Windows Easy Transfer Disabled for Vista to Windows 8.1

[Retexan599]

Have just spent two unproductive days trying to use WET to move items from my Vista system to my new Windows 8.1 machine. The tool will evidently work for Vista --> Windows 8, but not to 8.1. I now read in places where Microsoft expects us to use SkyDrive for the transfer. In fact you get an unhelpful error message that reads: "Windows Easy Transfer can't be used to transfer files from Windows Vista or Windows XP". The pages wherein you download WET to Vista and to 8.1 have nothing to say on this until you get to the point of actually transferring. Ok, now trying to learn SkyDrive; also have Dropbox as an alternative.