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U-Win is a comprehensive, end-to-end Windows migration solution that reduces the cost and complexity associated with migration.

Benefits

Features

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Complete End-to-End Migration

U-Win differs from conventional imaging tools by providing a complete end-to-end migration service. In addition to unattended installation of Windows, U-Win performs the pre- and post-installation tasks necessary to preserve end-users' desktops and settings. This prevents disruption of worker productivity.

Reduction in End-User and Site Visits

Automating the process avoids technician visits to workstations during upgrades. The U-Win process can be completely automated using PXE or by having a blank floppy disk inserted in the workstations' local drive.

U-Win can even be deployed across Wide Area Networks (WAN). Network traffic can be reduced by strategically locating copies of Windows or applications to be installed at remote sites, and also by backing up user data and settings to servers located at these locations. This minimizes network traffic across the WAN.

Centralized Control and Management of Upgrades

U-Win has a central management console that gives you complete control over the automated upgrade process. You may have multiple management consoles, so that several technicians can perform upgrades simultaneously.

Within this console, you can view the current and previous states for each workstation being upgraded and then identify any issues that require remedial action.

Disaster Recovery

U-Win can be used to recover systems that have suffered severe hardware or software crashes. Backups made by the U-Win client can be used to reload the operating system, any third party applications, and user data as well as settings. This unique feature helps to rebuild the crashed system in a shorter time period.

Easier Future Migrations

Any time you perform a Windows operating system upgrade using U-Win, the relevant templates to perform this task are created. These templates can then be reused for upgrades to future versions of Windows. Simply reopen the template and change the target operating system.

Reduction of Hardware Storage Requirements and Images

U-Win does not require images to be stored for each type of workstation, but instead uses a single-instance storage mechanism.

Use U-Win to create templates to customize the installation and then upgrade on a per-client or group basis. This alleviates storage requirements on your network servers.

The U-Win template is a configuration file that is less in 2K in size and is a replacement for an image. U-Win templates are independent of hardware, operating systems, and software.

Platform Independent

U-Win is not hardware or operating system specific. It does need to identify network cards in order to access their respective drivers when first starting the new operating system. This avoids the tedious creation and storage of images based on each particular hardware configuration.

Clean Installation of an Operating System

When U-Win performs its pre-install tasks, it repartitions and reformats the hard drives according to Microsoft recommendations for migrating from Windows operating systems.

This provides a clean and secure installation and ensures that there are no DLL clashes or BIOS settings issues.

Disk Partitioning

U-Win resizes hard disks to suit your partitioning needs and also supports multiple disks for partitioning. Carefully partitioning the disks enhances the performance of your systems.

BIOS Upgrades

U-Win can upgrade BIOS as part of the Windows migration process. This helps to remove the inconsistency reported by BIOS to the operating system.

Automatic Backup and Restoration of User Data

Prior to the installation of a new operating system, U-Win automatically backs up user data to a specified location. U-Win's flexible backup feature gives you many parameters by which you can include or exclude data. For example, you can restrict the data to back up or exclude by extensions(.DOC, .EXE, .TXT, etc.). Or you can back up the entire My Documents directory, the Outlook address book, or the contents of one or more hard drives. You can also include or exclude specific files, folders, directories, and dates.

After U-Win has performed the automatic installation of Windows, it automatically restores the backed up user data to the original or any other specified location. This can include either "Home" or "Group" areas on a server.

Automating this process reduces the time technicians spend on user workstation visits, while maintaining data integrity throughout the upgrade. You can continue to use U-Win for scheduled backups after the initial migration.

Automatic Backup and Restoration of User Settings

You can use U-Win to back up any key user settings before installation of a new operating system and then restore them after completing the process. These settings include:

• Dial-up networking and remote access services settings
• Folder settings
• Accessibility settings
• Display settings
• Internet Explorer settings (including favorites)
• Network shares and map drives
• Local and network printer settings
• Microsoft and non-Microsoft application settings
• E-mail settings (within MS Exchange, Lotus Notes, etc.)

Once U-Win performs the Windows upgrade, it automatically restores the saved user settings. This saves time spent by technicians and ensures restoration of all user settings to the new Windows workstation.

Asset Management and Cost Savings

U-Win can identify the hardware and software inventory of any workstation. For example, U-Win can detect the number of workstations which are running a certain application. You can then compare this information to the number of licenses purchased by your organization. If there are more applications than licenses, you can order more licenses; if there are less applications than licenses, you can order fewer licenses when upgrading the application.

With information gleaned from workstation inventory and subsequently used in the custom U-Win templates, you can deploy applications only to those workstations that require them. In contrast, an image lacks flexibility and distributes any third-party application it contains to all end-users, regardless of need. This can increase the overall application costs if extra (but unnecessary) licenses are required.

Identification of Non-Windows Supported Applications

U-Win can identify any applications not supported by Windows, allowing you to take remedial action. For example, a user may need access to a non-Windows application and associated files, which would require excluding the workstation from the Windows migration.

Automated Application Deployment

One of the post-operating system upgrade tasks performed by U-Win is the automatic installation of applications. Any application or package can be deployed by U-Win through unattended installation script. The experts at BOSS can help you with creating an unattended installation script for any proprietary in-house application.

Hardware and PC Refresh

Whenever a workstation is being replaced, either because it has outlived its usefulness or because of lease termination, you can use U-Win to quickly migrate all user-related information from one workstation to another.

Integration with Imaging Tools or Other Semi-Automatic Tools

Not only can U-Win perform a complete migration, it can also perform a partial migration that integrates with existing tools used by your company. For example, U-Win can back up user data and settings, install an image, and then restore user data and settings.

This solution provides flexibility and reduces time by automating the process as much as possible.

System Requirements

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