As organizations increasingly adopt cloud-first IT strategies, transitioning from traditional Active Directory (AD) or Local (workgroup) accounts to Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) becomes paramount. However, this shift presents complexities, especially when managing large-scale PC or OS refresh projects. Microsoft's User State Migration Tool (USMT), while useful, has a significant limitation: it does not support migration to, from, or between Entra ID.
USMT is designed to assist IT teams in migrating user profiles and settings during Windows deployments — but only with non-Entra ID environments. Microsoft states that it lacks support for:
Take a look at Microsoft’s own website listing the further limitations of USMT:
These limitations often necessitate manual workarounds, custom scripting, or rebuilding profiles entirely — consuming valuable IT resources and increasing the risk of data loss or configuration errors.
For a detailed comparison, see our breakdown: https://enterprise.laplink.com/pcmover-enterprise-the-preferred-solution-over-microsofts-usmt
PCmover Enterprise from Laplink is engineered to address these challenges. It offers automated, policy-driven migrations that:
Explore our full PCmover Enterprise capabilities here: https://enterprise.laplink.com/the-complete-pc-refresh-solution-microsoft-autopilot-intune-onedrive-pcmover-enterprise
For a comprehensive walkthrough of user profile migration using PCmover Enterprise, watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLNLrfLCpk&t=554s
Organizations facing USMT limitations have successfully turned to PCmover Enterprise. Here are a few examples:
Feature |
USMT |
PCmover Enterprise |
AD to Entra ID migration |
❌ Not supported |
✅ Fully supported |
Application transfer |
❌ Not supported |
✅ Yes |
GUI-based automation |
❌ CLI only |
✅ Yes |
Custom scripting required |
✅ Yes |
❌ No |
Cross-domain migrations |
❌ No |
✅ Yes |
See full comparison: https://enterprise.laplink.com/pcmover-enterprise-the-preferred-solution-over-microsofts-usmt
Modernizing your environment by adopting Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) shouldn't be hindered by complex and manual user profile migrations. PCmover Enterprise offers an automated, efficient solution that simplifies the transition, reduces IT workload, and ensures a seamless experience for end-users.
Learn more at https://enterprise.laplink.com/ or request an evaluation license: https://enterprise.laplink.com/get-started/
Neil is the Senior Director of Inside Sales & Marketing at Laplink, bringing deep expertise in pay-per-click advertising, email marketing, lead nurturing, marketing automation, and digital strategy. His career journey includes leadership roles at Indigo Slate, Oracle, and Zones. Neil earned his BA in Communications, Advertising, and Business from BYU. Outside of work, he’s a golf fanatic (which is an understatement) and loves discovering new places with his wife. Whether it's refining marketing strategies or perfecting his golf swing, Neil is always looking for ways to get better.
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