How to perform Windows 11 migration?
Migrating to the latest OS is one of the crucial task for an IT administrator. With Microsoft announcing end of life for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 OS's, administators are having an immediate need to migrate their system to the latest Windows 11 OS. Administrators will come across various scenarios when it comes to Windows 11 migration. This document will explain the scenarios and methods to perform Windows 11 migration using our USMT tool. It is highly recommended to create a Windows 11 image before migration to accelerate your migration process.
Migrating data to newly purchased computers
The first scenario is based on replacing computers to your employees. You are purchasing new computers for the employees in your organization and you have to give them these new systems with the latest OS along with their existing system's data (user profile and files). To address this scenarios, you can first deploy the latest Windows 11 OS to the newly purchased computers, then create an image of the data partitions of the employees existing computer and deploy this image to the newly purchased computer. Then, you can also migrate the user profile from the existing computer to the new computer. To perform this, follow the steps given below,
Pre-requisites:
Before performing deployment on any computers ensure the following,
- It is always recommended to create a back up of the system using the imaging technique in OS deployer.
- Windows system requirements like RAM memory and disk storage should be compatible for the new OS.
- Hardware requirements should be compatible with the new OS.
- Create a back up of the personalised user profiles in your computer using User Profile Migration feature in OS Deployer.
Steps:
- Deploying Windows 11 Golden Image
- Set up a computer with Windows 11 OS along with the required Drivers & Software Applications.
- Create a golden image from this computer by following the steps given in this imaging document.
- Deploy this golden image to the new computer.
- Imaging & deploying old computer's data partitions
- Go to the employee's old computer and create an image of the required data partitions.
- Deploy this data partition image to the new computer by creating appropriate deployment templates and deployment task.
- Performing user profile migration
- Create a backup of the user profile that you want to migrate by following the steps given in this document.
- Follow the steps given in this document to migrate the user profile data from an old computer to new computer.
So you have successfully migrated your user data to a new computer with Windows 11 OS.
Replacing existing computer's OS
In this second case, you can directly deploy Windows 11 golden image to an existing computer with an old or un-updated OS. Here the changes will effect only in the OS partition where the OS alone will be replaced. The remaining data in the computer will not disturbed in this method.
Pre-requisites:
Before performing deployment on any computers ensure the following,
- It is always recommended to take the back up of the system using the imaging technique in OS deployment.
- Windows system requirements like RAM memory and disk storage should be compatible for the new OS.
- Hardware requirements should be compatible with the new OS.
- Create a back up of the personalised user profiles in your computer using User Profile Migration feature in OS Deployer.
Steps:
Deploying Windows 11 Golden Image
- Set up a computer with Windows 11 OS along with the required OS drivers & applications.
- Create a golden image from this computer by following the steps given in this imaging document.
- Customize the deployment templates to deploy only the OS and other OS related partition
- Create deployment tasks and deploy this golden image to the new computer.
You have successfully replaced an OS of the existing computer.
Migrating existing computers with outdated OS
Assume there are some employees still using Windows XP computers in your network. You have to upgrade their computers to the latest OS along with their system data. However, you cannot directly upgrade any outdated OS like Windows Vista or Windows XP to Windows 11 or any latest Windows OS. In this case, you have to take the back up of the system data, completely cleanup the system, deploy the latest OS and the taken image backup. This will let the existing system the latest OS along with the system data. To perform this, follow the steps given below,
Pre-requisites:
Before performing deployment on any computers ensure the following,
- It is always recommended to take the back up of the system using the imaging technique in OS deployment.
- Windows system requirements like RAM memory and disk storage should be compatible for the new OS.
- Hardware requirements should be compatible with the new OS.
- Create a back up of the personalised user profiles in your computer using User Profile Migration feature in OS Deployer.
Steps:
- Imaging & deploying old computer's data partitions
- Go to the employee's old computer and create an image of the required data partitions.
- Deploy this data partition image to the new computer by creating appropriate deployment templates and deployment task.
- Deploying Windows 11 Golden Image
- Set up a computer with Windows 11 OS along with the required OS drivers & applications.
- Create a golden image from this computer by following the steps given in this imaging document.
- Deploy this Golden image to the new computer.
- Performing user profile migration
- Create a backup of the user profile that you want to migrate by following the steps given in this document.
- Follow the steps given in this document to migrate the user profile data from an old computer to new computer.
Upgrading existing computers OS
Assume you have employees using Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1 computers. A direct upgrade is available for these OS, hence you can directly upgrade the OS of these computers without disturbing the system's data. To perform this, follow the steps given in this document.
Note:
This method is not recommended in the business environment because of the following reasons,
- Applications available in the computer might not be supported for the new OS.
- Windows upgrade process may not work at times, this might let an administrator restart the entire process.
Pre-requisites:
Before performing deployment on any computers ensure the following,
- It is always recommended to take the back up of the system using the imaging technique in OS Deployer.
- Windows system requirements like RAM memory and disk storage should be compatible for the new OS.
- Hardware requirements should be compatible with the new OS.
- Create a back up of the personalised user profiles in your computer using User Profile Migration feature in OS Deployer.
Deploying OS without data migration
Assume you have purchased new computers for the newly joiners. You have to give them the computers with the latest OS along with the required drivers and applications. This scenario does not involve data migration since you are providing all new systems for new employees. To deploy OS to newly purchased computers, follow the steps given below,
Pre-requisites:
Before performing deployment on any computers ensure the following,
- It is always recommended to take the back up of the system using the imaging technique in OS Deployer.
- Windows system requirements like RAM memory and disk storage should be compatible for the new OS.
- Hardware requirements should be compatible with the new OS.
Steps:
- Set up a computer with Windows 11 OS along with the required OS drivers & applications.
- Create a golden image from this computer by following the steps given in this imaging document.
- Customize the deployment templates with the required business applications
- Create deployment tasks and deploy this Golden image to the new computer.
To learn about the benefits of migrating to Windows 11, click here.
