support-how-to-cope\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">soon to be unsupported<\/a> <strong>Windows XP<\/strong>, to Windows 7 or Windows 8. Using this guide and PCmover Express, along with our <a href=\"http:\/\/features.en.softonic.com\/video-xp-to-windows-7-or-8-with-pcmover\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video tutorial<\/a>, we&#8217;ll help you easily transfer from Windows XP and finally move on to newer versions of Microsoft&#8217;s OS.<\/p>\n<p>PCmover Express helps users transfer\u00a0<strong>personal folders, files, and even user accounts, <\/strong> as well as passwords and personal data, to another Windows computer via a network connection or using a transfer cable.  Existing programs, unfortunately, aren&#8217;t transferred and must be manually re-installed. The software does, however, generate a <strong>compatibility report<\/strong> to mark programs which only function with\u00a0Windows XP so that you don&#8217;t have to worry about transferring over ones that won&#8217;t function properly.<\/p>\n<p>Note, if you want even more support, you can try out the paid version of <a title=\"Download PCmover Professional for Windows\" href=\"http:\/\/pcmover-professional.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PCmover Professional<\/a>, with which certain apps can be transferred to the new system. Before you spend any money though, check out our tutorial below to see if PCmover Express can help you <strong>transfer to Windows 7 or 8 smoothly (and for free)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Installation and Preparation<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Install PCmover on your Windows XP computer, as well as on the target computer with Windows 7 or Windows 8.<\/li>\n<li>Connect both computers via a Wi-Fi network,\u00a0LAN cable network or a <a title=\"Laplink\" href=\"http:\/\/www.laplink.com\/index.php\/individuals\/pcmover-for-windows-8\/cables\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">transmission cable, available at Laplink<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Connect your computer to the network cable.<\/li>\n<li>Disable the internet connection on your Windows XP computer.<\/li>\n<li>Disable the anti-virus software on your Windows XP computer.<\/li>\n<li>Select the internet connection on the target computer.<\/li>\n<li>Close all background programs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. Start PCmover on the XP system<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">After start-up, PCmover Express displays a checklist and a brief description of the operation. For more detailed information about the process, you can download a <a title=\"PCmover Express User Manual\" href=\"http:\/\/download.laplink.com\/documentation\/pdf\/pcmover\/pcmexp\/PCmover_8_Express_533_UG_ENG.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">manual in PDF format<\/a>.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"PCmover Express Tips\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/PCmover_express_00.jpg\" alt=\"PCmover Express Tips\" width=\"600\" height=\"497\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>3. Select PC to PC Transfer<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Click on the <em>PC to PC Transfer <\/em><em>button.<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"PC to PC transfer using PCmover\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/PCmover_express_01.jpg\" alt=\"PC to PC transfer using PCmover\" width=\"600\" height=\"467\" \/><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<h3>4. Select Windows XP<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Next, select the option on the left for\u00a0<em>Windows XP<\/em>.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Select Windows XP\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/PCmover_express_02.jpg\" alt=\"Select Windows XP\" width=\"600\" height=\"469\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>5. Select the connection type you want<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">With most PCs currently on the market, <strong>connecting via Wi-fi or a LAN<\/strong> cable shouldn&#8217;t be a problem. In an emergency, you can also purchase a connecting cable at Laplink. It&#8217;s still unclear as to whyPCmover uses <strong>no external media, <\/strong>such as USB sticks, to transfer data, but since the software doesn&#8217;t transfer programs, you can manually copy files later using a USB stick.\u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Use Wifi or a cable to connect PCs\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/PCmover_express_03.jpg\" alt=\"Use Wifi or a cable to connect PCs\" width=\"600\" height=\"468\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>6. Start PCmover on the target system<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Launch PCmover on the target system, and click on the option to the right that says\u00a0<em>Windows 7\/ Windows 8.<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Click on Windows 7 \/ Windows 8 on the new system\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_000.jpg\" alt=\"Click on Windows 7 \/ Windows 8 on the new system\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>7. Enter your name and email address<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Enter your name and email address in the appropriate fields.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Enter your name and email address\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_00.jpg\" alt=\"Enter your name and email address\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>8. Select your XP machine<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Click <em>Browse <\/em>and select your XP computer. If you can&#8217;t\u00a0find your PC here, there are probably\u00a0problems with the network connection.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Search for your XP machine\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_02.jpg\" alt=\"Search for your XP machine\" width=\"600\" height=\"517\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>9. Analysis of the target system<\/h3>\n<p>PCmover <strong>analyzes your Windows system <\/strong>and checks the disk space and existing user accounts. The <strong>analysis report<\/strong> previously created with Windows XP will be transferred here\u2013 your data transfer happens later.<\/p>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"PCmove transfer analysis\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_03.jpg\" alt=\"PCmove transfer analysis\" width=\"600\" height=\"466\" \/>10. Select transmitted data<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Hard drive<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Normally<\/strong>, Windows XP will be on the<strong> C: drive<\/strong> of your XP system, and you&#8217;ll most likely want to transfer everything to the same drive on your new system. You can <strong>manually change the destination drive<\/strong> if you use a multi-boot system with multiple versions of Windows, or other operating systems like Linux.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Choose the destination drives\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_05.jpg\" alt=\"Choose the destination drives\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>User accounts <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong> <\/strong> Under<em>User Account Selections<\/em>, you can choose which user accounts you want to transfer. You might have some user accounts on your XP computer that you no longer need. If that&#8217;s the case, simply remove these accounts.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Remove accounts you don't want to transfer\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_04.jpg\" alt=\"Remove accounts you don't want to transfer\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/> <strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>What to transfer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Even within folders, you can manually limit the <strong>data you transfer,<\/strong> otherwise PCmover will\u00a0transfer all private folders from all selected user accounts by default.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Manuall select which folders to transfer\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_07.jpg\" alt=\"Manuall select which folders to transfer\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/><strong>Exclude unimportant files <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong> <\/strong> <strong>File filter <\/strong>lets you exclude certain file types from the transfer. You can set these file types with three checkboxes in the\u00a0<em>Common file types to exclude<\/em> section. Using\u00a0the last two checkboxes will keep stored backup files and temporary Office files\u00a0securely on your XP computer.<\/p>\n<h3><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Exclude file types\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_06.jpg\" alt=\"Exclude file types\" width=\"600\" height=\"465\" \/><\/strong>11. Transmission of data<\/h3>\n<p>Depending on the size of your system and the selected data, the\u00a0<strong>transfer\u00a0can take several hours<\/strong>. It\u00a0also depends on the speed of your connection. After you&#8217;ve transferred your XP system successfully, you&#8217;re done, although there are additional, optional steps you can take.<\/p>\n<h3>Optional steps<\/h3>\n<h3>12. Select Microsoft programs<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The data transfer should now be complete. After rebooting the system, click on the copied Windows XP user accounts, including files, on the new system running Windows 7 or 8. PCmover doesn&#8217;t\u00a0transfer installed programs, but\u00a0you might want to <strong>transfer some of your Microsoft software<\/strong> to your new computer at the same time. Because you can install these programs easily\u00a0later, we recommend selecting <em>Do not install any software on my PC<\/em>.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Choose not to install software on your new PC\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_08.jpg\" alt=\"Choose not to install software on your new PC\" width=\"600\" height=\"487\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>13. Analysis of\u00a0Compatibility Report<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">When switching from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8, you <strong>may lose some installed programs<\/strong> that you need to re-install manually.\u00a0In the\u00a0<strong>compatibility report,<\/strong> you&#8217;ll find an assessment of whether the programs work on Windows 7 or Windows 8.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Compatibility report\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_11.jpg\" alt=\"Compatibility report\" width=\"394\" height=\"224\" \/>The information provided by PCmover can sometimes be <strong>inaccurate<\/strong>. According to the report, for example, Mozilla Firefox and Skype do not work with Windows 7.  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Compatibility report are often inaccurate\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/on-Windows-7-PCmover_express_10.jpg\" alt=\"Compatibility report are often inaccurate\" width=\"672\" height=\"799\" \/> <em><strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">If you want to find out whether one of your\u00a0applications is compatible, it&#8217;s\u00a0better to check on our website. Clicking on the &#8220;i&#8221; in the appropriate program page provides detailed information about program compatibility. If you&#8217;re installing\u00a0many programs at once, we recommend our practical software catalog,\u00a0<a title=\"Download Softonic for Windows\" href=\"http:\/\/softonic-for-windows.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Softonic for Windows<\/a>. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Mozilla Firefox on Softonic shows Windows 7 compatibility\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2014\/03\/firefox-download-softonic-EN-600px.jpg\" alt=\"Mozilla Firefox on Softonic shows Windows 7 compatibility\" width=\"600\" height=\"193\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Whether or not you choose to follow these last two steps, your transfer to Windows 7 or 8 should be more or less complete.<\/p>\n<h3>More support for the end of Windows XP<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Windows to end XP support: how to cope\" href=\"http:\/\/features.en.softonic.com\/windows-to-end-xp-support-how-to-cope\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Windows to end XP support: how to cope<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/features.en.softonic.com\/video-xp-to-windows-7-or-8-with-pcmover\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Video: XP to Windows 7 or 8 using PCmover<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Windows to end XP support: how to cope\" href=\"http:\/\/features.en.softonic.com\/windows-to-end-xp-support-how-to-cope\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Download<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pcmover-express-for-windows-xp.en.softonic.com\/\">Download PCmover Express for Windows<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pcmover-professional.en.softonic.com\/\">Download PCmover Professional for Windows<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pcmover-express-for-windows-xp.en.softonic.com\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With\u00a0PCmover Express, Microsoft helps users move from the soon to be unsupported Windows XP, to Windows 7 or Windows 8. Using this guide and PCmover Express, along with our video tutorial, we&#8217;ll help you easily transfer from Windows XP and finally move on to newer versions of Microsoft&#8217;s OS. PCmover Express helps users transfer\u00a0personal folders, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/pcmover-express-windows-xp-to-windows-7-and-8\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;PCmover Express: Moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 and 8&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2046,"featured_media":62361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[2569],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-62302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionwindows-7"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2046"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331165,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62302\/revisions\/331165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62302"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=62302"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=62302"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=62302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}