Solved User data migration from old W10 machine to new W11 machine

Where OneDrive is different is that it's part of the Windows operating system. The data sync is always live, and OneDrive is keeping all my computers in real-time sync with each other.

I did this to 2 computers

A) Upgraded my hardware on desktop to be compatible with win 11 and kept the same boot ssd
with windows 10 pro. Windows 10 was activated. I then upgraded to win 11.

B) Laptop - I purchased a used laptop which was compatible with win 11 and had win 10 pro

I made a macrium image of the desktop windows 11 and restored it to the laptop.
It booted and was activated.

I now have similar setup for my desktop and laptop which I only use when away on vacation

I have been playing with robocopy in restore mode (mirroring from external D: drive back to C: drive) and surprise, surprise, I had to allow robocopy.exe through controlled folder access. I did not have to do that when I was playing with robocopy in backup mode (mirroring from C: drive to external D: drive)

Now that I have been playing with robocopy in both backup and restore mode, it strikes me how similar it feels to File History. I did a brief search on whether the newer File History is a further development of the older robocopy, but that does not seem to be the case.

TraderGary said:

OneDrive default is to keep all data on cloud OneDrive and only download data "on demand" when requested. I don't use default OneDrive. I use the OneDrive option to always keep my local OneDrive folder and cloud OneDrive in real-time sync.

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My current setup is the "OneDrive default" that you describe. I want to use the "real-time sync" that you use. Can you help with the settings I need to change?

rchris said:

My current setup is the "OneDrive default" that you describe. I want to use the "real-time sync" that you use. Can you help with the settings I need to change?

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First be sure your local drive is large enough to hold all of your cloud OneDrive data. I always use at least a 1 Terabyte C: drive to be sure. I subscribe to Microsoft 365 and that includes 1 TB of cloud OneDrive space. I trust you do the same.

In the tray on the lower right of your screen you will see a OneDrive cloud icon. Click on it.
You will get a dialog box. In the upper right corner of this dialog box will be a gear icon. Click on it.
You will get yet another dialog box. Choose "Settings"
You will get yet another dialog box. Now choose the "Settings" tab on this dialog box.
Near the bottom of this screen you will see an area called "Files On Demand".
Remove the check in the checkbox in front of "Save space and download files as you use them."

This will now cause all the files on your cloud OneDrive to be downloaded to your computer's OneDrive folder.

Now all your local OneDrive data files will stay in real-time sync with your cloud OneDrive files.

Another advantage of now having all your OneDrive files locally and in real-time sync is the ability to choose your local OneDrive folder when doing a Microsoft File History backup. I do a File History backup every night before shutting down. After doing your initial File History backup, this File History update takes less than a minute to do. I do my File History backup to a Samsung 2TB T7 SSD.

TraderGary said:

First be sure your local drive is large enough to hold all of your cloud OneDrive data. I always use at least a 1 Terabyte C: drive to be sure. I subscribe to Microsoft 365 and that includes 1 TB of cloud OneDrive space. I trust you do the same.

In the tray on the lower right of your screen you will see a OneDrive cloud icon. Click on it.
You will get a dialog box. In the upper right corner of this dialog box will be a gear icon. Click on it.
You will get yet another dialog box. Choose "Settings"
You will get yet another dialog box. Now choose the "Settings" tab on this dialog box.
Near the bottom of this screen you will see an area called "Files On Demand".
Remove the check in the checkbox in front of "Save space and download files as you use them."

This will now cause all the files on your cloud OneDrive to be downloaded to your computer's OneDrive folder.

Now all your local OneDrive data files will stay in real-time sync with your cloud OneDrive files.

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Thanks. I'll give it a go.

It may be time for you to take a new approach to data storage. Separate data from the system drive. Just install a new drive and manually copy all your data to it. It may be faster than the migration you have in mind.
Then transfer the drive to your new PC as a dedicated data storage drive. This way, if you encounter more windows 11 problems, your data will be intact and secured. Plus it will be faster to create a backup image and to restore them because the image size will be a lot smaller when you have your data stored separately.

I've been doing this for the longest time. When I re-built my PC in preparation for Windows 11, I just removed my old mobo and CPU and leave the data drive and other components in the same case.




Another approach is just to transfer your existing Windows 10 drive to the new machine (I am assuming it is a self-built machine), activate it there using your Microsoft account and then upgrade to Windows 11. All user data and files will be transferred to the new machine.




I did that to my cousin's machine that she asked me to build for her. She did not want to reinstall all her programs and app so we just transferred her existing OS to the newly built machine, activated the OS with her MS account, and then she waited for a few months before she asked me to upgrade it to Windows 11. It was painless and easy.

@badrobot Separate data drive is another religion

What I am doing is yet another religion

I have been playing with robocopy in migration mode, i.e. backup on a W10 machine (desktop) and restore on a W11 machine (laptop). The script that I used for migrating the Video folder is below, just add the corresponding command lines to the script for migrating the other users folders.

I now have a good user data migration tool I will make this thread solved

Thanks to all who responded Special thanks to @ddelo and @Try3

glasskuter said:

@TraderGary Many of us do not use Onedrive for all our personal files. In fact, most people I know don't. Some people just don't trust storing their files in the cloud just as they don't trust handling their financial affairs online. Personally, I don't because I've experienced a lot of sync problems over the years. I prefer an external hard drive instead for 2 reasons; my C: drive is small and my internet is not always dependable.

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I do not know how you can say most of us do not use onedrive for personal files. That is a very sweeping statement. I bet lots do and I bet lots do not. I see a mixture of positions.

cereberus said:

how you can say most of us do not use onedrive

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I didn't say most of us. I said many of us. Also said most of the people I know don't.

Not that it helps, but I refuse to use OneDrive (and so do most of the people I work with), we do however use Dropbox and other cloud systems.

A practical way of coping with the humongous logs of robocopy (the full log is MBs, it is by far the biggest Notepad files I ever had, and the only Notepad files that I maximize on my 32" screen) is the following.

First run the script with abbreviated logs (Header and Summary only, they are only kBs)
[PSEUDOCODE]
robocopy command line 1 abbreviated log
robocopy command line 2 abbreviated log
robocopy command line 3 abbreviated log
:: robocopy command line 1 full log
:: robocopy command line 2 full log
:: robocopy command line 3 full log
[/PSEUDOCODE]

Say that the abbreviated log of line 2 flags a problem, then run the full log only on line 2
[PSEUDOCODE]
:: robocopy command line 1 abbreviated log
:: robocopy command line 2 abbreviated log
:: robocopy command line 3 abbreviated log
:: robocopy command line 1 full log
robocopy command line 2 full log
:: robocopy command line 3 full log
[/PSEUDOCODE]

I never had to use the little trick, robocopy runs remarkably error free, every time. But if 10 years from now (when I will have forgotten all particulars of robocopy since long) I had to isolate and track back an error, there it is, I have prepared the path

So....to continue running on the "off track" of this thread, I don't use OneDrive for my routine data files. I only use it for files that I want to share, remotely, to other computers/phones/tablets, or to other people. Locally, I just have my data drives shared on my computers so I can access them on my local LAN. <Switches the track back to the mainline>

Personal cloud (WAN accessible NAS) is very affordable these days. Buy a 2-bay NAS with USB ports to add external drives that can be accessed from anywhere around the world.
If more than 1TB of storage space is free on One Drive, maybe I will use it. But instead of paying to get more One Drive space, I will just make my own cloud storage with as many TB as I need.

Well, I have 3 (local) clouds that I rotate so that 2 are always off-line, safe from any malware attacks, how's that

Haydon said:

Well, I have 3 (local) clouds that I rotate so that 2 are always off-line, safe from any malware attacks, how's that

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How safe are they from fire, theft, or natural disaster?
You have off-site backup of course.

TraderGary said:

How safe are they from fire, theft, or natural disaster?

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In case of disaster, you have a bigger problem to deal with other than backups.
Off site backup getting hacked or compromised is also another form of disaster. It's one or the other.

badrobot said:

In case of disaster, you have a bigger problem to deal with other than backups.

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It would be good to not also lose all your images and data.

TraderGary said:

It would be good to not also lose all your images and data.

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But if you are talking about a disaster, there's a chance that you will be gone with your data. So, it won't matter anymore.