After installing your programs, locate their settings folders in XP ( C:\Documents and Settings\***\Application Data\ ), and copy the contents of those folders to the new ones in Vista ( C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming\ ).
Firefox – After Firefox is installed and run for the first time, a profile folder is created with a random name.
This is located in C:\Documents and Settings\***\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in XP, and C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in Vista. Copying the contents from the old profile to the new one should make the new installation identical to the old – bookmarks, history, passwords, etc.
For Thunderbird, I took a slightly more hands-on approach. I first added my e-mail accounts like normal, and a ‘News & Blogs’ folder. I then checked the account settings in XP and Vista, to see where the messages were being saved.
This was C:\Documents and Settings\***\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\***.default\Mail\ in XP,
and C:\Users\***\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\***.default\Mail\ in Vista.
Simply copy the contents of the old folders to the new ones, then load Thunderbird to verify that your messages are where they should be.
Trillian stores its settings and messages in C:\Program Files\Trillian\users\default\
If you are using any node-locked software, such as Maya, remember to save the license files, and take note of MAC address of the network adapter the software is keyed to.
If you have purchased a program but have lost the card or email with the serial number, you may be able to recover it through the registry editor. Search for either the Program or the company’s name, then look for values labeled “Reg”, “RegKey”, “Key”, “Serial”, etc.
While you can save out the branch as a .dat file, it might be safer to write or type down the values, and take note of their location in the registry.
Maya 7
From my experience so far, a few things need to be changed for Maya to run flawlessly (or close to).
Setting the Compatibility Mode to either Windows 2000 or XP is something a few people have recommended, but I haven’t noticed any improvement.
For nVidia users, if your viewports are occasionally blanked out, you might have to open the nVidia Control Panel, go to Manage 3D Settings\Program Settings, and add Maya to the list. Next, scroll down the list of specific settings, and disable ‘Threaded Optimization‘.
Another trick is to check ‘Disable desktop composition‘ in the Maya shortcut’s Compatibility tab. This setting will turn off Aero while Maya is running.