Tip 676: Windows Easy Transfer

Now that Windows 7 is shipping, we’re starting to see a lot more problems that begin like this:

“I used Easy Transfer to move files and settings to my new Windows 7 computer. Outlook isn’t working… “

While Windows Easy Transfer (WET) works well for many programs, it does not work well for Outlook profiles. It frequently causes corruption of the profile. For this reason we suggest you create a new profile. You can use the PST which WET copied to the new computer by adding it to the new profile – for best results, add the PST before you open Outlook using the new profile.

Note that if you leave mail on the server, the new account will re-download all messages. The file that Outlook uses to identify which messages were previously downloaded is stored in the PST but it’s tied to the computer and profile that created it.

Published November 5, 2009. Last updated on June 17, 2011.

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