The invention provides tools and techniques for migration of user profiles in
place on a computer. In one method, a first step provides a migration content storage
partition to hold migration content such as user settings. This partition is provided
by using a partition manipulation tool to obtain sufficient space on the computer.
A second step saves migration content into the provided partition. A third step
deploys an image into another partition on the computer, overwriting that partition.
A fourth step then uses the migration tool to restore migration content from the
migration content storage partition into the newly imaged partition, thereby customizing
the new image with at least some of the former image's user settings. The migration
content storage partition may then be deleted, or it may be retained and made available
to the user as additional storage.
