Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?

Subject: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:44 PM

OK, so depite very sage advice to the contrary, I bought a new computer with Windows Vista, and Amazon.mudcat.org should deliver it sometime this coming week (and Mudcat gets a cut of my purchase).

So, now the question is how to transfer all the data from my old Windows XP computer to the new one, and then from my stepson's Win 98 computer to the XP machine.

The new computer has 10/100 Ethernet, and USB and IEEE 1394 FireWire ports. The XP computer has USB 2.0, and a rectangular port marked S400 (I guess that's a 4-pin firewire port). I think it also has a "network" port on the back that looks like a big telephone jack, and "My Computer" says it has Ethernet networking.

Now, the Win98 computer may pose a problem. It has what I think is a FireWire port (ID'd on "My Computer" as IEEE 1394), rectangular with a triangle on one end - like a very narrow house with a gable roof, lying on its side. It also has USB ports, but I believe they're USB 1.0. I don't think it has a network port.

So, anyhow, what kind of cable should I buy? Looks like I'm best with a 4-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable for Win 98 to the Win XP computer, but what about from XP to Vista? - should I use USB, 4-pin FireWire, or Ethernet? If I use Ethernet, is that what's known as a CAT-5 cable? Or maybe I'm best off to just buy a USB cable, since my stepson doesn't have a whole lot of data to move from his Win 98 computer.

OK, and then when I get a cable, how do I interconnect the computers for file transfer? I suppose I can use the Windows File and Settings Transfer Wizard - but do I have to have a monitor connected to each computer when I do the transfer?

I have an external USB hard drive, so I could transfer to the hard drive and then to the new computer, but it seems I'd be better off doing a direct transfer.

I think that the last time I did this, I used a parallel cable, and it took all night to transfer all my files.

Any advice?

-Joe-

---

http://thepcyoubuy.com/transfer.html has some advice.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: DMcG
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:59 PM

I would borrow or buy a cheap router (£23 in the UK ) and set up a network between the computers if I didn't want to open the box for warranty reasons. If I didn't care, I'd open both machines and set the old disk up as a slave drive on the new machine, but that's a bit techie!

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:13 PM

I'd think using the external hard drive might actually be the best way. That way you've got complete control over transferring stuff, and can always do it all over if something goes wrong. You'd have everything safe on the external hard drive until you decide to get rid of it, when everything has been sorted out.

If the external hard drive is happier with a USB 2.0, it's very easy and pretty cheap to install a card with a couple of them. You could likely get away with using the USB 1.0, though that's be a bit slower. And I haven't used FireWire, but I'd have thought that would be pretty satisfactory; you'd just need a cable that would enable the external hard drive to use it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:14 PM

I'm definitly NO-Tech. What I did was burn essential/treasured files and folders to CDs then unload them to the new computer.

If I understood what you're saying, Joe, I'd do it your way!

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:27 PM

This page (click) shows how to set up a FireWire network and claims it's better than Ethernet - but it sounds more complicated than a USB cable and not necessarily faster.
This page discusses FireWire vs. USB 2.0.
this page discusses a number of methods.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:30 PM

Given what you are working with I would use the USB Hard Drive. You don't need extra cables or special software. Transfer files to a "Holding areas" on the new computer and sort them out at leisure.
I suppose that the firewire option should shift things faster, but personal experience with moving files using cable links always seems to introduce glitches.
It might be worth backing up to CD or DVD while you are shifting files. Another option if you have burners on the machines is write to CD and then just copy what you need onto the new set-up.
I use Acronis True Image for doing back-ups of partitions. You can use the software to make "copies" of each partition, but you can also use it to "mount" the images as a read-only partitions and then copy any files to your "real" partitions.
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:45 PM

The one thing I would not do is Leave It To Microsoft I don't trust them to not trash the lot. I would transfer to external hard drive (start it off and go for a coffee/sleep or whatever depending on speed and quantity to transfer). I would then double check that the files have actually transferred correctly (mostly check the names and file size matches plus a few random openings to quality check specific or important files).
Once the Win 98 computer is transferred, I would also consider converting it to some variety of Linux. It will probably work faster and do more things than your newest Windows machine. It also is all totally FREE to install and use.

Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:45 PM

If the external hard drive is happier with a USB 2.0, it's very easy and pretty cheap to install a card with a couple of them.

I meant, you could install this on the Windows 98 computer, to link up with the hard drive as and when required, using the same cable you'd have for linking with the Windows XP machine and the Windows Vista.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:50 PM

And Joe, isn't TECH supposed to live ABOVE the line so that all the bods who have BS eliminated from their Mudcat can benefit from good computer advice.
Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:20 PM

I dunno, Geoff. I tend to move my own tech requests down below the line, to give people the impression that &nmsp;I&nmsp; don't see the below-the-line area as simply trash.
Otherwise, I leave most tech stuff above the line unless it clearly has no application to Mudcatting or music.
I'm leaning towards doing some file transfer with the external hard drive, and some by USB cable. I moved my e-mail to Web-based e-mail, so I don't have to worry about that. I don't know how much e-mail I've lose in moves to new computers over the years.
Hey, I like the Linux idea for the win98 computer....
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 07:02 PM

If you want to keep the old computers, and if you want to have them connected, both WinXP and Vista should make it easy to "network" them. The Win98 machine should be able to "join" with no trouble. My preference would be ethernet (10/100BaseT), but there are lots of different ways now.

If you just want to transfer the data once, all of your machines seem to have USB, so (1.) an external USB drive, or (2.) an external USB case that you can put any one of the drives in, or (3.) a USB thumb/flash drive all are possibilities.

With the flash drive, you just stick the drive into a USB port, and the computer (or your camera, if it's equipped) makes the connection. If you're only transferring the data, and not programs, it may take a few trips between machines with the economical 1 or 2 GB flash modules, and the old Win98 USB1 will seem really slow on the donwloads, but it probably has a much smaller HD than the others.

If you check to make sure it works with your camera, after you're done with the computer transfers you can stick the Flash drive in your pocket to download your pictures when the camera gets full at the festivals.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Amos
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 07:08 PM

IF it were a Mac you could just plug the FW cable in and the old computer would appear as a volume on the new one. But then, Macs, have a built-in transfer system intended for exactly this situation. But no, you wanted Vista, which I am guessing has not yet purloined that feature.

If you can link the two by FW it might still be possible to transfer all the files of interest from one volume to the other.   I would be careful not to transfer anything but documents, bookmarks, and mail files -- no applications -- because of the nature of the old OS.


A

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 07:50 AM

Thee is also the very quick, and non-technical method. It only works for things running Windows though. You simply line up all the computers, newest at the back, oldest at the front, step well back, and shoot them*
This will at the same time fix all the security holes in the programming, and will transfer the files in far better shape than the inbuilt methods. This is known as Universal Shotgun Blast, (USB).

There is an alternative, Fire-in-the-hole, which is even better, but you need a specialised cable for it, to run from the detonator.

I've not had a reason to use a third method I've heard of as yet. You build a vertical stack, old at the top, and spill coffee over it, but you only need that for Java based stuff.....

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 04:40 PM

Hopefully Joe O has managed to get everything transferred.

Comment applicable to the original problem: Vista supposedly includes a "transfer wizard" that works wonderfully (I know because that's what they say about it in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.) Unfortunately the KB doesn't exactly tell you how to use it, but it appears to use a "zero modem cable" - USB or Firewire - to "do everything you need." (You don't need much because your are an idiot implied (rudely) in what they do tell you.)

The real reason for this refresh is to provide a link to a new "tips" column at PC Magazine, that actually may contain some helpful information for people. Some of it may be helpful even if you're not burdened with Vista.

There are some possibly useful hints for Office 2007, iPod, Firefox, Opera, and a bunch of other fairly common applications and accessories. It's a long article, so I'd suggest using the "Print" button on the first page, and copy/paste it to Word or other WP application to read offline. An alternative is to use the "Index" at the left of the pages to jump to sections that might be of interest.

PC Magazine: 529 Tips

I found about 15 items worth bookmarking and linking for future reference in my paste-up of the document. Most of these were "secret tricks" for how to make Word 2007 do "some of the things" older Word versions did easily. (Using the hidden tricks is always more complex, requiring more keystrokes than to do the same things in older versions with a couple of kiestrokes - but better than the instructions given where I can find them in Vista/Office07. The "secrets" also leave the tasks half-done, leaving you to try to find where to go in the "new improved menus" to finish the task.)

The Index includes:

 Introduction           Windows Vista       Microsoft Office 2007
  Outlook 2007           Word 2007            Excel 2007
  PowerPoint 2007        Apple Leopard        PC Upgrades
  Digital Organization   Google Tools         RSS Feeds & Podcasts
  Internet Explorer 7    Firefox              Opera
  Blogging               Printers             Digital Cameras
  Digital Music Services Audio & Music        HDTVs & DVDs
  TiVo & DVRs            Windows Media Center Windows Mobile
  Palm OS                Apple iPod/iPhone    Cell Phones
  Laptop Trickery        Home Networking      Business Software
  Web Traffic            Servers & Storage    Collaboration
  Windows Server 2008    Online Business      QuickBooks
  E-Commerce

For those interested.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 04:47 PM

Thanks, John...it might come in handy.

Subject: RE: Tech: Data Transfer to New Computer - tips?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 Apr 08 - 05:32 PM

Bill D -

There were a couple of tricks related to Firefox that I thought might be of interest, but not being a user it was hard to tell. One was something about "memory conservation" that looked pretty quaint.

Having recently seen significant degradation in my old Office XP Word, with progressive "disappearing" of functions that used to work well, I gave up and installed Office 2007 on my WinXP machine. The quick summary is "I'm not a happy camper any more." There were a couple of items that may be helpful in the PC Mag tips; but one article isn't going to solve the problem of Office 2007 being a "for idiots" progam.

I kept the old Office installation, but it disabled only Word in the old version; and if I want to use the old version it's a 24 minute "reinstallation and configure," followed by another "reinstallation and configur" taking around 12 minutes to go back to the "new" Word.

Word 2007 is great if you're a 13 year old and all you need to do is plagiarize a web page for an essay, or if you're a magazine editor and just need to "look fancy" without meaningful content, or maybe if you're a Chimpanzee (Chongo take note) and want something "colorful" (pastel colors only) in your home cage, but it ain't an improvement for one who uses features previously easily (and coherently) accessible in earlier Word versions.

The article might in fact be more help to the iPod/Firefox people than for Office07/Vista users. (and for the everythingmustbemultimedia crowd who think a computer is for getting lots of pretty ads and "just buying stuff.")

Useful(?) additions in Office 2007 do include ability to save as PDF, and inclusion of a rudimentary OCR utility, neither of which is clearly revealed in new Office Help (where I could find them). Even in the tips article, it's not completely clear whether downloaded add-ons may be needed. Both Vista and Office07 are pretty much "build it yourself kits" without included instructions. (Although there are lots of ad-documents that say it's wonderful where tech help once was availabel at Micky$soft.)

John