Need help in moving from old computer to new .....

Hrant

Hrant

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Finally hooked up my new computer and now I am trying to figure a way to network the two so I can transfer old files (My Documents) to the new computer. Gateway is not willing to help as they see this a networking issue and hence ripe for fee tutorial - this contyrary to their promise duribng the sales pitch.

I read my old computer's manual (the new one doesn't come with one), short of transferring the hard drive to the new computer and copying it, or moving some 15 gigagbites through CD/DVD, they claim there is an easy connectivity through my cable modem. I am thinking it has to do by connecting the Ethernet cable from one computer to the other? Somehow it is not working, it is finding removable disks but they are all empty!

Any ideas? I know it must be a simple task ............ TIA.
 
D'Ecosse said:
Wow - just found this - free if you have a serial cable!!
Or you can create a home network between them (not a bad idea anyway!) utilizing your ethernet connections. Little more complicate to set up - the serial cable is simple - plug it in & go!

http://www.pctechguide.com/tutorials/WinXPInstall_Transfer.htm
Click to expand...
D'Ecosse - I know you mean well, but your last post was really funny :)

Serial transfer is about 10 KBytes /sec ( source ). At this rate 15 GB should take a few weeks. :smile:

A CAT5 ethernet cable connected to the PC network at 100MB should transfer 15 GB in well under an hour.

So get yourself a cheap ethernet cable (also called RJ45 cable), a cheap switch/router (about $15-30 anywhere), and you can transfer the files quickly and easily.
 
Wow you guys are awesome!

I just bought the CAT5e "crossover" patch cable from Office Max for $14.00 They too were a little puzzled when they read the Computers for Dummies .. ..... LOL! They mention floppies, or removable media, LAN or known network patch but stop clarifying it. One opf the sales people realized that the Comcast supplied cable modem's Ethernet cable was not the same as a croosover cable.

Now to the task of using the Transfer Wizard.

Many thanks.
 
Well, I got till autodetect connectivity and the search for connectivity is going for 5 minutes and nothing! It asks for serial PC to PC connectivity. The new computer shows COM1 and COM3 the old one shows COM1 and COM4 ........... and nothing happens.

Any ideas? Should I have done some changes to Network connections from the Start, then Control Panel menu .....?

NsXMas notes a router, do I still need a router when connecting both computers through a cross over cable?
 
Hrant,

No you do not need a router with the crossover cable...

You're setting up the wrong type of networking if it's telling you COM1 COM2, etc. That's your serial ports. What you need to do is setup your sharing with either TCPIP or Netbeui and that crossover cable plugs into the network ports of the old computer and the new computer with nothing in between. Do not try using that crossover cable for anything else BTW.

Netbeui will probably require you add a new protocol to each machine. The link NSXmas posted has a tutorial on setting up the netbeui protocol.

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/HomeNet-Win2kXP.asp

I would personally just go the TCPIP route and just configure 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2 ip addresses on each of the boxes. Anyhow, NetBeui will make things easy but you probably have to add the protocol on each computer. My recommendation would be just load netbeui to make your life easier.

The tutorial also covers creating a share. Make sure your computers don't have the same name if you named one NSX and the other NSX then you will need to rename one of them so you don't have a name conflict.

Probably the easiest thing to do is share the C drive. So you just right click on your C drive, then share it as C and on the permissions give EVERYONE read access. If you want to copy stuff TO this computer, give EVERYONE read/write access. Go to the other computer, go to start->run then type in \\nameoftargetcomputer (ie. \\nsx) and hit enter
You should see your share come up and you can browse the C drive of the other computer. Then just drag and drop files from your old computer to your new computer, hopefully you know where everything is... 15 GB is a lot of personal data. I hope you're not trying to copy the whole hard drive over. Most people just need their My Documents folder and some pictures and it usually ends up being a lot less.

When you are done, you will probably want to unshare that C share on the old computer so that if you hook it up again to the internet, no one hacks into it. You should also remove the Netbeui protocol unless you plan on doing this networking thing again.

Now that I explained this, I realize it's a bit complex... Hmm, hopefully this information and that tutorial will help...
 
Last edited:
Malibu Rapper said:
....Now that I explained this, I realize it's a bit complex... Hmm, hopefully this information and that tutorial will help...
Click to expand...
Which is why I suggested the serial link ..... admittedly 15GB is a lot
However faster with parallel using this setup - http://www.lpt.com/Support/DCC-SetUp/dcc-setup.htm

If you can follow the instructions on the local networK setup I agree that ethernet is by far the fastest method

a plug n play solution like the one I referenced earlier orthis one make it easy if you are not sure of your way around.
 
A Better Way...... ;-)

Err... guys... an even easier, faster and cheaper method is to crack open your old computer, rip out the old HDD (not literally), install it in your new computer and move the files off that way.
It may sound scarey, but it's not half as scarey as troubleshooting TCP/IP errors when you're a newcomer.

Heck of a lot easier than giving you the 101's of TCP/IP and networking. Or maybe a lesson in the OSI model. :rolleyes: :D


The only things you need to note is:
1) make sure your computers are turned OFF before doing this :rolleyes: a common mistake i find,
2) make sure your old HDD is on a seperate cable to the new HDD (for example, your CDROM may have it's own connector, so just rip that out temporarily and use it's cable).
3) if you only have one cable with the CD-ROM & HDD attached, post back here and i'll tell you what to do. it's not hard but dont want to confuse you now.
4) when you're finished, put everything back the way you found it.

Very simple.

Also, are you planning on always having your two computer networked?
 
Re: A Better Way...... ;-)

NeoNSX said:
Err... guys... an even easier, faster and cheaper method is to crack open your old computer, rip out the old HDD (not literally), install it in your new computer and move the files off that way.....
Click to expand...
Honestly, that is what I would do too ....
I would probably even consider leaving the second drive installed as a "data" drive & just delete the OS & programs off that drive.
 
Guys, I know some basics and removing the hard drive was an option until ........ I was first trying to learn a new method. So, yes please continue to offer ideas as now I will try any option that will work.

I finally gave up last night and said time to remove the hard drive. My old computer had the setup D'Ecosse mentions where my second hard drive was a data drive though it was connected as a slave.

Well, the new comoputer has this wierd select red cable system with different pins while the old one was the standard 10 pin. Can't figure how to connect old cumputer's hard drive as the slave to the new computer (master). Can't even find similar pins on the motherboard for the old pin style!

One more call to Gateway ............... one would think that computer manufacturers would make this task much simpler given that 99.9% of people who buy computers would transfer data from their old computer no?

And no, once the files are transferred, the comuters will stay independent from one another. Running Windows XP Office Pro on the old one, XP Home on the new (have not loaded the Office Pro yet).
 
There are several ways to transfer the data. Personally I would go the route that Neo suggests. One thing to look out for is the dip switches on the back of the hard drive have to be set correctly. Master/slave etc.

good luck
 
Hrant said:
once the files are transferred, the comuters will stay independent from one another. Running Windows XP Office Pro on the old one, XP Home on the new (have not loaded the Office Pro yet).
Click to expand...
I would recommend networking the two computers together. This will have several advantages:

1. They can then share a single cable modem connection.

2. It will be easy to copy files from one to the other in the future, such as for backup purposes.

3. They can share devices, such as printers.

Furthermore, home networks are very easy to set up, substantially easier than trying to network through a crossover cable (and I have tried doing both). In part this is due to complete, step-by-step instructions that come with the hardware.

You set up the network by connecting a router (either wired or wireless) to your cable modem. You can then connect each computer to the router either by running a network cable directly to the router, or by installing a wireless card or wireless adapter in the computer and establishing a wireless connection. The process is relatively simple and the hardware comes with complete instructions.

You can hard wire to the router if it's convenient to do so from where they are located, or you can use a wireless connection due to distance and/or aesthetics. Hard wiring will give you faster transfer times, so even if you decide to go wireless, you might want to hard wire the two computers just for your initial voluminous file transfer. OTOH if you use the wireless connection for your initial file transfer, you will only have to set it up one way.

Prices vary but you can do this for as little as $20 for an 802.11g wireless router and $12 for an 802.11g wireless network card for each computer to be hooked up to the network. These prices are for AT&T brand products, after instant rebate, at CompUSA, AT&T product number 6800G for the router, 6500G for a network card for a desktop, 6700G for a network card for a notebook. (You may need to print or access their website if you go to their store and find that the in-store prices are higher.) These are the products I am using and they have been working great for me (after I had had serious problems getting Linksys products to work).
 
nsxtasy said:
I would recommend networking the two computers together.
Click to expand...

I just don't see this as being easier. The original post stated he isn't trying to create a permanent network, just transferring files to his new harddrive. It's quite easy IMO just to pop out the old HD and slave it to the new one.
 
But the two hard drives do not appear to be compatible as far as using the one cable to conncet a master and salve to the mother board!

Gateway will be sending me a Data Migration software

http://accessories.gateway.com/Acce...onversion+Utilities_316965/1532289_ProdDetail

which appears to be nothing more than a USB connection from the modem of my cable router to the old computer. [I am accessing the Internet through the new computer]. Transfer rate would be 500MB each 12 minutes and even though they are offering it may not arrive until Monday!

I am now trying to track down the NetBEUI option/solution. Gateway says NetBEUI should be already installed otherwise I can't get on the Internet. Yet I can't find the nbf.sys file that seems to be necessary. Is this file in the Operating System of the Windows XP pro (blue disk) or in the Windows XP pro software (silver packaged with the publisher etc.). The former disk shows only one file as a valueadd\msft\net\netbeui a 96KB system file.
 
With W-XP you can use the cat-5 cable w/crrossover and no router. I did it. The wizard inm XP will walk you through the network setup and it IS a piece of cake.
 
Mark, did your Wizard find the cross over cable through the autodetect mode? Mine doesn't even let you get to a cross over type cable as an options; it asks for serial port/cable and searches in COM1, COM3 .... ! And this on both computers which tells me I am missing a step or must do some additional changes to the computer setting first. I even tried detecting it in the connectivity queries to no avial.

I am about to start copyng CDs ................
 
in the very first field of the wizard you will see a link to "connecting computers" - you should take a look through that for some guidance

Also, note that in one of the later screens you can select where to look - the first selection is the direct cable (which is for serial ports only) - do you have that option selected, so it is perhaps looking for that?
 
Hrant said:
...
I am now trying to track down the NetBEUI option/solution. Gateway says NetBEUI should be already installed otherwise I can't get on the Internet. Yet I can't find the nbf.sys file that seems to be necessary. Is this file in the Operating System of the Windows XP pro (blue disk) or in the Windows XP pro software (silver packaged with the publisher etc.). The former disk shows only one file as a valueadd\msft\net\netbeui a 96KB system file.
Click to expand...

If Gateway says that you are talking to someone that doesn't know what they are talking about. Internet access uses TCP/IP. Local, non-routed Microsoft Networking can use NetBEUI.

To setup NetBEUI, you must go into your network properties (right-click under Network Connections your Ethernet link) and add the protocol (Install....|Protocol Add...| pick protocol). On My XP Pro machine, NetBEUI isn't offered.

You should be able to do the same thing very easily with TCP/IP, however.
 

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