Now that 8.1 killed Easy Transfer..

r00k

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Ok so I cannot conceive any reason why Microsoft has killed the ability to use Windows Easy Transfer, but since they have I am trying to find alternatives and so far the pricing absolutely sucks!

PCMover and Zinstall are both licensed per transfer between $50 and $120. Here's the deal: I help people move out of their old Windows XP computers to Windows 8 several times a week. It is absolute highway robbery to have to buy this software, use it one time and never again, then have to do it again for the next person, especially when Windows Easy Transfer did the job very well.

Does anybody know of some alternative software that moves files and settings nice and easy like without breaking the bank?
 
theres Transwiz 1.6 from www.forensit.com

Oh yeah, I have used their software in the past with great luck (for customizing profiles). Ironically, the trial run for this is going to be for the same client..

I'm giving this one a go. I explained my situation to Zinstall, and they seem pretty willing to work with me on it, but i'm not too hopeful.

Still open to other solutions..
 
Huh? Link?
Easy Transfer is still there, but apparently has been watered down since the assumption is that the user will have a Microsoft account with settings and data stored in Onedrive.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsof...ystery-of-windows-81s-missing-features-230702

Case in point: Windows Easy Transfer. It's probably not a tool you use every day, but it's a very handy way to copy files and settings from one Windows computer to another. With Windows 8.1, it works differently. Now, it only transfers files, not settings, and only those from Windows 8.0, Windows RT, and Windows 7 -- not from pre-7 editions of Windows or other Windows 8.1 computers. When I asked why the functionality was reduced, Microsoft told me, "WET is being deprecated now that many settings roam automatically and you can share data using SkyDrive."
 
Easy Transfer is still there, but apparently has been watered down since the assumption is that the user will have a Microsoft account with settings and data stored in Onedrive.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsof...ystery-of-windows-81s-missing-features-230702

And this is why I'm staying put on 8.0. Unless you have a touchscreen and want to jerk off with disney tiles there's little to nothing compelling in Win8.1+ to warrant updating, more desktop and power user features get stripped than added with every incremental update it seems, and trying to coral unsuspecting users into their online services by obfuscating local account options is totally obnoxious
 
I actually never used any cloud storage services before windows 8 and office 2013. Now I use onedrive alot. Its pretty nice how it integrates into both.
 
Yep I can see how storing large files would be convenient over a slow internet connection.
 
I actually never used any cloud storage services before windows 8 and office 2013. Now I use onedrive alot. Its pretty nice how it integrates into both.

It is really handy, but don't put anything you really care about in any public cloud storage unless its encrypted by a process inaccessible to the storage provider. You lose almost all legal protection. And depending on whether you've accessed the data yourself, or if it has lain dormant for 180 days, your protections may be even weaker.

https://ssd.eff.org/3rdparties/protect/storage

Making anyone rely on storage they don't control to migrate user profiles makes no sense. I haven't bonded anything other than a Windows 8.1 RT tablet account to the cloud based settings stuff for that reason.

I've connected to my OneDrive without account linkage on everything else. I did make a syncing share available as a share on my network from my central data server by doing something like this: http://www.wegotserved.com/2012/05/09/install-microsoft-skydrive-windows-home-server-2011/

I only keep Internet shortcuts for tech sites and a couple of wallpapers I like on it unencrypted. Anything else I put on it is encrypted.

USMT it is for future machine moves then. More complex, but more secure.
 

Read the post title, 8.1 not 8. MS has killed WET in 8.1 I unfortunately just discovered (Windows 8/8.1 is on my do-not-fly list). A creative customer decided to purchase his own laptop and bring it to me instead of allowing me to help choose a nice Windows 7 machine. First time I've had to transfer from 7 to 8.1, utterly flabbergasted in the reduced functionality of something I've been using for years. If I hadn't been pissed with W8 then I surely would be now. What a POS OS.
 
How bloody stupid can you be?

Its the same people who removed the start menu to boost the Windows app store. What do you expect? They don't care about functionality for power users. They care about driving the herds of regular users into more Microsoft products.
 
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