Lesson 1: Upgrading and Migrating to Windows Vista

55

to a 32-bit. Moving between operating system architectures requires a clean install on a new

volume. Following is a list of previous versions of Windows and the Windows Vista migration

and upgrade options that are available for them.

■

Windows 95 / 98 / Me It is not possible to directly upgrade to any edition of Windows

Vista from Windows 95, 98, or Me. It is possible to use earlier versions of the User State

Migration Tool to migrate data from these operating systems to any edition of Win-

dows Vista, but Microsoft does not support such a migration. It is not possible to use

Windows Easy Transfer to migrate data from these operating systems.

■ Windows NT 4 Workstation It is not possible to upgrade directly from Windows NTŪ 4

Workstation to any edition of Windows Vista. It is possible to use the User State Migra-

tion Tool to migrate data from Windows NT 4 to any edition of Windows Vista, but

Microsoft does not support such a migration.

NOTE

Unsupported migrations

Version 2.x of the User State Migration Tool works perfectly well with Windows 95 / 98 / Me

and NT 4 and was used to migrate data from these operating systems to Windows XP when

it was released. Version 3.x of the tool is unsupported on these earlier operation systems. It

is important to note that the most recent versions of the User State Migration Tool are able

to import files generated by the version 2.x tool.

■

Windows 2000 Professional It is impossible to directly upgrade to Windows Vista from

Windows 2000 Professional. If Service Pack 4 is installed, it is possible to use Windows

Easy Transfer to migrate data and user settings from Windows 2000 Professional to any

edition of Windows Vista. It is also possible to use the User State Migration Tool to

migrate data and user settings from Windows 2000 Professional to any edition of Win-

dows Vista.

NOTE

Bridgehead migrations

Although it requires a significant amount of effort, if you have the required software, it is of

course possible to upgrade Windows 98, Me, NT 4.0, and 2000 to Windows XP and then to

upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista. Because this type of technique is not in any way

supported by Microsoft, it will not be on the 70-620 exam.

■

Windows XP Home It is possible to directly upgrade to all 32-bit editions of Windows

Vista from Windows XP Home. It is possible to use both the User State Migration Tool

and Windows Easy Transfer to migrate data from Windows XP Home to any edition of

Windows Vista.

■ Windows XP Professional Unlike Windows XP Home, it is possible to upgrade Windows

XP Professional only to the 32-bit Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows

Vista. It is possible to use the User State Migration Tool or Windows Easy Transfer to

migrate data from Windows XP Professional to any edition of Windows Vista.