Computer question

lthiesen

Could anyone tell me how to move files from my old computer to my new one? Windows 98 to XP pro. Thanks

Uni R

Depends

You really have to look at everything as either data files or program files. Best to re-install all of the program files and then copy over the data files. Configuration files is where it can get gray since in some ways they are both.

Firedragon_4

Buy a transfer program or

a USB port drive and save to it. Most people don't do back-ups and when they have a crash they lose everything. In my consulting work the first thing I always recommend is a backup CD, tape, or drive of some type. It's the cheapest and best investment you can make, FACT!

Bud_14

Preferably, copy them to a CD if you have a CD burner...All you need to do is drag the folder(s)of choice to your drive selected for the burner, this may take more then one CD, all depends how many files you have. Do not try to copy programs, use the cd supplied for the program. Programs have shared files and and can be a real mess doing so (if they even work at all.

Find your mail folder, for instance I use outlook express, in the folder there will be files, everything you save from your mail, your address book all this stuff, most of the time can be saved. Use the help files with your email programs. Most email programs will allow to inport and export mail files. So after you save the files to your new computer, you can import them back and you'll be all set.

Another thing to remember when burning CD's, as you save them to your new computer they will more than likly be "Read Only" you will have to uncheck the read only tab. On larger files you may open the folder, files, select all and uncheck the read only.

It really don't make much difference if you load the content or the programs first or last, the content will not open until the program it was written or with is loaded..

Good Luck...

Bud

Bud_14

Fire dragons correct

if you're able to use a usb port. If your changing computers just because you're "Wanting More..and you're Wanting it faster", than thats the way to go..but if your computer is bogged down and running errors it may not work the best. I just reformated my computer and it took me about 4 hours to save, reformat and reload the new computer. I do it once a year, whether I need to or not.

Bud_14

Virus Protection

Run a complete scan of your computer before transfering through the usb port or you'll take any little critters hanging around right to a new home! They are often disquised as normal files and can be hidden in any of the folders you have so be careful..

Bud

lthiesen

computer

Thanks for the replys, but I do not have a cd burner on the old machine, tryed a transfer program but it refuses to find my new computer.The e-mail suggestion sounds interesting but I only have e-mail on my new computer.Any other Ideas?

Unknown

I'm doing the same thing right now

I'm gonna retire this 5 year old laptop , and just bought a new one . I tried to network the 2 computers , but it's so damn confusing .

Like Firedragon and Bud suggested , I have a backup external hard drive . I guess I'm going to save all my important files to it and transfer what I need from there to the new computer . It's pretty cheap to buy and very handy for when you need to restore your computer to factory specs in the future - which I did often . Good luck .

Firedragon_4

If you really need those files

there are services that will transfer for you. I had it done once for a friend and is was pretty good. It wasn't that expensive and they guaranteed that the file CD's would be Virus and Bug free. If you have an old machine this may be least troublesome way to go.

John Conway

cheap options?

The replies are all good - the caution about virus scan is imperative. But your new box is the best line of that defense. And yes, backup is crucial too.

What do you plan to do with the old box? Do you already have a network? Can it serve you on a network, offering print service, for instance? I've an old P-166 reliably performing a few tasks.... Networks components are cheap - especially if transaction speed & security aren't really issues.

If you're going to ditch the Win-98 box & feel mildly technical, you can probably configure the Win98 hard drive as a slave & either temporarily or permanently add it to the new box. It isn't hard, usually. If you do it yourself (or get your teenager to do it), it's free.

Or you might consider establishing a partition on the new drive & moving the contents over from the old drive to the partition. That way if you miss something three months from now, you can still get at it.

Hope this gives you some options. A generic thanks to all the wallies for your help to me.

lthiesen

Computer

Many thanks to all who posted suggestions. After two days of frustration suddenly everything works.Again thank you all.

Steamhead

Setting up a network quickly

can be done using USB ports and phoneline adapters. Simply plug the adapters into the USB ports, install the necessary drivers (and Windows TCP/IP networking components if needed) and connect them with a standard modular phone cord. Once it's running you can transfer anything you need.

These won't have the speed of Ethernet, but will be fast enough for home use. 2Wire and Linksys are two companies that make the adapters. I have an entire network set up this way.

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jerry scharf

thoughts on backups

We need more specific information. Is the Win98 first release or second edition, and what SP level is it at? If it's the former, you can give up on USB support.If you're comfortable installing disks, I would buy a cd burner, the cheap ones are less than $50 and will do what you need. The burners should come with win98 drivers and a cd burner program of some sort. If you're wondering whether the time and effort is worth it, just imagine using pkzip and floppies, and it will seem like a great deal.:)

I've often had problems getting win98 machines to talk to win2k/XP systems over the network. I've gotten them to work, but it never seems like it's easy.

personally, I like DVD writers for backups much better than CDs. The size of a CD is just too small for large modern disks. 4.5GB is not big, but it's not tiny. Anything you pay for a backup system you use is more valuable that the cheapest thing that you end up not using.

Do you think about if and how often you should brush your teeth? Your backups should be in the same class of automatic operation. Also, I have a mantra about backups: "If you don't test restoring stuff from backups, you aren't doing backups." People think I'm joking until they need it and find out that they were saving lots of things, but not their latest work...

jerry

John Conway

Amen

Good advice!

Still say slaved HD is the quickest, cheapest solution.

Backups are useless if the restore doesn't work.

stonehouse_2

XP

has a file and settings transfer wizard. It will create a floppy that you then run on the old PC. It will prompt you through which files and settings you want to copy. Note that it will not copy the programs, just their setttings and data (i.e. Outlook Express). However, you still do need a way to get the data across. If you have a network card in the old PC then you are home free. All you need is a crossover network cable to connect the 2 PCs and then you need to set up the network cards to talk to each other. Let me know if you want more specific directions...

allenh

copying files

I just did it. From 98 to XP.

I removed drive from old system, configured it as slave. When booting up I hit the del key and went into bios so it saw the additional drive. F10 yes and it booted. Ran entire virus scan. After that I went to new C drive and created a folder called old 98 computer. Then I copied all the files into it.

When all done I powered off and place the old drive back in old system. Remember to set jumpers again for old system. And when booting new one go into bios to clear out that old drive not in there.

This way you have all your files in new system. And they are in a separate folder if you are looking for them. Odds are the new system has a much larger drive than the old one, right? And even if you really filled up the new drive they are cheap now so another one ain't a bad idea.

One mistake that a lot of us make is to copy important things off to the c.d. and get it out of the building. If there is a fire even old files at another location are better then no files.