17 replies to this topic

[copywriter]

Hi,

Don't know if anyone will know what I'm talking about or how to do it, but here goes.

I have a new laptop. From time to time I'll need to move files from my desktop computer to my laptop and vise versa. A guy I used to work with told me there was a way to physically link the computers together (with a printer cable maybe?) a type a DOS command that would let you copy files from one hard drive to another.

Anybody know how to do this or something similar to it?

I know there are programs like PCAnywhere, but for the few times I'd need to do this, I really don't want to pay $200 for the program

Thanks!

[Jill]

If you're only moving a file or two now and then, the easiest way to do it is to simply save the files to a floppy disk (if you have a floppy drive on your laptop) and then copy it from the disk to the laptop.

If you don't have an A drive, you can buy a USB memory stick and transfer files that way.

Or you can network the two computers through an ethernet or wireless network, and then you can access the files on either computer, to either computer and copy at will. If you want to use your laptop on your main computer's high speed internet, you'd want to network them anyway.

You can also do the actual linking of computers, but the other choices above are probably easier for only needing to do this once in awhile.

Does this help?

Jill

[SearchRank]

If you have high speed Internet connectivity and the files are not huge like 20MB or something, you can just FTP files to your server and then download them on the laptop. That is what I do.

You could also network your computers but then there is a cost involved in buying the hardware/software. I don't like having my computers networked anyway because if someone in the office gets a virus and the computers are networked, you all get it but with them being separate, only one is affected.

[Jill]

Also, if both have internet, you can email the files to yourself.

I've used all of the above techniques at one time or another.

[Ron Carnell]

There aren't any built-in DOS commands to copy files over a printer cable. Use to be a program called LapLink (probably still is) that did exactly that, but it wouldn't be any different, cost wise, from pcAnywhere.

We used to call the floppy drive solution "sneaker net," and it works well enough in the absence of other technologies. IMO, however, there is absolutely no substitute for a real network. That software IS built-in, of course, and the cost of the hardware goes down every time I look. Depending on how old the laptop is, you can probably buy all the hardware for less than a hundred dollars. Adding a third computer (which you eventually will) will cost another twenty bucks.

The best reason for a network, I think, is backup. Hard disks fail and unless you routinely create multiple file copies, the HD failure will ALWAYS happen at the worst possible time. A network doesn't force you to backup data, but it does help encourage it.

[Vertster]

I read in the Wall Steet Journal about this new device called a "Migo" or something like that. It appears to be designed for exactly what you want to do, and includes software for syncing and everything. You might want to look it up and check it out...

[copywriter]

Great ideas! Thanks everyone!!

[t49]

you didn't say which operating system you are using.
if WinDoz,check your manual,install cd,menu.
they have,or at least had,a piece of software that did just what you want to do.
Or:
if you can read,and write CDs,on both machines,then get a rewriteable CD.
this will allow you to move a lot more files,and doubles as an emergency back up.
Or;
Bat those lovely eyes at someone and say,can you show me how to do this.
NOTE: this will seldom work more than 2 or 3 times on the same 'someone'.

Tom

[copywriter]

Using Win XP on both. (Home on laptop and Pro on desktop.)

With all the great ideas everyone has given (some I'd already thought of), I'm not worried about the DOS thing anymore. But thanks for the input, T. (And the compliment... however, most of the people I know well enough to bat my eyes at are online friends so they can't see my eyes! )

[Alan Perkins]

Start->Help and Support->Working Remotely contains a lot of info, including...

Synchronizing files with Synchronization Manager
Synchronizing files with Briefcase

[SEOCub]

I use networks, remote desktop software such as VNC (which is free) and VPNs to stay connected when I move from computer to cmoputer and from location to location. Has worked well for me. I have a personal firewall on my computers so even if I am networked, I am protected from from both inter and intra-network viruses. And only those who understand are allowed map privileges to my computers. It seems to work pretty well for me.

[SearchRank]

I thought I'd just throw this in as the title of this post included "Creating an 'image' of your computer" - there is actually a great piece of software that will create an image of your hard drive called Acronis True Image and what it does is in a Windows environment (do not have to go to DOS), it creates an exact image of your entire hard drive so that if you ever experience a hard drive failure, you can completely restore your drive with the click of a button! You can also use it to mirror the contents of one drive to another, like in a 2nd computer.

I thought I'd recommend that because of the title of this post even though Karon was asking about transferring files from one computer to the next.

I actually have two drives in my work station and weekly I create an image of the first drive and store it on the backup drive as well as the main drive. If I ever experience a hard drive failure, all I have to do is swap drives and can be back up and running quickly. If many of you are like me, you do not have the time to rebuild a hard drive when a failure occurs.

[Ron Carnell]

WMU, where I occasionally teach, uses a "ghosting" program similar to Acronis. It might even be Acronis for all I know. While I haven't had any personal experience with it, the techs I've talked to at the University don't think too highly of it. Remember when CD burners first came out and you created two or three "coasters" for every successful burn? Well, to hear them talk, there's a definite similarity in the success rate for ghosted images. Based strictly on what I've heard, from techs who use it on over a thousand machines, I don't think I would feel comfortable depending on ghosting technology for a primary backup.

[GeordieSEO]

Ron - the software you are using is more probably Norton / Symantec Ghost as it's more commonly used than the Acronis tools. Partition Magic will do this as well (among lots of useful other things).

Normally one of the simplest and easiest ways to connect to machines for synchronisation is to buy / make a crossover network cable. I used to do this with my laptop and main machine until I finally got broadband and my ADSL router supports wireless so I now use a wireless LAN adapter on the laptop.

The only problem I now have with a wireless connection on the laptop is sitting up half the night reading the high rankings forum in bed when I should be sleeping

[Googlewhacked]

This might be hideously "old school" but, if you keep these files in a certain place on your drive (a "Clients" folder perhaps) you could create a small batch file that simply copies the desired files to a folder on the other machine. Then all you would need to do is double-click on the batch file to run it...



All you would need then is a crossover ethernet cable so you can directly connect the two systems (unless they are already networked)...