USMT Vs Windows Easy tranfer

martin9991

Hi guys,
Any help would be great, Im just struggling to find out why you would use one tool over the other, Obviously Easy transfer cant be used for offline but i just want a bit more detail on the differences but i cant seem to find this online. It might be i already understand the differences but i just feel like theres something missing in my knowledge here! Thanks guys

embraceIT

The conceptional difference is rather simple, and like you said, you probably do already understand the differences.

In a nutshell: Easy Transfer is GUI based and intended for single computer migrations or a small number of migrations -- somethingthe ma and pa user at might do at home. USMT on the other hand is for large scale computer migrations -- something an IT department might do. When someone upgrades or installs a new Windows version on their home PC, the likelyhood is that they plop in DVD and interact with the GUI installation process. However imagine how labor intensive and costly it would be to do that in a large corporate setting of hundreds or thousands of computers. Microsoft provides automated tools for large-scale deployments, and USMT is one of the tools.

A good question to ask is "Do USMT and Easy Transfer migrate the exact same data files and user states?" All I know is that USMT is more configurable by way of the objects it migrates.

I've provided a couple links below that might help answer this question and others you may have. Both are from the Microsoft Technet website.

Easy Treansfer FAQ's:
Transferring files and settings: frequently asked questions

What USMT does and does not migrate:
What Does USMT Migrate?

martin9991

Thanks for your help pal.