Transfer files from old comp to new

[Trotter]

My mom was given a Dell by my cousin's wife. It's nothing spectacular (Dimension 2400, 2.2 P4, 256MB, 40 gig HD, Win XP), but all she needs is something to get online with every once and a while and to do some word processing and spreadsheets.

Her old computer she inherited from my sister. It is an old Gateway, and I mean old. 233MHz P2, 32MB, 4.3 gig HD. It came with Windows 95, but I upgraded it to 98 for her several years back.

Anyway, I'm updating and cleaning up the Dell right now, but I'll be taking out to my folks' house later this week. I'm going to need to transfer all of her old files from the Gateway to the Dell.

I'm not real sure how to go about it. The Gateway has no burner, floppy is dead, and has no ethernet port. I'm pretty sure that the tranfer can bu done via USB, but I don't rightly know how to do it.

So, anyone willing to give me the basics for this? Step by step would be nice

 

[Jorsoft]

In a situation like this I would just take the hd out of the gateway, make it a slave in the new Dell, and copy everything that way. Much faster than usb and way less of a hassle. We do this all the time at work.

 

[talldude123]

USB drives come in handy for transferring old files. Get at least 512MB, otherwise it's useless.

Also, you don't have to void the Dell's warranty!

 

[EricB]

use a bartpe cd to tranfer it to an external usb hdd. I do this all of the time

 

[Death Row]

In a situation like this I would just take the hd out of the gateway, make it a slave in the new Dell, and copy everything that way. Much faster than usb and way less of a hassle. We do this all the time at work.

That's probably the best way of doing it
And you can probably do it with a usb stick
if she only uses for word processing spreadsheets and stuff, she probably has less that a gigabyte of data, you can pick up 256mb usb sticks real cheap. it would be quick and easy like that

 

[EricB]

That's probably the best way of doing it
And you can probably do it with a usb stick
if she only uses for word processing spreadsheets and stuff, she probably has less that a gigabyte of data, you can pick up 256mb usb sticks real cheap. it would be quick and easy like that

this method involve taking the computer apart. I'm lazy. I don't want to do that unless I have to. the bart pe cd will automatically convert the fat32 files to ntfs

 

[Tox1cThreat]

this method involve taking the computer apart. I'm lazy. I don't want to do that unless I have to. the bart pe cd will automatically convert the fat32 files to ntfs

how does a USB key invlove taking the computer apart?

You can get a serial crossover cable and run FAST (File And Settings Transfer) its built into windows..

Start->Programs->Accessories->System tools..

Serial takes a long time, but you can let it run overnight.

If there is internet, you can email the files over as well...

 

[EricB]

you quoted this

In a situation like this I would just take the hd out of the gateway, make it a slave in the new Dell, and copy everything that way. Much faster than usb and way less of a hassle. We do this all the time at work.

followed up with

Originally posted by Death Row
That's probably the best way of doing it

there is no wrong way to do it. I usaually just go the bart pe route, because my usb hdd's are ntfs (I've since put a in fat32 partition, so I don't really have this issue anymore) and win 98 and me are fat32. I alway use this method to keep peoples data when I upgrade their machine to xp, since those machines usually won't have a cd burner.

 

[Trotter]

No worries about the warranty. This box is a couple of years old anyway.

I have a USB flash drive, but Win(* doesn't support it without the drivers.

Her CD drive can't read burned disks. Like I said, it is pretty old.

I'll probably pull the hard drive and slave it long enough to transfer her files for her.

That's what I sorta had figured on, but I wanted to get a second opinion.

 

[talldude123]

Just a thought:

Compress a bunch of files to ZIP or RAR format (you can download WinRAR or WinZip as free trials)

Send that one large ZIP file through www.megaupload.com or e-mail.