PC MIGRATION TO MICROSOFT 365
Empty the old PC before anyone wipes it
RealMigrator is a PC migration tool for Microsoft 365 that moves documents, PST files, home shares and team shares from Windows PCs and file servers to OneDrive, Exchange Online and Teams while people keep working. After one last pass on the date you set, the old PC is ready to be reset or replaced.
Private preview now open. Access is by invitation after a short qualification.
RealMigrator moves Windows PCs to Microsoft 365 without a technician at every desk. One small program, handed out the way you hand out any file, reports what is on each device, uploads the folders and PST files you choose while the user keeps working, and on the final date closes the open programs, copies the last changes and hands the PSTs to Exchange Online. Your team follows every device in one portal, group by group.
THE PROBLEM
Every PC is a small file server nobody documented
The contracts on the desktop. The Outlook archive from 2014 that still opens every morning. The Z: drive that points to a share whose owner left two years ago. Before a PC can be reset or replaced, somebody has to know what is on it and move it. Asking users gets you a list that is half right, and copying by hand means a technician at every desk with the user standing next to them.
Four projects that need the old PCs emptied first
PC hardware refresh
Every PC the refresh replaces still holds someone's files. The inventory reports each PC's hardware, its TPM status included, and RealMigrator moves the files before the device goes.
Windows Autopilot rollout
Before the old PC is reset or handed back, RealMigrator moves its folders to OneDrive and uploads its PST files for the import into Exchange Online, which starts after the final pass.
Known Folder Move already in place
Documents and Desktop may already sync to OneDrive. RealMigrator also moves the PST files it finds in the whole user profile and any folder your project names, such as the one someone made in C:\Data.
File server shutdown
Home shares go to each user's OneDrive, department shares to the files of a Teams channel. One service on the file server does the copying, and each share can be finished on its own.
From one file to a PC ready for its reset
- Hand out one file.Hand out one file.The client is one .exe file per project, and its file name tells it which project it belongs to. Send it by a login script, Group Policy, Configuration Manager or a link in an email. It installs into the user's own profile, needs no admin rights and updates itself when the portal holds a newer version.
- See what is there.See what is there.The inventory reports hardware, installed software, mapped drives, printers and the network each PC sits on. Set a group to Discover and the file and PST modules report what they would move, without moving anything.
- Move it while people work.Move it while people work.The folders you name go to OneDrive, PST files go up for the import. Each PC stays under 2,000 kbit/s, backs off on slow lines and leaves metered connections alone. Of a PST that changed, only the changed parts travel again.
- Finish on the date you set.Finish on the date you set.On the group's final date the client closes the open programs, copies what changed since the last pass and reports done. Exchange Online imports the PSTs. The PC is ready to be reset.
Only the changed blocks are uploaded again
A PST that Outlook keeps open is the hardest file on any PC. Change it, lock it, run the final pass, and watch what RealMigrator actually sends.
Outlook.pst
Nothing sent yet · 0 of 96 blocks
Files over 4 MB are uploaded in blocks of 1 MB. Long uploads are saved every 10 minutes and continue where they stopped. Example data.
Where files, PSTs and shares end up
RealMigrator moves what your project names. These are the places it knows.
Documents and Desktop to OneDrive
And any other folder Windows knows by name, wherever that PC keeps it. Documents\Private and Desktop\Private stay on the device unless you say otherwise.
PST files to Exchange Online
Found anywhere in the whole user profile, uploaded while Outlook works, imported into the archive mailbox after the final run.
Home shares to each user's OneDrive
A service on the file server copies every home folder into the OneDrive of the person it belongs to.
Team shares to Microsoft Teams
A department share lands in the files of the Teams channel that uses it. RealMigrator can create the team if you allow it.
Inventory to reports
15 reports in the portal, from TPM status to drive mappings, each one a click away from CSV and TSV.
Your own storage account
Data that waits for its import can sit in your own Azure storage account instead of RealMigrator's.
What your users might see
Group PCs by network and give each group its date
Specifications
Client
- Program
- One .exe file per project
- Installation
- The user's own profile, no admin rights
- Updates
- Updates itself from the portal
- Hand-out
- A login script, Group Policy, Configuration Manager or a link in an email
- File servers
- A Windows service for file servers
Sources
- User folders
- Any Windows known folder by name
- PST files
- The whole user profile, plus any folder you add
- File servers
- Local drives, local shares and listed paths
- Inventory
- 11 hardware queries by default, installed software, drives, printers, a network test
Destinations
- User folders
- OneDrive, Azure Blob Storage or a file share
- PST files
- The archive mailbox or the primary mailbox, through Exchange Online's own mailbox import
- File servers
- OneDrive, the files of a Teams channel or Azure Blob Storage
Network
- Upper limit
- 2,000 kbit/s per PC
- Slow line
- Below 800 kbit/s: about 25 % of the line
- Unusable line
- Below 200 kbit/s: a pause of 15 minutes
- Metered connections
- No uploads over metered connections until the final run
- Large files
- To OneDrive in chunks; to Azure Blob Storage or a file share above 4 MB in blocks of 1 MB, and only changed blocks travel again
Schedule
- Check-in
- Every 30 minutes by default
- Changes
- Re-checked once an hour, every 15 minutes while a folder still uploads
- Final date
- Per group, overridable per device
- User dialogs
- No UI, tray icon with progress window, or full screen; postpone 60 minutes, up to 10 times
- Languages
- 9
Administration
- Sign-in
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Roles
- 4
- Reports
- 15, as CSV and TSV
- Rules
- A ChaiScript script in every module
Questions before your first pilot group
01Is RealMigrator a replacement for Known Folder Move?
No. It does a different job: it moves a PC's data before the PC is reset or replaced. RealMigrator takes any Windows known folder by name and any path your project lists to OneDrive, the PST files in the whole user profile to Exchange Online, and the home and team shares of your file servers to OneDrive and Teams. On the date you give each group, it runs a final pass.
02Do users need admin rights?
No. The client installs into the user's own profile and starts with the user's sign-in. Only the file server migration uses a Windows service, and that runs on the file server.
03What happens to files that are open?
They wait. A part of a file that another program holds open is skipped and read at the next pass. Before the final run the client asks every program to close, waits 5 seconds and ends what is still running, so Outlook lets go of its PST.
04Will it fill our internet line?
No. Each PC stays under 2,000 kbit/s by default, uses about 25 % of a line slower than 800 kbit/s, pauses for 15 minutes below 200 kbit/s and leaves metered connections alone until the final run. Every one of these values is yours to change.
05Can we try it without moving any data?
Yes. Set a group to Discover. The inventory, file and PST modules then report what they find, file by file, and nothing is uploaded until you switch the group to Migrate.
06What if a laptop is switched off on the final date?
Then it runs its final pass at its next start. The final date marks when the last pass may begin, and the client starts it at the first check-in after that.
Access to RealMigrator is by invitation
- You tell us about the project: your company, the number of PCs, what has to move, your timeline and your budget.
- The RealMigrator team reads every request and gets back to you by email.
- When the project fits, we invite you and set up the project with you, starting with one group in Discover mode.
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