Skip to main content

Microsoft releases automated physical-to-virtual migration tool for Windows 7

Last week, Microsoft released a new tool that could help users stuck on Windows XP or Windows Vista make the jump to the latest iteration of Windows, while keeping legacy applications, those that require a pre-Windows 7 OS, intact.

p2v-migration

The P2V Migration for Software Assurance uses the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Sysinternals Disk2VHD to convert a user's existing Windows XP or Windows Vista environment to a virtual hard disk then automates the delivery of an updated and personalized Windows 7 operating system containing a virtual machine with the user's previous Windows environment, applications and Web browser. The user's previous virtual desktop retains its existing management components, domain membership and policies. The process also publishes applications and the browser for the user to access them seamlessly within Windows 7's start menu.

Previously, IT professionals had the Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) solution that is designed to deploy virtual machines en mass across an organization. The new P2V Migration tool is designed to address exceptions -  users with specialized requirements or conditions where a standardized virtual environment delivered with MED-V will not suffice. On the flip side, the P2V migration tool does not enable mass management and mass distribution of the virtual machines.

IT pros could also use Windows XP Mode to preserve a specific user's legacy desktop on Windows 7. Windows XP Mode, however, is not optimized for managed desktop environments. Each Windows XP Mode instance need to be manually configured which is time consuming and repetitive.

There are some limitations to P2V Migration. First, you have to have Software Assurance licensing to use it. In addition, customers need to have full retail copies of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Also Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 installed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) using OEM versions of these products may not be transferred to a virtual hard drive in accordance with Microsoft licensing terms.

Similar tools: Paragon Go Virtual and Disk2vhd

[via Technet and MCPMag]

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Record CPU and Memory Usage Over Time in Windows?

Whenever the computer is lagging or some application is taking too long to respond, we usually fire up task manager and look under the Performance tab or under Processes to check on processor utilization or the amount of free memory available. The task manager is ideal for real-time analysis of CPU and memory utilization. It even displays a short history of CPU utilization in the form of a graph. You get a small time-window, about 30 seconds or so, depending on how large the viewing area is.
17 comments
Read more

How to Schedule Changes to Your Facebook Page Cover Photo

Facebook’s current layout, the so called Timeline, features a prominent, large cover photo that some people are using in a lot of different creative ways. Timeline is also available for Facebook Pages that people can use to promote their website or business or event. Although you can change the cover photo as often as you like, it’s meant to be static – something which you design and leave it for at least a few weeks or months like a redesigned website. However, there are times when you may want to change the cover photo frequently and periodically to match event dates or some special promotion that you are running or plan to run. So, here is how you can do that.
1 comment
Read more

Diagram 101: Different Types of Diagrams and When To Use Them

Diagrams are a great way to visualize information and convey meaning. The problem is that there’s too many different types of diagrams, so it can be hard to know which ones you should use in any given situation. To help you out, we’ve created this diagram that lays out the 7 most common types of diagrams and when they’re best used:
Post a Comment
Read more