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Transferring a users stored credentials to a new machine can be easy with Windows vault. Learn how to backup and restore Windows vault with this excerpt from William R. Stanek's Windows7® 7 Administrator's Pocket Consultant.
You can back up a user's stored credentials by backing up the Windows vault. After you back up the Windows vault, you can restore the credentials or transfer them to a new computer simply by restoring the Windows vault. In most cases, you should back up the Windows vault to removable media.
To back up a user's Windows vault, follow these steps:
Log on as the user whose Windows vault entries you want to manage. In Control Panel, click User Accounts, and then click Credential Manager.
On the Credential Manager page, you'll see a list of current entries by credential type.
Click Back Up Vault.
On the Stored User Names And Passwords page, click Browse. Use the Save Backup File As dialog box to select a save location and specify a name for the credential backup file. Credential backup files are saved with the .crd file extension. Click Save.
Click Next. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to switch to the secure desktop. When prompted, enter and confirm a password for the credential backup file.
Click Next, and then click Finish.
To restore a user's Windows vault on the same or different computer, follow these steps:
Log on as the user whose Windows vault entries you want to manage. In Control Panel, click User Accounts, and then click Credential Manager.
On the Stored User Names And Passwords page, click Browse. Use the Open Backup File As dialog box to select the location and file in which you saved the credential backup files, and then click Open.
Click Next. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to switch to the secure desktop. When prompted, enter the password for the credential backup file.
Click Next, and then click Finish.
Learn more about this topic from Windows® 7 Administrator's Pocket Consultant.
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