5 Best Microsoft USMT Alternative Solution to Transfer User Data to New PC
Microsoft provides the free USMT ( User State Migration Tool ), a command-line tool, which is used to transfer Windows user state or Windows profile settings to another Windows device. On the upside, it was an element without an upfront licensing cost. On the downside, users and media both alike report the significant results from the entire working with this tool. It does not only support the OS transition, but application configurations to be upgraded, especially from MS Office 2003 to 2007. Therefore, in the upcoming section, we are going to discuss the complete guide to learn about Microsoft USMT Alternative in a better way.
Have a Quick Glance on USMT (User State Migration Tool )
USMT or User State Migration Tool is designed to migrate end-user configuration setting and files between two systems. Users have to become familiar with scripting languages to avail USMT, as it is the command line utility. Moreover, USMT might be used with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, and 8 OS. It can also move files and settings between computers running two versions, 32 and 64-bit of Windows, and vice versa. Further, it consists of two main applications, Scanstate.exe and Loadstate.exe, which can use XML files as an input or output. The basic principle is: Scanstate backing up the data from an old computer while Loadstate can restore it on a new system. Through this blog know the advantages & disadvantages of USMT & USMT Alternative Solutions that can be followed.
Issues faced by Users While Using USMT & Their Resolutions
Go through the following issues that users may face when they run the (USMT). Let us take a look at User State Migration Tool alternatives as well:
User Account Control Issues
This problem occurs when users try to create a local account on the destination computer. In fact, not all the user accounts will be migrated to the final computer. There are two main causes due to which this issue generates:
When users try to run ScanState tool on Windows Vista, or ScanState and LoadState tools on Windows 7/ 8/ 10 version, they have to run them in Administrator mode from account with all admin credentials to ensure that all users are migrated. To run in the Administrator mode:
a) Go to Start icon and then, click on All Programs
b) Now, choose Accessories
c) Right-click on the command prompt
d) Click on Run as an administrator
After that, you should specify the LoadState or ScanState command. If users do not want to run USMT in an administrator mode, only a user account that is logged on can be inserted in migration.
Command-line Problems
Users may receive this error message in certain cases even if they do not specify a file path or a long store, because the length of a path is calculated based on an original path. For e.g., if users want to implement the scanstate.exe /o store command from C:\Program Files\USMT40, then each character count in “C:\Program Files\USMT40” would be added to the length of “store” to obtain the length of a specific path.
Resolution: Make sure that the total path length is the integration of a store path and the current directory must not exceed 256 characters.
XML File Security Issues
Some users have used /genconfig option for creating the Config.xml files, but only a few components and applications that are available in MigApp.xml. The main cause behind this issue is that Config.xml will contain only operating system applications and components, and users document sections are in both XML files, which are installed on a PC when they run this /genconfig option. On the other side, all these components and applications cannnot display in the Config.xml file.
Resolution: You must install all the desired applications on your system before running this /genconfig option. After that, run the ScanState tool with all of the XML files. For e.g., run the below command:
Offline Data Migration Issues
Some of the system configuration settings do not transfer in an offline migration. Reason being that some system settings, like network printers and desktop backgrounds that does not support in the offline migration. In addition, during offline mode, the DNS server will not be enquired to resolve the name of user and SID mapping.
Resolution: In the offline migration, all these system configurations must be repaired manually.
USMT Cannot Migrate Start layout
The XML files can only migrate a .pst file that is linked to the MS Outlook profile. When users are using USMT to migrate accounts from an installation of Windows 10 OS to another installation of Windows 10 with different hardware. After performing a migration, the user is signed in on a new device and do not have Start menu layout that has previously configured. The primary reason is that a code changes in the Start Menu with Windows 10 and its later version is incompatible with the USMT function.
Resolution: Now, you can follow the given below method as User State Migration Tool alternative:
a) With a user signed in, you can back up of your Start layout using the following PowerShell command. You can mention the different path if needed:
b) Migrate the user’s account using USMT.
c) Before the user signs in on a new device, then import the Start layout using the following PowerShell command:
This method can change the default user’s Start menu layout. This approach does not scale to a mass migration or multi-user devices, but it can unblock some case scenarios. If another user can sign on to a particular device they must delete layoutmodification.xml from a Default user profile. Whereas, all users who sign on to that particular device will use an imported Start layout.
If these ( User State Migration Tool ) USMT alternative does not work well, then users can opt for a reliable software namely, SysTools Windows Migrator. This software is specially programmed to migrate all the Control Panel and Registry settings without any data loss. The best part of this tool is that it moves all Operating system user profile and its default folder data in an efficient manner. It has a simple and user-friendly interface that even a novice user can understand its layout without taking an external help.
Bottom Line
USMT is a set of scripts and programs, which enable the migration of user files or settings from one computer to another. Thus, in this blog, we have discussed about USMT or User State Migration Tool alternatives in detail. Along with this, we have covered different causes and solutions while using USMT. Else, we have recommended an USMT Alternative Solution i.e., Windows Migrator that helps to migrate user profile data to another Windows PC without any hassle.