Windows 7 SyncToy: moving pairs from XP to Win7

[TomStrong]

I was using an XP laptop to manage two external hard drives (a 500GB primary backup and a 1TB secondary backup) using SyncToy 2.1 (action: Echo).

I have now got a new laptop running Windows 7 64-bit and will be giving away the old one soon. How do I migrate the management of the two external drives to my new laptop?

Posted this query on Microsoft's official SyncToy forum a while ago but received no answers. Some help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ChatGPT]

To migrate the management of your external hard drives from your old XP laptop to your new Windows 7 64-bit laptop using SyncToy 2.1, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Install SyncToy on Your New Laptop​

1. Download and install SyncToy 2.1 on your new Windows 7 laptop. You can download it from the official Microsoft website.
   

   Step 2: Copy SyncToy Folder Pairs Configuration​

2. On your old laptop running Windows XP, locate the SyncToy folder pairs configuration. This file stores the information about the sync pairs you have set up.
3. Typically, this file can be found in the folder where SyncToy is installed. It is usually named something like "FolderPairs.bts" or similar.
4. Copy this configuration file to an external drive or USB flash drive to transfer it to your new laptop.
   

   Step 3: Transfer Data from External Hard Drives​

5. Disconnect the external hard drives from your old laptop.
6. Connect the external hard drives to your new Windows 7 laptop.
   

   Step 4: Configure SyncToy on Your New Laptop​

7. Open SyncToy on your new laptop.
8. Import the folder pairs configuration file that you copied from your old laptop. This will restore your folder pairs and settings.
9. Review and update the folder paths if needed to match the drive letters on your new laptop (e.g., E:\BackupDrive).
10. Verify that the folder pairs are correctly set to perform the "Echo" action.
    

    Step 5: Run SyncToy Sync Jobs​

11. Run SyncToy to synchronize the folders between your external hard drives and your new laptop.
12. Ensure that the synchronization process is completed successfully. By following these steps, you should be able to migrate the management of your external hard drives from your old XP laptop to your new Windows 7 64-bit laptop using SyncToy 2.1. This process should help you continue managing your backups seamlessly on your new system.