| Author | Message | ||
     Dyna |
Just picked up a new 2.80 ghz setup to replace my ancient 475 mhz one & I need to know if there is an easy way to transfer files, favorites, etc off the old one to the new one? | ||
| Mbsween |
Dyna, What was the old OS? If it was XP or 2000 you need to grab everything under the username you used in in c:\Document and settings\someusername If it was 98 then you have to hunt around a bit more The easy way, use a usb compact flash from you digital camera or mp3 player or whatever to copy the above directory to the new machine or burn the directory onto cdrom Then while logged into the new computer, copy the stuff from the old one onto the new one. You'll get some complaints about files being in use, but those are safe to ignore. If you need to move large amounts of data (say more than a cd) there are 2 ways 1 move the old c drive into the new computer as the d drive or use a network The network way to do this , assuming you can have both computers on the same network at the same time, is to share the old C drive to the new machine. Each computer has a name, if you know it great, if not you can find it in control panel under system (start -> control panel -> system under the computername tab) On the old computer, open My computer and drill down till you see the C drive, right click the drive icon and pick sharing from the menu, acknowledge all the crap and share it on the network. In the new computer you should be able to see the old computer in "My Network places" under entire network. Then you can copy stuff at your leisure. Just be sure not to copy stuff from the old c:\windows (or c:\winnt) to the new c:\windows. Remember Microsoft believes you are ignorant so they make you click through warnings that you are about to enter a highly technical area which can mess up your computer. They use the same lawyers HD uses for Warranty stuff, namely saying if you click here, you are on your own. I don't know what your knowledge level on a PC is or what equipment (network, cd burner, compact flash....) you have available. Also I noticed you mentioned favorites. Do your self a favor, drop IE and use mozilla, you can squelch all pop ups with one setting and its much less likely to allow harmful sites to attack your computer (where IE will welcome them with open hard drive) If you want more details drop me an email. Hope it helps Matt | ||
| M1combat |
Yeah - Mozilla is much better. Of course... If you don't play games I also recommend downloading Redhat 10 (The Fedora Project) and use that as the OS on your old PC. If you like it, use it as the OS on the new one as well. | ||
| Dyna |
My old one was windows 98se. This one is XP home edition. Old setup didnt have a cd burner or anything. But I am going to network into the new system once I get the room upstairs wired up. The old system will be for the wife to putz around on. I totally forgot about networking & stealing the files that way. This one was pissing me off when I was first setting it up. Was lagging out & didnt want to boot up, etc etc. Finally figured out the problem after about an hr of head scratching, my lexmark printer/fax machine is for some reason incompatible with windows XP & was causing the whole thing to become unstable. Removed that & its running great. No big deal as I have 3 other printers to use anyways. | ||
| Polekat |
If your old computer has a usb port then you can save favorites and book marks and transfer them to the usb memory pen. They come in various sizes and are always great for backup of files. You can do searches at this web page to see what usb devices might be on sale. http://www.dealsontheweb.com/headlines.php If you have an external zip drive or hard drive you could copy email addresses, book marks and whatever to that and then connect the zip or whatever to your new machine. Another way to get stuff transferred is to send emails with attachments to yourself from your old machine and receive them on your new machine. Be careful what you put on your new machine. The wrong program from your old machine, open on your new one can casue lots of problems. Two very different systems you have. | ||
| Polekat |
your other printer might be able to be used on your new machine, IF there is an updated driver for it. Try the manufactures web site to see if they have the drivers for xp. | ||
| Dyna |
Not too worried about the printer aspect of it, ink is very costly for it. I usually just use the laser printer for everything, toner cartridge lasts a long long time. | ||
| Evaddave |
Dyna, There's some software available that claims to move settings, bookmarks, email, etc. from one computer to another. I've never used any of the packages, so I don't know how effective they are. I did a quick search and discovered that there's even one bundled with Windows XP, called Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. But, like I said before, I haven't used it, and I don't know anyone who has. Good luck! Regarding the pricey Lexmark ink, just imagine if every time your bike needed gas, you had to go to the H-D dealer and buy a brand new H-D fuel tank. If you bought a third-party fuel tank, the bike would "know" and would refuse to run. That's basically what Lexmark has done with its printer cartridges. -Dave | ||
| Southernmarine |
Lot of good ideas, one of the easiest if you have some problems with these is to take out the old hard drive, make sure you move the jumpers on it to make it a slave, and plug it in your new one, transfer any and all files you want, then take it back out, place jumpers in original settings,then plug them back up. | ||
| Xb9er |
Southernmarine's method is what I use. It's real easy. Southernmarine's method assumes you connect the old drive to the same cable as the new one (or to a cable that already has a drive on it like a CD-ROM drive). If so, one thing you also have to do is not only make the old drive a slave, but you also have to make the new one the Master because it is probably set to Single drive. Mike. | ||
| Southernmarine |
You don't have to change the jumpers on the master, just leave it be. There should be another plug on the same line that the master hard drive is on, or like XB9er said, use one of the plugs where the cd-rom drive is. You shouldn't have to disconnect anything other than the old hard drive (I would say that 99.999 % of the new computers come with open connectors allowing you to add more items to it)when you take it out to put it back in the old computer. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
If its a premade system, the hardrive is generally set on Cable Select now adays. As Southern said you don't have to change the setting on that one just the one old drive to slave. | ||
| Xb9er |
Ok, you guys probably know a lot more than I do about hardware. Let's just say if the new PC doesn't see the old hard drive, he might want to check the jumper on the new drive before trying anything else. Mike. | ||
| Polekat |
Dyna, With out cracking open the old box...I once heard you can hook up a null modem cord between two computers and transfer files (share them). This can also be accomplished with ethernet if both computers have the right card. OR you can see if someone has an external cd burner and borrow it or a zip drive. | ||
| Dyna |
Damn was I ever blind. Totally forgot about my 250 zip drive. Disconnected it about a year ago because I never used it. Guess I will have to plug her in & fire it up. |
