Best Way To Transfer Files - I just bought a laptop

Hi there guys,

I just bought a brand new Dell Inspiron laptop for $729.99. It has a processing speed of 2.0ghz, 3GB RAM, and a 250gb hard drive. I'm really satisfied, especially with the wireless internet and the fact that I can carry my computer around with me, allowing you to use your computer in comfortable spots -- outside in the shade, on the train, or even in your bed where I'm using it write now as I type. If you didn't already guess, this is my first laptop. But I do have some issues. Does anyone happen to know an easy way to transfer some of my files from my old desktop computer to my new laptop? Some files are easy enough to transfer with a USB flashdrive, like my website files and some family pictures, but transfering all of my music songs on a USB flashdrive is not feasible. It takes up way too much space to fit. A quick solution would be the best, as I cannot use my iPod on my new laptop yet without first transfering all of the songs because then all of the songs will be taken off my iPod because they are not on the new laptop. Any ideas, solutions, and just general comments are welcome and highly appreciated. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me solve my problem.

Eric

 

 

 

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With the old computer you want to transfer from how big is the bulk of your music collection (rough number would suffice) and have you got wireless from the computer to your laptop?

another option would be to burn it to DVDs (If you've got a DVD burner)

or getting a portable hard drive and copying to and from that

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I believe the collect is about 15gb. The computer itself isn't wireless. It is hooked up to a wireless router which my laptop and the old computer use for internet.

My new laptop can burn DVDs, but the old one can only burn CDs, which I don't think hold very much.

Never heard of a portable hard drive. I was hoping to not have to spend any money since I just dished out $730, and I'm only a teenager.

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I tried hooking up an ethernet cable to connect the two computers, but that didn't seem to do anything. I also tried creating a network between the two computers, but that failed miserably, and I'm not even sure it would work even if I got the network up and functioning. Maybe I'll just have to deal with slowly transfering everything by a USB flash drive.

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First off make sure you are using the right cable, cross over cable is required for computer to computer connections. If you are using a switch or hub then regular cables are needed. The easiest way I can think off for you is to use the windows network setup wizard to get your network up and running since it basically does everything for you(You wont need to set up the IP's and network mask correctly which can be confusing if you don't even understand what they are). You just need to follow the instructions, This is easier then giving you detailed steps where you could go wrong or miss one and have it not work. I'm assuming your using windows maybe you can confirm more details so people can try help out more.

Oh yeah once the networks setup you will need to enable shares so first things first get them connected.


http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/n...etup/wired.mspx

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try setting up the network as sonesay describes... if you use xp the wizard should do the job for you as long as you run it on both computers and choose the same workgroup name to make things easier. Since you have a router it's probably best to connect through it, so you don't need to use crossover cables, and remember to share the folders you want to transfer (just right-click and choose Sharing and Security...)

If you still can't figure out where the other computer's file are you may search for the computer through explorer (Start Menu >> Search >> Find computer), you can search either by the name you assigned to the other computer (if the two machines are in the same workgroup) or by local network IP address (you can check that in LAN properties / tray icon)

aside from that i find an external hard drive a convenient and reliable solution to store and backup data, and keep them synchronized between different computers... you probably don't want to overload your new laptop with a whole lot of (growing) data, even though 250GB seem, and are, a lot

 

 

 

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Ehh, I've given up on the whole Network thing. I followed the instructions on the network setup thing, but after doing that, I got a bit confused, and I didn't want to mess up either computer. Is it a problem if one computer is running Windows XP and the other is running Windows Vista?

Well, in the end, I did get my music files transfered by using my iPod as flash drive. It took two trips, but it was a lot easier than the 50 or so trips it would have taken with my flash drive. Those iPods really do come in handy. Thanks for all the help and assistance you guys have provided me. If I have any more questions or issues, now I know who to turn to. Thanks again.

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It depends on how much space you want to transfer.... If you have just documents, a few songs, etc. You may want to transfer using a flash drive. If you have lots of programs, hi-def videos and crap on your computer. You may want to use an external hardrive. If you get an external hardrive, you may not even need to put it on your computer. You could have it separate maybe next to your laptop so your computer can run faster not having to fill up so much hardrive space on your laptop.

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use a portable hard drive. they have like 160 gb of space and they are great for file transfering. or you can get an external hard drives which are bigger and cheaper than portable hard drives because they aren't exactly portable but they have much bigger space.

for example a 16gb portable hardrive costs more than a 500gb external hard drive.

external hard drives aren't that big like there not massive but you can't put them in your pocket. i recommend a external or portable hard drive for your situation.

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i think the best way to transfer files is through network.

u no need to setup any network wizard. all u need to do is connect your old compter and new laptop.
Note* straight connect 2 computer without using your router ,more faster. it can tansfer with any type of
network cable (crossover or straight).

step 1
go to my network places. Click view network connection at your left top side.
u will see local area connection, then right click and click properties.
u will see internet protocol. double that one.
And u click "use following ip address" e.g put in 192.168.0.5 at old computer and 192.168.0.6 at laptop
and subnet mask will get it automatically.
remember to close firewall on both computer. (Note* do this both computer)

step 2
share your files.
go to your folder that you would like to share.
right click properties.
click sharing at second tab. and take a look at "network sharing and security"
if you 1st time sharing files, it will show u "if you understand ........."
just click it, and then select just enable file sharing.
after all, select the check box . "share this folder at network"
(Note* do this only on computer which want to share )

hope you can understand my explaination

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