Windows® User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0 migrates user files and settings during large deployments of Windows Vista® or Windows® 7. To improve and simplify the migration process, USMT captures desktop, network, and application settings as well as a user's files, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation.

In This Section

USMT Components

The following table lists the USMT components.

Component Explanation

ScanState.exe

The ScanState tool scans the source computer, collects the files and settings, and then creates a store. ScanState does not modify the source computer. By default, it compresses the files and stores them as a migration store. ScanState copies files into a temporary location and then into the migration store.

LoadState.exe

The LoadState tool migrates the files and settings, one at a time, from the store to a temporary location on the destination computer. The files are decompressed, and decrypted if necessary, during this process. Next, LoadState transfers the file to the correct location, deletes the temporary copy, and begins migrating the next file.

Compression improves performance by reducing network bandwidth usage as well as the required space in the store. However, for testing purposes, you can choose to turn off compression with the /nocompress option.

Migration .xml files

The .xml files used by USMT for migrations are the MigApp.xml, MigUser.xml, or MigDocs.xml and any custom .xml files that you create.

Config.xml

If you want to exclude components from the migration, you can create and modify the Config.xml file using the /genconfig option with the ScanState tool. This optional file has a different format from the migration .xml files because it does not contain migration rules. The Config.xml file contains a list of the components that can be migrated. You specify migrate ="no" for the components you want to exclude from the migration. Additionally, this file can be used to control some migration options new to USMT 4.0.

Component Manifests for Windows Vista and Windows 7

When the source or destination computer is running Windows Vista or Windows 7, the component-manifest files control which operating system settings are migrated and how they are migrated. These files are located on computers running Windows Vista and Windows 7, and you cannot modify them. If you want to exclude certain operating system settings when the source computer is running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you will need to create and modify a Config.xml file.

Down-level Manifest files

When the source computer is running a supported version of Windows XP, these manifest files control which operating-system and Windows® Internet Explorer® settings are migrated and how they are migrated. For example, when the destination computer is running Windows Vista, the ScanState tool collects the data using the down-level manifest files, and then the LoadState tool migrates the data using the corresponding component manifest files for Windows Vista or Windows 7. The down-level manifest files are not used with the LoadState tool.

The down-level manifest files are located in the USMT\Dlmanifests directory. You cannot modify these files. If you want to exclude certain operating-system settings when source computer is running Windows XP and the destination computer is running Windows Vista, you will need to create and modify a Config.xml file on the Windows XP machine.

USMT internal files

All other .dll, .xml, .dat, .mui, and .inf files that are included with USMT are for internal use. You cannot modify these files.

See Also