Windows is undoubtedly the most prevalent and infamous desktop operating system and anyone who has used it has run into technical Windows issues from time to time.

1. Also, while Zinstall is a good idea when transferring from one computer to another, note that if you are doing an upgrade on the SAME computer (e.g. Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 on same machine),.
2. My old machine was 9 years old. I had upgraded it to Windows 10 some years ago. After reading reviews on zinstall I decided to try it. I had 100's of gbytes on my old machine. I started zinstall in the evening and, as expected, I could see that it was going to take a while. I followed the programs directions and went to bed.
3. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to transfer Sage accounting completely automatically - using Zinstall WinWin, and copy Sage accounting software, data, reports, settings from the old laptop or desktop to the new one. This tutorial works for XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.

Zinstall - transfer program and files to your new computer - Duration: 2 minutes, 6 seconds. 3,244 views; 6 years ago; 0:22. Outlook Express on Windows 7 or Windows 8 - Zinstall zExpress.

After all, who hasn’t seen the iconic Blue Screen of Death displayed when Windows crashes or dealt with the stress-inducing complications of upgrades gone wrong.

Today we’re going to look at competing software designed to eliminate a specific problem most Windows users have already encountered: trying to transfer user profiles, applications, and user data from one Windows system to another.

More specifically, we’re going to be analyzing and comparing Zinstall’s PC Migration Pro with Laplink’s PCMover.

Bottom Line Up Front: I much prefer the more trustworthy, less expensive, and more fully featured PCMover software here. But continue reading if you want the full take…

Before we get started, I wanted to inform you where each service is located. Zinstall is a US based company headquartered in California. Laplink is also a US company and is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. To get started with the comparison, let’s take a closer look at each provider’s pricing model.

Main Differences Between Zinstall vs PCMover

The main differences between Zinstall and PCMover are:

• PCMover is much less expensive at $39 for the basic plan, whereas Zinstall charges up to $169
• PCMover has a longer and more transparent record in business, whereas Zinstall is relatively unknown
• Zinstall claims to move all applications, whereas PCMover has a more specific list of applications it can transfer

Zinstall vs PCMover Pricing

Both products use a pricing model that is fairly common among backup and migration software. Instead of charging a subscription fee for the product, customers simply pay a one-time fee and can enjoy the software as long as they wish. However, do note that PCMover only offers a single license for the Express and Home versions of the product.

Also be aware that this is not technically backup software, and it doesn’t include any cloud storage. I simply wanted to draw a line between these types of services because there may be an expectation that these products are similar to a cloud storage, backup, and syncing services like SugarSync or SpiderOak One, which charge monthly subscription fees.

PCMover and Zinstall don’t provide real backup or syncing services. Instead, its primary function is to move your Windows and application data from point A to point B.

The following outlines the pricing model for Laplink’s PCMover:

• Express – $29.95 (Check out the latest prices here!)
• Home – $39.95 (Check out the latest prices here!)
• Professional – $59.95 (Check out the latest prices here!)

The following outlines the pricing model for Zinstall’s Migration Kit Pro:

• One time purchase of $169

It’s also worth mentioning that PCMover includes a generous 30-day money back guarantee, so there’s little to no risk of being dissatisfied and stuck with software you don’t like.

On the other hand, I was not able to find a money back guarantee on Zinstall’s website. Instead, they have a 100% migration guaranteed, and the successful migration may likely be aided by their in-house technical representatives. The site does claim the following: “Got a technical problem we cannot solve? Get your money back.”

Personally, I think this is some pretty slippery language. They are not claiming to have a 100% refund guarantee, but instead, are claiming that a successful migration is guaranteed. And if they really are 100% accurate, would anyone genuinely qualify for the refund?

The Website

I did also want to take a moment to discuss the aesthetics of each entity’s website. PCMover has an admirably attractive and easily navigable website that looks trustworthy and modern.

Zinstall, on the other hand, has none of these things. Zinstall’s website looks atrocious, as though it was made in the late ’90s. To be blunt, it’s awfully ugly and needs to be updated.

Honestly, it looks like a website that might contain an automatic script-based attack or contain a virus. To be fair, the website didn’t contain any malware whatsoever, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why the website hasn’t been updated. Sure, it’s not exactly a core feature of the product, but it does matter.

Furthermore, the support page is downright despicable. It’s difficult to find the information you’re looking for, it isn’t laid out well, and there’s a lack of a knowledge base and troubleshooting guides.

In fact, the FAQ page is little more than thin textual content and lacks screenshots and images. The shady looking website coupled with the wording of the “100% guarantee” makes me instantly have misgivings about using this service.

PCMover Features

PCMover’s features vary drastically based upon which tier of the software you select. Even though the Express version is the cheapest, I was moderately impressed with its features and the ability to granularly select the exact files and folders you wish to transfer.

The following outlines the features associated with the Express version:

• Folder selectivity
• Free transfer assistance
• Multiple user profile selectivity
• Transfer domain users
• Undo
• Transfer files and settings

The main difference between the Express version and the Home version is the ability to individually select which applications you want to transfer. For some reason, however, the Home version lacks two features included in the Express version, namely the ability to transfer domain users and multiple user profile selectivity.

With the exception to those three features, everything else is the same. I’m not sure I see a whole lot of added value with the Home version because of the two Express features it lacks.

Essentially, you’re paying about eight pounds more for the ability to select individual applications, which could be of value if an individual application has been infected with a virus.

The following outlines the features associated with the Home version:

• Application selectivity
• Folder selectivity
• Free transfer assistance
• Undo
• Transfer applications, files, and settings
• Transfer files and settings

The professional version, in addition to allowing the transfers of multiple user profiles, adds several key features that are extremely useful in a professional setting.

The first of which is the ability to perform an in-place upgrade, so you can easily upgrade an operating system without having to transfer data to a new system. This solution can save dramatic lengths of time, especially in a company or department-wide scenarios where a large number of computers need to be upgraded.

Additionally, it’s also possible to use an old operating system image to completely restore a failed PC. Sometimes hardware simply fails, or an accident might completely destroy the hard drive of a PC.

This feature, however, can bring the ghost of your old system back from the dead and essentially copy the whole environment to a new computer – but only if you first made a PC image of the old system.

Lastly, I really see a lot of value in the hard drive recovery features. There are third-party tools that perform the same function, but it just makes sense to include it in the transfer software to make the recovery and transfer process smoother.

Although I suppose in a professional setting, the IT department of a business would likely already have hard drive recovery software. So while I think it’s useful, I’m not sure it adds a whole lot of value.

The following outlines the features associated with the Professional version:

• All features included in the Home version
• Multiple license discounts
• Multiple user profile selectivity
• Transfer domain users
• In-place upgrade
• Restore old PC image to a new operating system
• Rescue hard drive contents from non-working PC

Zinstall Features

Comparatively, I wasn’t overly impressed with Zinstall’s list of features. Most of them were vague and are borderline braggadocios.

For instance, Zinstall claims that it has “superior technology” when compared to other Windows transfer tools and that it is “universally recommended.” While it may not be “universally recommended,” I must admit that it did have some decent reviews from credible sources.

Furthermore, it seems to work with every version of Windows after and including Windows XP, which is crucial. Overall, however, I just don’t think Zinstall has anywhere near as many features as PCMover. It was designed to be simplistic though, so you don’t need to be an IT guru to operate it.

The following outlines Zinstall’s set of features:

• 100% transfer guaranteed
• An automatic process, easy to use
• Works with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• “Superior technology”
• “Universally recommended”
• 24/7 support

Really, I think there are only two great features to this product. The first is that it’s a fairly easy product to use and is mostly automatic. Secondly, I like that technical support is standing by 24/7 to deliver on the 100% transfer guarantee. Other than that, PCMover has much more useful features.

Final Thoughts on PCMover vs Zinstall

So, which service provides more value?

I think it’s pretty clear that PCMover offers better value because it has more features and costs drastically less than Zinstall.

Although I do acknowledge Zinstall is solving a real-world problem, I don’t think the solution to that problem is worth $169. I also wasn’t very impressed with the wording of the “guarantee,” and think it was intentionally worded that way to misdirect people.

All in all, because of its lower price, money back guarantee, and list of great features, PCMover is more trustworthy and a better value than Zinstall. Consider that if you get the basic form of PCMover, you’re going to be saving $130, which to most people isn’t exactly a drop in the bucket.

Bottom Line: Go with PCMover here for it’s established track record and more advanced feature set for the money.

Recommended Reads

Anyone who has used Windows even semi-regularly has liked found themselves in a situation where they need to transfer substantial amounts of data from one Windows system to another.

If you just need to transfer files, it’s a simple matter to email them to yourself or use a simple yet effective solution for moving files and data manually with a USB flash drive. But what happens if you’ve got massive amounts of data to transfer?

Email systems typically set relatively small limits on the maximum sizes of attachments. And it would be a real pain to tediously transfer data through multiple copies and paste iterations on a flash drive – plus, it would take forever. That’s why PCMover, and other pc migration software like it, were created.

And as far as transfer and backup tools are concerned, I think PCMover is perhaps one of the most well-known (owned by LapLink Software).

However, PCMover certainly isn’t the only tool out there that will allow you to transfer data between two Windows systems.

In fact, in addition to directly competing applications, there are a few alternatives that act as workarounds to help you move your data and application settings. Let’s take a closer look at the best alternatives to PCMover for your new computers.

Cloud Storage with Syncing Features

Cloud storage services frequently include syncing features that allow users to share, copy, and sync files with an unlimited number of devices. If you are looking for a PC mover alternative to simply move a significant amount of user files (that is, data that aren’t operating system files, like photos, word documents, etc.) among computers, then cloud storage is a viable option.

However, note that cloud storage services typically don’t include ways to copy application data among systems.

That said, some cloud storage services double as backup services that can make an exact copy of your operating system, though it can take large amounts of time to transfer the backup data to the cloud if you’re on a slow Internet connection.

Nevertheless, you can even take advantage of free cloud storage services, such as Dropbox, if you only have a few gigabytes of files to sync between two or more different systems.

Dropbox uses the concept of a shared folder, and anything dropped into the shared folder is automatically synced with other PCs and devices that are logged into the same account. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to free services like Dropbox and Google drive.

Believe it or not, they are notoriously insecure. Dropbox and Google Drive lack secure encryption algorithms and have been the victim of data theft by anonymous hackers in the past.

For that reason, it’s best not to use these services to transfer sensitive data unless you really know what you’re doing. The good news is that you can circumvent security issues by simply encrypting data on your local drive before copying it to the shared folder.

If you’re looking for some free cloud storage services that will enable you to transfer data between multiple computers, consider the following PCMover alternative:

#1 Drive Imaging and Cloning Software

In some situations, it may be appropriate to use a more heavy duty hard drive utility, as opposed to PCMover. Believe it or not, there are hard drive utilities that can make an exact bit-for-bit replica of your current hard drive – operating system and all.

Naturally, you’ll need to make sure that you have an empty hard drive with a partition the same size as the original host operating system you are trying to copy, but hard drives are so inexpensive these days, that shouldn’t be a problem.

There are a couple of issues in doing so, however, First of all, you may need to update or install drivers on the new computer, which is much more likely if the new PC has different hardware than the PC from which you copied data. However, as long as the hardware and peripheral drivers are updated, you should be able to essentially transplant your operating system from one device to another.

Some free drive cloning alternatives to PCMover include the following:

• CloneZilla
• Acronis True Image
• EaseUs ToDo Backup

#2 PCTrans

PCTrans is more of a direct PC migration tool replacement for PCMover than the preceding options and is made by EaseUs ToDo, who have created a whole range of PC optimization and protection apps. The latest update was pushed out in June of 2017, and it is still being updated and maintained.

It does cost $49.95 (check here for the latest price & discounts), but note that it supports all versions of Windows as far back as Windows XP. You can take advantage of the free trial (PCTrans free) if you just want to check things out a bit, too.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the software can copy files in three main ways, which should encompass just about every user’s needs. First of all, it can directly transfer data files at the user’s discretion.

In addition, it can even transfer registered applications from one PC to another and even move the application data as well. Lastly, if you want, it can completely transfer your entire OS – system files and all. One feature I was particularly impressed with was the ability to transfer an environment from 32-bit Windows to 64-bit Windows, which is invaluable.

EaseUs Reviews

“Cloning the entire old drive to the new hard drive, which can transfer files, system, programs, and settings to something else.

If you want to have a clean system installation, just move some basic programs, and not clone the whole hard disk, you can try EaseUS Todo PCTrans. It allows us to select specific applications like Windows Microsoft Office, CCleaner, and Skype to file transfer. Besides applications and data migration, EaseUS Todo PCTrans can directly transfer important photos, documents, purchased music, movies to another hard drive on the same LAN or indirect transfer without the network.

If you replace the computer and plan to move the files from the old hard drive to the new computer, you could run EaseUS Todo PCTrans on two computers and choose “Via the connected network” to move.

Here we will introduce another way – “Via the compressed files”. The method can transfer applications to the new hard drive on the same computer, it is better migration way after upgrading the hard drive to a larger one on the original PC.” Anonymous, Quora

#3 CloneApp

CloneApp is also a more direct alternative to PCMover that includes more similar features than cloud storage and backup solutions. As the name implies, this software has the ability to clone all of your applications and move them to another computer, just like PCMover.

It does lack some of PCMover’s functionality but is still a far superior way to transfer applications and application data than trying to do it manually.

The interface is rather simple, too, and eliminates the need to dig through your Program Data directory. Instead of having to dig through the file system, the interface has a convenient list of all the programs installed on your computer in the left-hand pane. All you need to do is tick a check-box if you want to mark the application for easy transfer.

As you would expect, all of your applications’ settings will be transferred as well. For instance, if you decided to transfer (migrate) Windows Firewall to a new machine, all of your policies and rules would be preserved. And, of course, the software will also copy application settings that are stored in the registry. It’s a simple, easy, and effective way to transfer apps to another system.

#4 Zinstall WinWin

Zinstall WinWin, despite having a strange name, is a fantastic direct alternative to PCMover. It covers all of the same features and functionality as PCMover and has the ability to copy all of your applications, application data, and other program information to a new Windows computer.

Naturally, it also has the ability to move data such as personal documents, photos, emails, user accounts settings, browser data, and music. You have the option to copy as much or as little of the data you desire.

There is also a special Migration Kit Pro that will help trickier transfer scenarios if Zinstall WinWin fails. Also, note that Zinstall WinWin covers every relevant version of Windows. It does support Windows 10, and every other Windows operating system dating back to Windows XP.

Zinstall Media Download

It’s pretty darn easy to use, and you don’t even need to connect two computers with a crossover cable. Instead, an Internet network connection can facilitate the entire data transfer.

#5 ForensiT TransWiz

Like the previous alternative, ForensiT TransWiz also supports a wide variety of Windows platforms. Right now it offers support for Windows XP, Windows Vista, 7, 8, and the latest version, Windows 10.

And even though this alternative is freeware, it’s got some really impressive features. The one that impressed me the most was the feature that will convert Windows XP user profiles to Windows 7-10 automatically.

However, it also has backup software operations that can allow you to individually select sections of the file system to backup at your discretion. Not only can it compress backup jobs into .zip archives, but it can even transfer the backup data directly to physical discs, such as CDs and DVDs.

The interface is simple and straightforward to use, and the backup and transfer operations were designed to be as automatic as possible. Also, note that it works with both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system versions. Last but not least, TransWiz comes in 8 different languages, which is great if you’re a non-native English speaker.

#6 IOBit PCTransfer

The last great alternative to PCMover is IOBit PCTransfer. This company makes a whole range of optimization, security, and backup services such as Advanced System Care, Drive Booster, Smart Defrag, Malware Fighter, and more. The PCTransfer service has a lot of great features that mirror PCMover and is available via a free download.

This tool can securely transfer a whole range of file types including user data, browser bookmarks, photos, music, application settings, Skype chat records, emails, and more.

It was designed to be intuitive and comes with a one-click backup feature as well.

If you’re sensitive to pricing, then I’d recommend PCTransfer due to the fact that it’s free, portable, and doesn’t take up a lot of space on storage media.

FAQ About Transferring Files

These are some common questions that we receive about transferring files which you may find helpful:

Microsoft removed the Windows Easy Transfer progam. Currently they recommend using a third-party easy transfer program like PCmover here (including LapLink PCmover Express) instead of Windows Easy Transfer.

Yes, you can transfer installed programs to other computers, but it’s not as easy as copying files.
You will likely need to image transfer (if you have enough internet bandwidth), use a USB or third-party storage device (external hard drive), and/or use a specific software program.

Zinstall Media

Recently Microsoft started pushing OneDrive for file transfers. It makes sense for documents, folders, pictures, and SOME apps. However, for many programs, it won’t necessarily transfer over the installed versions (unless it’s supported by the Microsoft app store).
This is why it still makes sense to use a third-party tool for most users, particularly if you have many specialized programs and software tools installed.

Final Thoughts on the Best PCMover Alternatives

I would highly caution you to think twice before trying to manually transfer applications, personal data, and other system files from one PC to another. Sure, it’s possible, but it’s going to be a real pain in the neck. Plus, when you try to do it manually, the margin for error increases, and you may run into a lot of headaches, errors, and configuration settings that need to be adjusted.

Bottom Line: Instead of trying to do it on your own, I highly recommend using an automated tool like PCMover, or one of its alternatives unless you are super confident in the more DIY approaches.

Lastly, remember that if all you’re trying to do is transfer a few personal files to a new computer without using a flash drive, cloud storage with a syncing feature is all you need. In fact, there are many free trials and free services that provide that feature, such as Dropbox and Google Drive.

Further Reading