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| 15th March 2003 | READERS WRITE - FILE TRANSFER |
Brian Grainger |
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Eric Spencer e-mailed to say: Please forgive me troubling you but I have just come across your web page mentioning the "Laplink like" feature in Windows XP. I am buying a new Dell Inspiron Lap top with XP to replace my 4 year old Dan PC running Win 98. I just need to know the easiest way to transfer my data files to my new Laptop from the old PC (which does not have a writeable CD). Do you know if I can I just use a "Null Modem" cable, or do I still have to buy something like Laplink FileSync?. Or is there an easier or better way, (other than using floppies!). My response was: The built-in LapLink feature I mentioned was the remote assistance capability. This uses the Instant Messenger Internet link so is not really the same as a cable connection. I guess there are two ways to transfer files that I can think of. The cheap way is via a cable and a direct cable connection network. Windows 98 has the software, as does XP I think (but I am not sure). I do not know whether a link has been attempted between the two. I used Windows 98 to Windows 95. You can use either a null modem cable on the serial port or a Laplink/Interlink cable on the parallel port on Windows 98. Not sure with Windows XP. The parallel cable gives quicker transfer speed. You need to set up the network connection and protocols on each machine and then away you go. I warn you - the setup can be awkward. The default Windows 98 settings did not work! The other, not so cheap, way is to use an intermediate device with a bit more storage space than a floppy. To follow this route your old PC will probably need a USB port. Two devices I have heard of are OnlyDisk (www.weast.co.uk) and Thumbdrive (www.thumbdrive.com). Back in 2001 an OnlyDisk with 8Mb storage was £33.80 up to 128Mb for £254.15. You can also get external hard drives and CD R/W, at prices around £150, but they need USB or Firewire to connect. The beauty of these systems is that you can use them for storage AFTER your data transfer, but I appreciate they are not much good if your old PC does not have USB. If you go this route make sure any device you get is compatible with USB 1 because I doubt if your old PC will support USB 2. ADDENDA - Just recently, I have seen a PC World advert with similar devices to the OnlyDisk going at under £50. Eric followed up with: Thanks so much for your help and advice. I really like the idea of using an external storage device to transfer the stuff. My old PC does have USB ports and also has an Iomega Zip drive that I use for backing up now. Maybe I could pick up a cheapish external Zip drive that would take the same discs and be useful in future with the laptop. |
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