ZInstall - Anyone Used it to Migrate from XP to Windows 7?

[allanc]

Zinstall (http://www.zinstall.com) looks interesting in that it offers a one click solution to migrate from XP to Windows 7.
From what I have read, it seems to create a Windows XP virtual machine that is a clone of your current XP installation.
Has anyone used it?
At a price tag of $89 I am also wondering how they overcome the Windows 7 *Upgrade* EULA that specifies that you can no longer use the operating system that you upgraded from.

 

[Tweak]

I haven't yet used it but I'd think that if someone would create a VHD (Virtual hard Disk) from their current OS they could then work with it from within Virtual PC running on Win 7, this could be done and using Virtual PC means it'd be free, it'd be my thought this is basically what is being done here...but that's just a guess and something I'd pursue before spending $89 on this program.

 

[allanc]

I haven't yet used it but I'd think that if someone would create a VHD (Virtual hard Disk) from their current OS they could then work with it from within Virtual PC running on Win 7, this could be done and using Virtual PC means it'd be free, it'd be my thought this is basically what is being done here...but that's just a guess and something I'd pursue before spending $89 on this program.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if they were just repackaging exists utilities and ideas.
An interesting observation from http://zinstall.com/faq
'use non-storage USB device in XP applications':
for Windows 7 XP Mode is 'yes' and for Zinstall is 'no'.
Does that mean that you cannot print to your average everyday USB printer from within the Zinstall Virtualization?
Yikes!
You mean we have to print to a PDF and then print that PDF from within Windows 7?

 

[Tweak]

Weird, thanks for the FAQ as it does seem interesting but I would prefer to test my theory before making a purchase, but that's just me...seems weird that it states some of what it does though what would seem easier it cannot do...I wish it was more specific about that list (or FAQ altogether, didn't really get into the rest), better explanations wouldn't hurt. If you do test what I suggested please post back, very interested to see how that'd work, also using the same method but with VirtualBox (if possible) might be equally useful to attempt.

 

[DanP]

Thanks for the find, Allan!

Gonna have a look at what they have to offer...
Seems like an interesting product, especially for clients who don't know what a VM is

As for printers, I'd assume sharing a printer would do the job?

Anyway, I intend to check out the software, and will post what I find later.

 

[allanc]

Thanks for the find, Allan!

Gonna have a look at what they have to offer...
Seems like an interesting product, especially for clients who don't know what a VM is

As for printers, I'd assume sharing a printer would do the job?

Anyway, I intend to check out the software, and will post what I find later.

Yes, a shared printer would work.

 

[allanc]

Weird, thanks for the FAQ as it does seem interesting but I would prefer to test my theory before making a purchase, but that's just me...seems weird that it states some of what it does though what would seem easier it cannot do...I wish it was more specific about that list (or FAQ altogether, didn't really get into the rest), better explanations wouldn't hurt. If you do test what I suggested please post back, very interested to see how that'd work, also using the same method but with VirtualBox (if possible) might be equally useful to attempt.

I had a lengthy discussion with someone from Zinstall the other day.
I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about virtualization.
However, Zinstall does have one more features that may provide benefits compared to Microsoft's XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional and above.
As always, we will have to decide if these benefits are advantageous in any given scenario.

 

[Tweak]

I had a lengthy discussion with someone from Zinstall the other day.
I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about virtualization.
However, Zinstall does have one more features that may provide benefits compared to Microsoft's XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional and above.
As always, we will have to decide if these benefits are advantageous in any given scenario.

Drop a line so we all know how it goes if you opt to use it, be interesting to get a "real" perspective rather than site advertising and reviews from who knows what kinda of user/tech or whatever they happen to be that does the review.

 

[DanP]

Zinstall - first impressions

OK, I've got the Zinstall XP7 software.

I tested it on 2 setups:

1) Upgraded a HP DV7800 Desktop from XP Pro 32bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. The PC had a 500GB HDD, about 230GB used space. I've done a "custom install" of 7, and then ran the Zinstall software. It took about 2 hours to complete the "Zinstallation".
Created the XP VM successfully, can switch between the XP and 7 modes instantly. All apps are perfectly operational! (except the HP utils)
Can access files. Can copy and paste with "ctrl+C / ctrl+V" between XP and 7.
Seems that copying with file access is faster than with the shortcut, otherwise both are fine.
Can access Internet from the XP VM.

2) Migrated a Toshiba Tecra S2 laptop to an Acer Aspire 5735 laptop. Tecra had 40GB used.
On first try couldn't activate the software, since it needed Internet access to activate. They did have an option to do an "website-based activation", but didn't want to bother. So I connected both laptops to a router, and it worked out OK from there.
Migration was done over the net, took about half an hour (!). Note that both laptops had Gigabit network adapters - 100MBit models can't possibly reach THAT kind of transfer speed.
Once complete, the result was similar to the "in-place" migration.

Final remarks:
Overall - very positive impression. Will have to see how it goes for a couple of days, monitor stability / system resources.

The "dual-channel" environment works very smoothly right now. I have not yet provided such a migration to a client, but for the last couple of hours I did not have any glitches. Even the laptop runs without hiccups (it does have 3GB of RAM, though).

If everything works out OK for a couple more days, I will definitely start offering this.

Zinstall XP7 seems to be a pretty new product (was probably released Oct 22 with Win7), but it sure does what it promises. I also start seeing some press about it - like InfoWorld here - but we've been there before they were famous!

 

[allanc]

OK, I've got the Zinstall XP7 software.

I tested it on 2 setups:

1) Upgraded a HP DV7800 Desktop from XP Pro 32bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. The PC had a 500GB HDD, about 230GB used space. I've done a "custom install" of 7, and then ran the Zinstall software. It took about 2 hours to complete the "Zinstallation".
Created the XP VM successfully, can switch between the XP and 7 modes instantly. All apps are perfectly operational! (except the HP utils)
Can access files. Can copy and paste with "ctrl+C / ctrl+V" between XP and 7.
Seems that copying with file access is faster than with the shortcut, otherwise both are fine.
Can access Internet from the XP VM.

2) Migrated a Toshiba Tecra S2 laptop to an Acer Aspire 5735 laptop. Tecra had 40GB used.
On first try couldn't activate the software, since it needed Internet access to activate. They did have an option to do an "website-based activation", but didn't want to bother. So I connected both laptops to a router, and it worked out OK from there.
Migration was done over the net, took about half an hour (!). Note that both laptops had Gigabit network adapters - 100MBit models can't possibly reach THAT kind of transfer speed.
Once complete, the result was similar to the "in-place" migration.

Final remarks:
Overall - very positive impression. Will have to see how it goes for a couple of days, monitor stability / system resources.

The "dual-channel" environment works very smoothly right now. I have not yet provided such a migration to a client, but for the last couple of hours I did not have any glitches. Even the laptop runs without hiccups (it does have 3GB of RAM, though).

If everything works out OK for a couple more days, I will definitely start offering this.

Zinstall XP7 seems to be a pretty new product (was probably released Oct 22 with Win7), but it sure does what it promises. I also start seeing some press about it - like InfoWorld here - but we've been there before they were famous!

Thank you for the reviews.
I have some questions:
1. What are the issues with the XP utilities?
2. For the Toshiba -> Acer, was it also from XP to Windows 7?
3. I have to admit that I do not understand the following from the article. Can someone please explain:
'Using Group Policy, you can move over those XP apps that run under Windows 7 and leave in the XP channel the ones that aren't. Users can copy over their data when they are ready (it is a simple cut, or copy, and paste from XP to Windows 7).'

 

[DanP]

Thank you for the reviews.
I have some questions:
1. What are the issues with the XP utilities?
2. For the Toshiba -> Acer, was it also from XP to Windows 7?
3. I have to admit that I do not understand the following from the article. Can someone please explain:
'Using Group Policy, you can move over those XP apps that run under Windows 7 and leave in the XP channel the ones that aren't. Users can copy over their data when they are ready (it is a simple cut, or copy, and paste from XP to Windows 7).'

1. The HP machine had some HP tweaking utils, which are specific for HP hardware in HP PCs running on XP. They just weren't relevant after migrating...
2. Toshiba -> Acer was XP Home to Windows 7 Home Premium, 32 to 64 bit again.
3. Dunno about this one - seems they are talking about an enterprise version? I don't know much about managing large-scale domains, though.

You wrote you were going to try ZInstall as well - how did it work out for you?

 

[allanc]

1. The HP machine had some HP tweaking utils, which are specific for HP hardware in HP PCs running on XP. They just weren't relevant after migrating...
2. Toshiba -> Acer was XP Home to Windows 7 Home Premium, 32 to 64 bit again.
3. Dunno about this one - seems they are talking about an enterprise version? I don't know much about managing large-scale domains, though.

You wrote you were going to try ZInstall as well - how did it work out for you?

I am waiting to try it for a client with that specific need.
I do not think that we should undervalue the statement about Group Policy Editor. It might be a way to (almost) transparently move an app from XP to Windows 7 after using ZInstall.
That would be amazing.