Windows profile migration needs to account for standard folders, OneDrive sync locations, hidden application data, and user-created files. A repeatable process reduces the risk of overlooked data and makes the work easier to verify.
Windows Tools is a pair of PowerShell scripts for repeatable backup and restore tasks, with resumable transfers and clear logging.
Robocopy is the real workhorse here. It handles retries, multi-threading, and, critically, resume. If a backup gets interrupted mid-way through a large Documents folder, you can restart it and it picks up exactly where it left off without re-copying files already transferred.
robocopy $Source $Dest /E /COPYALL /R:3 /W:5 /MT:8 /LOG+:$LogFile /XF "*.pst"Key flags worth noting:
/COPYALL: preserves timestamps, permissions, and attributes/MT:8: 8 threads for parallel copying, significantly faster on large profiles/XF "*.pst": excludes Outlook PST files, which are almost always too large and often locked/LOG+: appends to a log file rather than overwriting, so you get a full historyThis was the awkward edge case. When OneDrive sync is enabled, folders like Documents and Desktop may physically live under C:\Users\Name\OneDrive\Documents rather than C:\Users\Name\Documents. A naive path assumption will silently back up the wrong (often empty) directory.
The script reads the registry to find the actual OneDrive root path, then checks whether each standard folder has been redirected into the OneDrive tree. If it has, the script follows the redirect. If not, it uses the standard path.
Restoring is more complex than backing up because you're often merging data from multiple sources: a backup from the old machine plus a partial backup from an even older one. The restore script handles this by letting you select multiple source directories and process them in order.
Conflict resolution uses a simple but effective rule: newer file wins. Robocopy's /XO flag (exclude older) handles this natively. The log output shows every skipped file so you can verify the decisions it made.
On machines configured for PowerShell remoting, the scripts can also be run through Invoke-Command, supporting work across multiple devices.