# Key Post: Transferring Files From PC to Laptop??



## Marion (31 Aug 2004)

If I want to transfer files from a pc to a laptop then it's straightforward enough if I can simply save to a diskette and then easily transfer.

However if I want to transfer files which are too large to save to a diskette, how would I go about transferring from the pc to the laptop?

Anyone got any ideas?  Thanks!


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## XXXAnother PersonXXX (31 Aug 2004)

*.*

If both machines have a USB port, then get a USB memory stick/pen thing.

One of the handiest things I ever got for my PC. (Some of them double up as MP3 players as well)

Alternatively, if you have a digital camera, and USB cable, you can use the camera to transfer files.


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## rainyday (31 Aug 2004)

*Re: .*

Does your PC have a CD-writer?


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## pod (31 Aug 2004)

*.*

Hi,

sorry, don't have a CD-Writer (I've got the regular CD-Drive), and no memory stick/pen or digital camera.

When I purchased the 2nd hand laptop a couple of years ago, I asked for a wire that could be used to transfer files from a pc to the laptop.  

So I should have some sort of gray coloured wire around here somewhere (never got round to using it).  Though from the sound of things I'll need some hardware too.

Maybe I'll have to invest in some extra hardware then...


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## zag (31 Aug 2004)

*Re: .*

Memory sticks are cheap and work (unless you are using a machine with an early version of 98 or 95), so that is really the easiest way to do it.

z


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## pod (31 Aug 2004)

*.*

Ok - thanks Zag!


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## Tony Soprano (31 Aug 2004)

*Transferring Files*

I assume you have also tried to Zip these files up and are still too large to fit on a floppy.


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## decbuck (31 Aug 2004)

*Re: Transferring Files*

only alternative is if you have a network connection. Or even broadband. 

You cna upload the files onto the net from pc and then download to laptop.

Not sure whether you have this facility.

Some sites like www.campus.ie offer 20MB of space for files.


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## LanceBoyle (31 Aug 2004)

*Windows used to ...*

Have a facility for linking two machines via the parallel port ( in the '95 / '98 era ) with a special cable.

Did this carry over into XP ?


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## STguy110 (31 Aug 2004)

*Re: Windows used to ...*

komplett.ie is doing good value on USB memory sticks at the moment - E20 for 128Mb, E36 for 256Mb etc (+E10 per order for postage)  They're nice slim keyring size ones too.


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## car (31 Aug 2004)

*copying files between windows*

Back in the day, I used to copy files between windows based PCs via laplink.
Unless you have a burner, or a digi camera with USB, you should take ZAGs suggestion and get a memory stick.

May I recommend  shop4mem where Ive bought 3 items in recent times and had next day delivery every time.  You could do worse then, as suggested above, you get one that doubles as an mp3 player.
Ive just checked the price of the  usb drives on shop 4 memory against komplett.  while the drives are slightly more expensive, when you take delivery into account theyre cheaper. (no del. charge on shop4mem)


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## pod (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

Thanks for all the info.  I'll check those sites for the memory sticks.  Thanks for that!

Tony - no I haven't zipped files up on a floppy; to be honest I didn't know how to go about doing that...


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## car (1 Sep 2004)

*zip*

POD,
A floppy disk can take 1.44 megabytes of date.  If the file youre transferring is bigger then that you can use a compression utility(winzip being most widely used) to try and reduce the size of it.   Most pcs have a compression utility of some sort, right click on the file youre sending and you might see either "compress to file" or "winzip > add to zip file", choose one of these to see if the file will compress.  Most Ms office docs will get good comression rates but things like video, jpgs wont as theyre pretty high density already.
If you dont have winzip you can get it here, I thought they used to have a free version but it looks like its only a free months trial now.
Alternatively you could try this free [broken link removed] which seems to be popular.


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring data between computers*

How does zipping and/or memory-stick transfer actually work?

My existing P.C. is old and takes 10 minutes to boot, running  Win 98SE as O.S.  so I've just bought a second-hand Sony Pentium 4 running Windows XP Home.  It also has a DVD rewriter and you can "burn CD's" (I don't actually understand how any of this works or how to do it as it's literally just arrived!)

I want to transfer MOST of the files from the original P.C.  An IT-literate friend advises that I can (a) get a cable which connects both PC's and link them, accessing from the new Sony without having to transfer anything or (b) transfer the two memory sticks (I extended the memory with an additional 128 strip) to the Sony (c) take out the hard disk from the old PC and instal it in the Sony.

Now the advice in this thread is that the data can also be "zipped" with Winzip.

As I'm not very clever with IT and very short of time and dread spending days on this transfer I wonder what is the quickest and most idiot-proof way?


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring data between computers*

Also how do I go about using Decbuck's idea of uploading data onto the internet and downloading to another PC (perhaps my work one)  Does this space have to be "bought"?

LanceBoyle suggests the "cable" idea might not be applicable to Win XP Home......?


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## decbuck (1 Sep 2004)

*Re: Transferring data between computers*

If I was you I would ask your friend in IT to do it for you.. Firstly you cannot take hard disk from old pc and put into a labtop. 

So that is gone. I'm not sure about cable, nor usb. if your pc is that old it might not even have a usb port.

If your friend is in IT, they should have access to an external cd burner. This will enabel you to burn all the stuff from your old pc to cd. 




one important question here is, how much do you need to copy over? Is it a couple of megabytes or hundreds?


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring data between computers*

Hello Decbuck - My friend is actually a retired BBC Producer from the Home Service!!!.......but he has a  wireless engineering background and is interested in IT and all things communicative!

Both my P.C.'s are tabletop (it was the original poster who had a laptop).

The original P.C. is crap!  Part of a "Tiny" high-street package to the non-computer-literate like myself.  Tiny went bust (good riddance, from the experience I had of them in terms of non-existent after-sales) after mis-selling loads of practically-obsolete P.C.'s.  However it DOES


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## decbuck (1 Sep 2004)

*Re: Transferring data between computers*

one important question here is, how much do you need to copy over? Is it a couple of megabytes or hundreds?


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

.........that last one just slipped away!  

The original P.C. does have 3 USB ports, DVD-Rom slot etc.  This morning I tried using the CDPlayer but it seems to be malfunctioning.  Always had massive problems with it.

If I just take out the 2 128 memory-strips from this and insert them into the Sony does THAT transfer all my data?


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## eamonn66 (1 Sep 2004)

*copying between machines*

if usb thingys are not an option, the simplest and quickest way is to connect the 2 via 2 network cards and a crossover ethernet cable. ( a crossover cable is a patch lead with a couple of the wires swopped around . it bypasses the need for a network hub/switch) 

you will need network cards installed in both machines
and the crossover cable which you can either make or buy from compustore etc

set both machines to the same workgroup and install tcp/ip (for the net cards) with the following settings 

ip address 192.168.0.x   (x = 1 to 255)
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
share the c drives on both machines and thats it


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## decbuck (1 Sep 2004)

*Re: copying between machines*

If you have usb, then buy a usb memory stick. All addresses sepcified about.

Moving your memory will do nothing. Your data is on the hard disk, a different piece of hardware.

memory stick is the exact same as a folppy disk except it goes into the usb ports. 

An average one to buy would be for 128 MB, which is nearly 100 times more than a floppy disk. You might have to move your files in batches.

Again how much data (in meagbytes?) are you transfereing?


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## Guest (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files From PC to Laptop??*

One relatively simple and cheap way to transfer small numbers of files between two PCs where none of the previous suggestions work is to use a null modem serial cable to connect the two PCs then use the standard terminal emulator (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> HyperTerminal ) on each to send individual files from one PC to the other.

[broken link removed]


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

Thank you so much Unreg!  I've been ringing round and the cheapest/earliest IT help would be £60.00 and they can't come until next Wednesday so your advice is very much appreciated and I'll try hyperlink.


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## Guest (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

As I say - if the number of files is small enough then HyperTerminal and a null modem cable should suffice, be quick/handy enough and be relatively cheap (c. €10 or so I'd imagine). You should be able to get a suitable cable from Peats or the like:

[broken link removed]

Chances are that you will want one with 9 pin female connectors at each end but check the RS232/serial ports at the back of each PC to be sure. 

Alternatively the same sort of thing may be possible using something like the USB Link cable listed here on Marx Computers for €25. If you can't source a suitable null modem cable and are considering the latter instead then give them a call and explain what you're trying to do. They're generally very helpful and sometimes even let you try stuff out and return it if it doesn't meet your needs:

[broken link removed]


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## Guest (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

Actually I didn't realise that it may be possible to network two Windows PCs using a direct cable connection (DCC) as well:

[broken link removed]

... although I'd still recommend HyperTerminal as the simplest DCC solution. Run HyperTerminal on both PCs and select Transfer -> Receive File... on the receiver PC and Transfer -> Send File... on the sending PC.


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## Marie (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

: eek     terrifying!  I'm full of admiration for folks who do this stuff professionally.  Well here goes and willl let you know how I get on!


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## Guest (1 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

> Well here goes and willl let you know how I get on!

With the HyperTerminal and null modem cable approach I presume? Post back if you have problems. If you have many files to transfer then I just thought that you could ZIP them up into one or more larger files and transfer them that way to cut down on the number of individual transfers that are required. Good luck.


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## fatherdougalmaguire (1 Sep 2004)

*Re: Transferring Files*

Another option might be to mail them to yourself from the source machine and then read your mail & save the attachments on the laptop.


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## Marie (2 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

Dougal would that necessitate having two ISP's or two accounts?

May I suggest to the moderators that this thread is becoming a comprehensive "P.C.Upgrade Manual" and might be usefully kept as a key post.


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## Guest (2 Sep 2004)

*Transferring Files*

> Another option might be to mail them to yourself from the source machine and then read your mail & save the attachments on the laptop.

Good idea! At least for a small numbers of sizes of files.

> Dougal would that necessitate having two ISP's or two accounts?

No. You can connect to your ISP with the source PC, attach the files and send them to your own email address, disconnect, then connect and collect the email containing the attached file(s) with the destination PC/laptop. Obviously you will need to be able to connect to your ISP using either PC (e.g. they will both need to have modems - or network interface cards if using broadband etc.). You may also need to tweak your email client settings to prevent the sending PC from immediately collecting the email that you send with the attached files before you are able to disconnect or shut down the email application or PC. Or else configure your email account so that it leaves a copy of emails that you collect on the server.

Does this make sense to you?


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