If user settings on your Windows XP computer become corrupted and you previously migrated these settings from another computer using the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard or the User State Migration Tool, then you may just be in luck—provided you still have your backed-up settings from your old computer (or your old computer handy somewhere so you can re-create these settings). What you can do in this situation is try and reapply the previously backed-up settings to your XP computer using the same migration tool you used previously (either FSTW or USMT). If you used USMT then you're in even more luck since the .inf files used by USMT can be customized to specify exactly what settings you want to restore to your XP computer and what settings you don't want to restore. Just another good reason for always keeping your backups forever!

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Mitch Tulloch is President of MTIT Enterprises, an IT content development company based in Winnipeg, Canada. Prior to starting his own company in 1998, Mitch worked as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for Productivity Point International. Mitch is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking and security and has written 14 books and over a hundred articles on various topics. He has been repeatedly awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products and solutions. Mitch is also a professor at Jones International University (JIU) where he teaches graduate-level courses in Information Security Management (ISM) for their Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. For more information see http://www.mtit.com.