- Microsoft has given us more details about how PC migration works
- It will offer a useful alternative to those who do not want to restore a backup through OneDrive
- However, the function still has warnings, including the need for a Microsoft account, and will not admit PC based on ARM initially.
Microsoft has provided more details on how its PC migration function will work to PC when it comes to changing to a new PC with Windows 11.
The function is designed to soften the update to a new PC, and make it as easy as possible, although with some warnings, and clearly the approach focuses on helping Windows 10 users to Windows 11 (assuming that their hardware admits the last operating system).
Previously, PC to PC migration has been seen in the tests, and Microsoft has put the shell of the experience in the launching version of Windows 11 (with the last update), however, it is not yet functional.
At least now we know exactly how the capacity will work thanks to a support publication that Microsoft has uploaded (as Thurrott.com saw). So, we immerse all the key details you need to know.
The old PC and the new PC to which they are being transferred must be in the same network, either connected through Ethernet (wiring, to its router) or wireless (in the same Wi-Fi network).
Both machines must also be signed in a Microsoft account, so with the new PC, you will have to log in to an account during the configuration. Once that initial configuration is executed, you can start the migration from PC to PC, which will combine the PC using a unique code.
Then you will have to select what you want to transfer in the form of the files or the configuration. You can transfer almost everything in terms of files and the options you have chosen in Windows, including personalized desktop elements (wallpapers or topics), but there are some exceptions.
What will not be transported includes temporary and system files (which would not want anyway), as well as the applications installed in the old PC and saved passwords (although they can have them stored in their browser, anyway).
Once you have chosen the data and the configuration that is carried, the process will begin, providing a timer as an indication of how long it will be waiting (hopefully a precise one, these regressive account are not always so reliable).
If the network connection falls in some way, Microsoft says that Windows will try to automatically resume data transfer when you make a backup again, although it can manually restart the process if everything else fails.
Analysis: Backup or migration
The PC to PC migration function is essentially an alternative for those who have not configured a backup (saved in OneDrive) through the Windows backup application application. If you have one of those, you can simply implement that backup on the new PC, if not, you can use PC migration to PC (as a local data transfer method, but you must still be signed in a Microsoft account as indicated). Or at least it can when the Windows 11 (and 10) PC be released, which should happen soon enough: I bet Microsoft want to be in operation before Windows 10 reaches the end of life (for obvious reasons).
It is worth noting that if you set up a backup in the Windows backup application, only to synchronize your device configuration, in fact, you get an additional year support for Windows 10 for free (dodge the $ 30 rate that Microsoft had previously slapped in this option).
Therefore, the backup is clearly an application that Microsoft wants people to use, and I can see that the choice is a popular stopp measure to postpone any decision on the update to Windows 11 until next year, but it is good to see that the migration of PC to PC is offered as another way to follow, with less attached chains (in terms of edredive, although it still has to use a Microsoft account).
With the migration from PC to PC, the main thing that is not transferred to the new PC are its applications, but that is not surprising. In fact, the support application will not provide its applications when it restores a backup, although it can restore applications from the Microsoft store, and with third -party applications, provide a link to download them for convenience (it does not obtain that capacity with the new migration function).
The main difference with the new feature, then, is that migration does not require or USADrive (although it does need a Microsoft account), and there are no related options to maintain its applications (even if the use of Windows backup copy is also limited in that sense).
Some other notable warnings with the migration of PC to PC are that it does not work with units encrypted with bitlocker (they must be deciphered first), and that the devices with CPU of the arm are also not compatible (still). Since Microsoft says that ARM PCs are not “currently” treated, I hope it changes sufficiently, especially because they represent a good part of Copilot+ PCs, which are the machines that Microsoft is busy trying to make everyone buy.
As noted, we are still waiting for the full PC migration experience to PC to be enabled in Windows 11 (and Windows 10), but it shouldn’t spend much time before this happens.
