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Chapter 2

Windows Vista Upgrades and Migrations

■

Windows XP Professional 64-bit edition It is only possible to upgrade to the 64-bit

Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista from Windows XP Pro-

fessional 64-bit. It is not possible to upgrade from Windows XP Professional 64-bit to

a 32-bit edition of Windows Vista. It is possible to use the User State Migration Tool or

Windows Easy Transfer to migrate data from Windows XP 64-bit edition to any edition

of Windows Vista.

■ Windows XP Media Center It is possible to upgrade Windows XP Media Center only to

the 32-bit Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. This is because

these editions are the only ones that have Media Center functionality. It is possible to use

the User State Migration Tool or Windows Easy Transfer to migrate data from Windows

XP Media Center to any edition of Windows Vista.

■ Windows XP Tablet PC It is possible to upgrade Windows XP Tablet PC only to the 32-

bit Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Only these editions of

Windows Vista have Tablet PC functionality. It is possible to use the User State Migra-

tion Tool or Windows Easy Transfer to migrate data from Windows XP Tablet PC to any

edition of Windows Vista.

Upgrading from Server Operating Systems

Sometimes, especially in environments where the person who is responsible for IT sup-

port does not have a background in IT, you will encounter a situation where someone is

using a server operating system on a workstation. It is not unheard of to encounter a

receptionist using a computer running Small Business Server 2003 with Microsoft Office

installed. You will not encounter such a scenario on the 70-620 exam, but you will be

surprised what you will encounter working on as an IT pro in the real world. You can use

the User State Migration Tool to remedy this situation. Although such a scenario is

unlikely to occur on the exam, in the real world, knowing how to migrate data off a

server configured as a workstation will be a valuable, if only occasionally used, skill.

Migrating to Windows Vista

Both the User State Migration Tool and Windows Easy Transfer can use three methods of

transferring data from the original operating system to the new Windows Vista installation.

The tool that you select depends heavily on the situation. For most scenarios covered by the

70-620 exam, the Windows Easy Transfer tool is appropriate. For the sake of completeness,

the following section also covers the more advanced User State Migration Tool.