London, 6 November, 2009 - Acronis is offering a free downloadable checklist to provide best practice guidelines for home and corporate users migrating to Microsoft Windows7. The list of 'top tips' closely follows recent research* carried out by Acronis which reveals that almost half of IT managers are unsure how they will migrate to Windows 7, with only 7% of companies having a full plan for migration in place.
With a third (35%) of IT managers surveyed planning on migrating to Windows 7 next year, it is essential that companies carefully plan how they will execute an effective migration. But scarily 47% of users don't know how they will migrate to Windows 7 yet.
The Acronis checklist includes a simple seven-step process which helps ensure a smooth and successful migration to the new Microsoft operating system.
Ironically, a third (38%) of respondents believe that they are prepared for desktop migration, yet they do not have a set plan in place yet. Nearly half (44%) either feel they are unprepared or are not even considering planning.
In its upgrade checklist, Acronis highlights that Windows Vista users should be able to perform a simple upgrade to Windows 7, but migrating data from Windows XP involves more planning. In addition, moving from XP requires users to reload applications from scratch. With almost half of the respondents (44%) using Windows XP at the moment, this migration could be a lengthy procedure for many if not planned properly.
The Acronis checklist calls for businesses of all sizes or home users to:
- Backup the entire existing operating system with a disk image before upgrading to Windows 7. If there are problems, the disk image will allow simple rollback to the old operating system.
- Be prepared for the possibility that some applications may not yet be compatible with Windows 7. Check compatibility before installing or use Acronis to create a separate disk partition for the new operating system. Use the older system to run applications that can't be migrated to Windows 7.
- Use the backup image to migrate data quickly. Capture all files, applications and system settings and avoid the need to individually transfer.
- Create and save a clean backup image of the new Windows 7 installation. This will avoid the need for a long re-install in case of problems later.
- Develop good backup habits. Set up an automatic backup schedule for full protection.
- Store the backup image in more than one location for greater security.
- Test the backup to ensure that it is ready for recovery.
"Our research shows that many are delaying investing in migration until next year. Half of all people we surveyed (50%) said they are holding off as they would like a longer testing period or feel that the process of migration is complex and time consuming," said David Blackman, general manager Northern Europe at Acronis. "But migration doesn't have to be difficult, it's just a case of forward planning."
To download the free guide, please visit: http://download.acronis.com/pdf/ISWindows7_EU.pdf
In September, the company released Acronis True Image Home 2010 for home users, featuring an enhanced, easy-to-use user interface, Acronis Nonstop Backup (near CDP), expanded support for virtual hard disks and an online backup option.
In July, Acronis released Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 for corporate users, which combines increased scalability, enhanced support for virtual environments, data deduplication integrated into the backup process, and powerful manageability of operations.
* The Acronis research was conducted from a sample of 110 IT managers and administrators from across the UK in October 2009.
About Acronis:
Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), and enterprise IT departments. Acronis solutions are highly efficient and designed to identify, prevent, detect, respond, remediate, and recover from modern cyberthreats with minimal downtime, ensuring data integrity and business continuity. Acronis offers the most comprehensive security solution on the market for MSPs with its unique ability to meet the needs of diverse and distributed IT environments.
A Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003, Acronis has 15 offices worldwide and employees in 50+ countries. Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 26 languages in 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses. Learn more at www.acronis.com.