Do you own a laptop? If so, one of the questions you'll be asking is how best to transfer files to it from your old PC.
And if you regularly take your laptop with you on your travels, the chances are that you'll regularly need to transfer files
you've created or downloaded on it to your home computer. There are several options available.
Floppy disks. Using a floppy to transfer data is easy for small files, but the limited space on a floppy
disk means that for a large collection of files you will only be able to copy them in several stages. Also large files such
as video and music files won't fit onto a floppy disk.
CD. Most modern laptops have a CD rewrite facility and this can be a good way to transfer a large collection
of files. Although quicker than a floppy, the process is still relatively slow, and a rather clumsy way to go about transferring
just a couple of e-mail files or letters.
Cables. The best way to transfer files in any quantity is by connecting your two computers together
with a cable. But be warned, this is a minefield and can be a nightmare! Using Windows software to create a network is extraordinarily
complex, and it's possible that your old PC won't have the required network cards to do this. Also there is a wealth of possible
ways to connect, for example via parallel, serial or USB ports. Finding the right connection method can be a real headache!
The best connection is via the USB ports. This provides for the fastest and most reliable data transfer. You can't
simply connect with the plain kind of USB cable you buy in the computer stores - if you try this you will almost certainly
damage your computers. You need a special cable that has a "hub" in its centre - a little contraption that enables two computers
to be safely connected together. In addition you'll need some software to perform the file moving process.
There are quite a few applications like this on the market but beware - some are much better than others. I thought my
problems were solved when I bought a relatively cheap program and cable from a high street store - but it was useless. The
file moving program constantly froze and it was obvious that the software wasn't fully compatible with Windows XP. This is
where Laplink comes to the rescue.
Laplink make a number of cables. Their USB cable is called the Gold USB Network cable and costs £29.95 + VAT at the time
of writing. It is compatible with both types of USB port, 1.1 and 2.0. There are a number of programs that can be used to
operate the cable - the one I would recommend is called File Mover. This can be bought as a package or downloaded from the
Laplink site. At the time of writing it costs £22.95 + VAT.
File Mover is simple to install and to use. You need to install the program on both computers, then plug the cable in
to a USB port on each machine. Then you open File Mover on each computer, and first time round a Connection Wizard helps you
set up the connection between the machines. Of the available options you choose the "USB Cable" option.
Now you are ready to connect and start transferring files. You can connect in either direction - i.e. from PC to laptop
or vice versa. If you choose to connect to your laptop from your desktop PC, then you will control the file transfers from
your desktop. If you connect successfully, both machines will show a screen, similar to the Windows Explorer screen that looks
like this:
