Release Notes for USMT 3.0

  • Article
  • What is new in USMT 3.0
  • Known issues
  • How to uninstall

What is new in USMT 3.0?

The following are the high-level differences in Microsoft® Windows® User State Migration Tool (USMT) 3.0 from USMT 2.61. For a complete list of what has changed, see What is New in USMT 3.0.

Improved user experience

  • USMT 3.0 is faster and more robust — that is, you can migrate more user accounts in a shorter duration of time.
  • The migration behavior is now controlled by .xml files instead of .inf files. You can validate the migration .xml files using the XML schema (MigXML.xsd).
  • The command-line user interface has been improved with information about what migration stage USMT is currently in.
  • The progress log provides more meaningful information regarding what data is being migrated, which files or settings were not migrated, and what errors occurred.
  • The documentation includes more examples to help you customize the migration .xml files.

Support for Windows Vista

  • USMT 3.0 supports both Windows Vista and Windows XP as the destination computer.
  • You can use the same MigUser.xml and MigApp.xml files to migrate to computers running Windows XP and computers running Windows Vista.

Improved data and settings migration

USMT 3.0 migrates the following items. For a complete list, see What Does USMT 3.0 Migrate?.

  • Access control lists (ACLs).
  • The latest versions of most of the previously supported applications.
  • New applications — for example, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Project, Apple iTunes, and so on.
  • German and Japanese versions of Microsoft Office XP and Office 2003.
  • More file extensions including support for the file extensions created by 2007 Microsoft Office system.
  • More operating system components

Improved security with encryption

  • You can migrate Encrypting File System (EFS) files and certificates to computers running Windows Vista when you specify the /efs:copyraw option.
  • You can encrypt the store with the /encrypt option. You can specify the encryption key using either a file or plain text.

Known issues

The following is a list of the settings that USMT does not migrate. For a list of the components that are migrated, see What Does USMT 3.0 Migrate?. If you are having a problem that is not listed here, see Common Issues.

Application settings

USMT 3.0 does not migrate the following application settings.

  • Settings from older versions of an application. The versions of each application must match on the source and destination computers. This is because USMT does not support migrating the settings of an older version of an application to a newer version — except with Microsoft Office, which USMT can migrate from an older version to a newer version.
  • Application settings and some operating system settings (for example, wallpaper and screensaver settings) when a local account is created. For example, if you run /lac to create a local account on the destination computer, USMT will migrate the user data, but all application settings and some operating system settings will not migrate.
  • Microsoft Project settings, when migrating from Office 2003 to 2007 Microsoft Office system.
  • ICQ Pro settings if ICQ Pro is installed in a different location on the destination computer. In order to successfully migrate the settings of ICQ Pro, you will need to install ICQ Pro in the same location on the destination computer as it was installed on the source computer. Otherwise, after you run LoadState, the application will not start. You may encounter problems when:
    • You change the default installation location on 32-bit destination computers.
    • Migrating from a 32-bit computer to a 64-bit computer. This is because the ICQ Pro default installation directory is different — when you install ICQ Pro on a 32-bit computer, the default location is "C:\Program Files\..." and the default directory on a x64-based computer is “C:\Program Files (x86)\...”.

Operating system settings

USMT 3.0 does not migrate the following operating system settings.

  • Mapped network drives, local printers, hardware-related settings, drivers, passwords, application binary files, synchronization files, .dll files, or other executable files.
  • Permissions for shared folders. After migration, you will have to manually re-share any folders that they were shared on the source computer.
  • Files and settings between operating systems with different languages. That is, the operating system of the source computer must match the language of the operating system on the destination computer.
  • Customized icons for shortcuts (may not migrate). For example, if user right-clicks a shortcut, clicks Properties, and changes the icon for the shortcut, then the customized icon may not migrate to the destination computer.
  • Taskbar settings, when the source computer is running Windows XP.
  • Network printers and the following firewall settings when the destination computer is running Windows XP.
    • Only the Internet Connection Firewall check box and setting is migrated. USMT supports Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)–based settings and the Windows XP Service Pack 2 registry setting.
    • The Internet Connection Sharing setting is not migrated because it can make the network less secure if it is migrated to the destination computer.
    • The firewall advanced configuration settings are not migrated due to security risks.
    • The network connections user interface will not completely refresh until you log off or press F5.
    • Bridge settings are not migrated (for example, bridging a virtual private network to a second network adapter).

You should also note the following:

  • You should run USMT from an account with administrative credentials, or some data will not migrate. When running ScanState and LoadState on Windows Vista, you need to run the tools in “Administrator” mode from an account with administrative credentials. If you do not run USMT in “Administrator” mode, only the user profile that is logged on will be included in the migration. In addition, you must run ScanState on Windows XP from an account with administrative credentials, or some operating system settings will not migrate. To run in “Administrator” mode, click the start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and click Run as administrator.
  • The data located on external universal serial bus (USB) hard disks will be migrated even when you specify /localonly. However, this issue will not occur with USB flash drives (that is, the data on USB flash drives will not be included when you specify /localonly).

How to uninstall

You can uninstall USMT using the user interface or using the command line.

To uninstall USMT from any operating system using the user interface

  1. Click the start button and click All Programs.

  2. Click Microsoft USMT 3.0, and click Uninstall USMT 3.0.

To uninstall USMT from a computer running Windows Vista using the command line

  • For 32-bit computers run %SystemRoot%\system32\PkgMgr.exe /up /p:USMT30-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.0.5860.0

  • For 64-bit computers, run %SystemRoot%\system32\PkgMgr.exe /up /p:USMT30-TopLevel~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.0.5860.0

To uninstall USMT from a computer running Windows 2000 or Windows XP using the command line

  1. Run %windir%\$NtUninstallUSMT30$\spuninst\spuninst.exe.

  2. Click Next.