User Reviews

1. Review Date: 2009-11-20

   I was upgrading from Vista x64 Ultimate to Windows 7 x64 Professional. I purchased the Pro version of the Win7 upgrade knowing that I would have to reinstall all my programs. The lack of any real value in the Ultimate version of Vista convinced me that my money should not be wasted a second time on Win7 Ultimate.
   
   Unfortunately, Microsoft views this as a downgrade as far as option levels go, and there is no supported upgrade path. I hoped to save myself some trouble by trying this product. If nothing else, it was only $10 - This is a deal if it does exactly what it claims, and not too hard of a mistake to swallow if it doesn't - I wouldn't have lost anything but time and 10 bucks.
   
   I DID however create a backup image of my disk drives before starting with Active@ Disk (another product). Just in case, even though the product stresses that you should NOT at any point in the process format your hard drive partitions. This is a side by side fresh install.
   
   To start, you create your moving van file of the programs you wish to migrate, then it gathers the information and creates a restore file. It was a lot of stuff, but completed quickly. In part because it's not really moving anything at all. All it's gathering are registry keys and config files. It does ask that you save the file to a location that will be accessible to both the old OS and the new one. I chose an external Seagate disk drive.
   
   I also printed out the manual for the Vist to Windows 7 upgrade process, (it was all of 18 pages) and followed the instructions during the upgrade process.
   
   Then I started the Windows 7 Upgrade. Chose Custom install, but didn't format anything, and the upgrade began. The old Windows directory became windows.old. So for anyone wondering that makes this a 'clean install' in that sense, but PC Mover does capture program registry settings and imports them afterwards.
   
   After the Windows 7 installation, I took a moment to check that all my devices were recognized and working then reinstalled Laplink and ran the restore using my moving van file.
   
   It does ask questions such as user account migration, but I had named the new account the same as the old. It did get upset about the "size" of my files that would be "restored". I assume that this feature, and how it counted the size of files being restored was a throwback to the full LapLink product. It told me that it would be restoring 235 GB of data and I only had 215 GB of storage available. I told it to continue anyway, and it only took up 17 GB more of hard drive space.
   
   Some users might have been confused or alarmed by this. The screen should have been customized for this purpose and been coded to give an accurate count since the whole idea behind the product was that you don't reinstall anything, you just import it into the new OS. It hardly added any more to my drives - probably the exact amount taken up by the new OS.
   
   Well, aside from that, it worked. Exactly how it said it would. To be clear, I didn't have to reinstall ANYTHING, except Laplink's PC Mover itself and Kaspersky Anti-Virus, but I had to install the new version of that anyway for Win7 compatibility, so I lost nothing there. The program screens make it abundantly clear however that programs that require activation may have to be re-activated. This was true - Adobe PhotoShop, PaintShop Pro and other programs that required an activation key needed to have the key re-applied.
   
   The product also has a safety feature called Start This! that runs after the installation is complete. It disables any services that were migrated to your new OS and gives you a chance to allow or remove them.
   
   The only other quibble I have with the product is how it migrated my Documents folder. Win7 treats the Documents folder (and sub folders) from Vista as Libraries. PC Mover made a fair guess at placing my files in the correct libraries, but goofed in a couple of places.
   
   In truth, if *I* had been more familliar with the Library system I would have sorted it out sooner, but I wound up in my ignorance deleting files that appeared to be duplicates that were not. I restored them from my Active@ Disk backup and was fine.
   
   In all, a good product and deal for a single PC upgrade. If my system were not set up and just the way I wanted it, I may not have bothered with this product. But if you want to do an unsupported (by Microsoft) Windows 7 upgrade, this is a good choice.
   
   User: D. McCoy
   Rating:
   Summary: Worked Perfectly!
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

2. Review Date: 2009-11-19

   It didn't work well with Windows 7. In fact, it messed up the registry. The good news, is Win7 fixed the registry for me.
   
   User: Philip E. Cole
   Rating:
   Summary: Not what it's cracked up to be!
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

3. Review Date: 2009-11-17

   I purchased Laplink PC mover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant to upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7 Home Premium. After following all directions specifically, my computer, 3 Mhz Intel dual processor with 4Gb memory, would not boot at all! Upon calling laplink I was told that they could only help via chat. Getting on another computer and chatting with "technical support" I was told that 1) it was Windows 7 problem, 2) it was my backup software problem (it was suggested that I buy Laplink's product!) 3) my computer was too old (not true!). It seems that it was everyone's fault except Laplink. Problem is that laplink is the software that was "in control" of the process and I followed each step exactly as written in their manual.
   
   After getting another boot disk, I restored my saved image, then followed Microsoft's instructions for upgrade of an XP system and while complicated and lengthy, it worked perfectly.
   
   Bottom line, do not waste your $9.99 on this product! Your time is worth a lot more. You will NOT get any help from their "technical support". Makes me wonder about other Laplink products, too!
   
   User: LakeJackson Music and Books
   Rating:
   Summary: Warning: Don't waste your time or money on this product!
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

4. Review Date: 2009-11-17

   Print out the 18 page user guide...read it first and follow it. My programs moved easily and quickly from XP to Windows 7...........no problem.
   
   User: Steve
   Rating:
   Summary: PCmover worked like a charm...
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

5. Review Date: 2009-11-04

   I downloaded this program from Amazon and tried to use it to migrate my files from XP to Windows 7. While it said it was going to migrate 20+ gigadbytes of files, the move file was only about 7 megs. I think this program is a total waste of time and money
   
   User: Tigre
   Rating:
   Summary: A Waste of Money
   Helpful Votes: 1
   Total Votes: 2
   

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Editorial Reviews

Upgrading your PC to Windows 7? Only 14 of the 66 upgrade scenarios detailed by Microsoft are supported by Windows 7--and upgrading from XP to Windows 7 is not supported. That's why we created PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant--the ONLY way to upgrade from XP to Windows 7! It helps you upgrade quickly and easily from any version of Windows (version 2000 or later) to Windows 7. All your programs, files and settings are saved right where you want them! Don't risk losing important data by starting over. Rest assured that all your important data will be saved with an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 using PCmover.

Save yourself the time and hassle of upgrading by using PCmover.

The Only Way to Upgrade From XP to Windows 7

If you want to upgrade your computer from XP to Windows 7 and not lose all your files and programs, you need PCmover.

No need to copy files to external media; no need to reinstall all your applications. PCmover does it all for you without any external storage, without copying files, and without having to find your old CDs and serial numbers!

There are many possible upgrade scenarios; in fact, here's a chart.

It may seem confusing, but here's the solution: PCmover Upgrade Assistant. XP to Windows 7? No problem! Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional? Yep, we do that. How about Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit? Of course!

Using PCmover to upgrade to Windows 7 is easy. First, run PCmover and follow the easy-to-use wizard. Then install Windows 7, choosing "custom" install but do not reformat. Then run PCmover again. That's it--you're done. Everything is exactly how you want it--without copying files or reinstalling programs!

Keep it simple. Save yourself the time and hassle of upgrading by using PCmover.

Choose which applications you want to have on your upgraded PC. Click to enlarge.

Select which folders you want and uncheck any file types that you don't want to have after the upgrade. Click to enlarge.

Features

Application Selectivity
Choose which applications you want to have on your upgraded PC.

Folder & File Selectivity
Select which folders you want and uncheck any file types that you don't want to have after the upgrade.

Keep Everything
All programs, files and settings can stay exactly as they were in your old operating system with one easy step.

Easy-To-Use Wizard
Click through a simple wizard to perform the upgrade.

Laplink Software Money Back Guarantee
Laplink makes every effort to provide top quality products and we take pride in our software line and the benefits they provide our many valued customers. There are times when a product must be returned and for that reason, if you experience a problem and have contacted our technical support team and still are unable to utilize our software, we will refund your product cost. Laplink provides a 30-day money back guarantee for current products from the date of purchase of the product(s) with technical support approval.

What You Should Know
PCmover Upgrade Assistant should be used only as intended and as described in the User Guide. If you attempt to use this product for unintended purposes, your computer may become unstable or unusable. If you have any questions, please visit technical support.

• Some programs on your old computer may not be compatible with a newer operating system.
• Files with Digital Rights Management (DRM) such as music files and programs that require keys or serial numbers with a hardware fingerprint may require reactivation.
• Some programs with unique copy protection may need to be reinstalled or reactivated with their original key or serial number.
• Be sure to deactivate programs with online-managed activation (such as various Adobe products and iTunes) before upgrading your operating system.
• Antivirus and Anti-Spyware programs may not be automatically installed on your new operating system
• Specific hardware drivers will not be moved to your new operating system.
• PCmover is not designed for migrations from newer operating systems to older operating systems. For example, we do not recommend attempting to migrate from a PC running Windows 7 to a PC running Windows XP as doing so may render your system unstable.
• Please note that PCmover Upgrade Assistant serial numbers are unique to PCmover Upgrade Assistant and will not work with other editions of PCmover.
• Windows 7 upgrade DVD is not included.

Product Details

1. PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant helps you upgrade quickly and easily from any version of Windows (version 2000 or later) to Windows 7
2. Choose which applications you want to have on your upgraded PC
3. Select which folders you want and uncheck any file types that you don't want to have after the upgrade
4. All programs, files and settings can stay exactly as they were in your old operating system with one easy step
5. Click through a simple wizard to perform the upgrade