Topic awaiting preservation: Some assistance please... (Page 1 of 1)

Dude! I got a Dell!

Ok, I've got a phat new computer, and I want to transfer some files from my old hard drive to the new one. I do not have a CD burner on the old one, nor a floppy drive on the new one so that's out (funny how that all worked out, but it's what I get for not paying strict attention. Who'd a thunk a floppy drive would become an option!). I considered using my website to transfer some things via FTP, but some of my original graphics files are HUGE, so it would take a really long time.

I have also considered using the CD burner on my PC at work and backing up the files on the old machine through a PPTP connection, which seems viable, but I'm still checking my options. Considering the amount of time I'll have at work this next week, I'd like to find an alternative to this option.

My dad has a null modem cable, and suggests that a direct cable connection may be the best route. I found information on how to set up a direct connection on the MS knowledge base, but haven't a clue how to use such a beast when I get it functioning.

Can anyone give me a few pointers? I'm not having much luck with the HOW TO articles on MS.com.

The old PC is on Win2kPro, the new one is Win XP if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance!



Cell 617

I would recommend that you take the hard drive out of the old machine and put it in the new machine, copy the files from one drive to the other, then return the hard drive to the old machine.

You just have to make sure that you get the hard drive jumpers set correctly or some motherboards won't read the drive (single drives are often set to "master", and you cannot have two "master" drives on one IDE channel).

Direct cable connection can be a pain, both computers have to be compatible and things have to be done in a very strict order for it to work properly. Would it not be possible to just put your old hard drive into the new computer and run it as a slave, then you could just copy all your stuff straight over or just keep your data there and have easy access to it?

Are they networked at all? can just copy them over the network.

Otherwise, your best option is to swap the HD over and copy files off of it that way, it's probably the easiest/fastest route to go.

Dang it. I just knew someone was going to suggest that.

Ok, so I take the old drive out of the old PC, and connect it to the slave connection on the flat cable attached to the new hard drive (am I starting this right? I feel like a complete novice here...) - the new PC should automatically recognize the additional drive? And then I can just switch the files over? (Which should be exceedingly easy, if the additional drive is recognized...)

And the fact that there's a separate OS on the old drive shouldn't make a difference?

(thanks for humoring me here... I'm spending a lot of money on the new system, and don't want to screw it up any...)


Cell 617

If your new comp is running WinXP, then it shouldn't have a problem recognizing a drive. If you do have any problems, we're right here

Yes, exactly - you shouldn't have any problems as long as you make sure that the jumper on the old harddrive is set to "slave". Windows versions shouldn't matter either.

Just find an unused, flat IDE cable and a power cable in the new machine and connect them to the drive, when that is done things can only go smoothly


kuckus

// edit: unable to spell my own name again...

[This message has been edited by kuckus (edited 07-24-2003).]

Well alright then. I'm taking you guys's words for this...

I shall dive in this evening, and let you know how I fare...

(my husband is going to have a FIT when I crack open the case of this brand new machine... regardless of the reason why! )



Cell 617

then don't tell him until it's done.....


__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

Good luck with that! Small apartment, brand new computer that he currently knows more about than I do because I came back from vacation and straight back into the craziness of a payment deadline at work...
But I'll try to convince him of the importance, and that I know what I'm doing... that's the most important bit, right?




Cell 617

*smiles* I love this webcomic. http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date=2002-11-09

Good luck with the harddrive swap

Bodhi, sometimes its easier to have it laid out. Here's exactly what you need to do.

Once you've got the hard drive out of the old case, open up the new one and just take a look inside to see what's what. Take careful note of the pin setting on the new hard drive.

Usually, your primary hard drive will be at the end of the first IDE channel and the jumpers will be set for "cable select". This is normal for a single drive on that cable.

The jumper, if you didn't already know, is a small plastic block bridging two wires, usually located between the power connector and the IDE connector. The jumper setting is VERY IMPORTANT.

The jumper settings you want are:
new hard drive set to MASTER
old hard drive set to SLAVE
(note: they must be on the same cable, and it's a good idea to have the MASTER at the very end of the cable)

Most hard drives have diagrams on the top to show you which jumper pin configuration is which. Remember, setting your pins correctly is VERY IMPORTANT.

Once you've connected the old drives IDE connector and power supply connector, just mount everything back on the case, close it and you're set to go.

Windows should automatically detect the hard drive you just added, even though it's got an OS on it, and should add it ass drive E: or F: or whichever letter is open.

Good luck.

The only thing I can think of adding to the above is an alternative....
Instead of taking the old hard drive out, how about transferring the CD burner from the new machine to the old one, copy all the files you want to disk, then putting the CD burner back into the new 'puter.#
I only suggest this cos I feel more comfortable installing CD Drives, heh
good luck with your mission (should you decide to continue). ;¬

Just a word of warning. To prevent electrostatic discharg, Static electricity from walking on carpet, from frying your drives make sure to always be touching a metal part of the computer case to ground yourself. This puts you and the equipment at the same potential voltage in a non-damaging manor for the equipement. Also unplug the computers you are working on since new computers don't fully power down until you unplug them.

__________________________
"Show me a sane person and I will cure him for you."-Carl Jung
Eagles may fly high, but beavers don't get sucked into get engines.

taobaybee: That can only be a feasible solution for relatively small hard drives. With today's supergiant drives, doing so would require loads of discs, a long time, and a lot of patience (especially when it's time to copy all those discs to the new drive).

Well Bodhi23? ...how did you get on?...

Ok, my cat got sick yesterday and I had to take him to the vet when I got home from work, so I didn't mess with it last night.

Upon reading the documentation for the PC I have, Dell states that my configuration only supports one hard drive. Makes me wonder whether or not I could go that route now. Anyone have any knowledge about that restriction? As long as Windows would recognize the additional drive without too much tweaking from me, I'm pretty sure adding it in would pose no real difficulty.

I hadn't thought about moving the CD R/RW drive, but that's definitely an option. I, too, am more comfortable moving CD drives... just a matter of getting the proper driver for it installed on the old drive.

Dell says that Windows XP has a program on it's install CD that allows you to transfer files through direct cable connection, so I'm gonna try that route first. Tomorrow, when I have plenty of time to screw around with it. My dad dropped off the null modem cable yesterday. It seems the least invasive procedure.

Give me the weekend to figure it all out, I'll post an update when I get the process completed.
Thanks for the tips and support!

edit: Cute comic Raptor... The commercials get on my nerves too, but I didn't expect them to approve the credit request, so I was pretty surprised that I actually have one... It amuses me to make that statement every now and then...


Cell 617

[This message has been edited by bodhi23 (edited 07-25-2003).]

When they say your configuration only supports one hard drive they mean either one of two things:

1.) Tech Support won't help you when trying to install another hard drive to your machine
2.) They shipped it with an IDE cable that only has one termination point or some other hardware shortcoming

Now, that doesn't mean that you can't go ahead and add a new hard drive. For one thing, the IDE spec requires to devices per IDE channel and there's no way around that so you always have the option of adding another drive.

quote:

---

xpirex:

Direct cable connection can be a pain, both computers have to be compatible and things have to be done in a very strict order for it to work properly.

---

You've been warned...



[This message has been edited by ozphactor (edited 07-25-2003).]

After reading all the previous posts, I would do the following:

1 - it's not clear why you cannot connect both machines using a network, even if it's just a network between the two, the old and the new. It only takes a network card installed in both computers and I find it unlikely that your both computers do not have a network card, even if on-board, they should have. Then, all you need is a cross-over cable, that you can buy in many places, and connect both directly and make the setup that's pretty easy with WinXP in one of the machines.

2 - If one of the two computers doesn't have a network capability (weird!), I'd go taking the HD from the old and installing into the new. You just have to take out the case of the new one and connect the old HD into the same cable, as already stated in previous messages, making the necessary adjusts, like slave and master. If Dell has provided you with a cable with just one connector, no slave connector, then I would return the computer to Dell because this would be a very very cheap policy from Dell. I believe that allowing just one HD means internal space to hold another, but you are not going to install it definitely, just for a couple of minutes, enough to make the transfer of all files.

3 - If direct cable connection means something different than using both network cards and a cross-over cable, like using parallel cables, the old-fashioned way, this is really painful.

Poor lady, seeking a simple solution to her dilema and being inudated with a deluge of complex scenarios.


[This message has been edited by Xpirex (edited 07-26-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Xpirex (edited 07-27-2003).]

Virtual advices are still better than no advices at all (or having to buy a book to learn stuff), like in the old days (pre-Internet). If there were free teleportation, I would gladly help the lady (as surely many of us), but learning is also fun and gives us more options, a sort of a freedom to choose.

This may be of help if you run into trouble. Seems all OS combinations are covered.
http://www.lpt.com/Support/DCC-SetUp/dcc-setup.htm

Think I just may give this a go...as I have all necessary components... doing nothing.

And you can never have too many good links to good advice as well, (good links, good web).
I found these people brilliant for sorting out a couple of problems I had with my 'puter. Check them out Bodhi23, if you haven't already done so, Pro Networks . Sorry I can't be of more help dood...
Good luck ...fingers crossed
Tao

It seems as if the direct connection would work on both (that's a parallel cable plugged between the two PC's, a simple network, I believe), however, the null cable I have is both female plugs, and the PC's serial ports are also female. I think I could do that fairly simply, but I need a different cable. I may go for the drive addition next.

Not that I didn't already have about 3 options for swapping data between the 2 machines, just that I wanted everyone's opinion on it. Which you all have gleefully provided for me. It's not that it's really difficult, just a general pain in the ass.
Thanks though, you've all been very helpful.


Cell 617

You can use a Cat 5 cable to connect two PC's together, assuming they both have networking cards. It's ten times faster than parallel cable connections. Regardless of which cable you use... you need a crossover cable. A standard cable will get you nowhere.

Alas, no network connections other than serial on the old PC. It's among the many reasons I upgraded... There appears to be no good way of connecting the computers to each other... I suppose the drive exchange is the next step...



Cell 617

Sure. Between a serial painful connection and swaping drive, go for the latter, for sure. You'll see it's easier doing than describing it, as long as you know the basics, already mentioned.

Ok - I'm gonna take you guys' word for this one... I don't think I'll have time to get to it until this weekend, but I'll let you know.
(Man, I knew this month would be exhaustingly busy, but this is getting rediculous! No time for nuttin'!)


Cell 617

Here is a good explanation: Cdrom & Hardrive installation

__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan
bookmarks

bo: Piece of cake...not a problem. The only thing I'll add that I don't beleive has been mentioned is don't bother trying to actually install that old HD. That is don't put it in a bay. Make sure the HD is 'level' but leave it outside the case. You only want to transfer files right? I just finished doing the same thing a few weeks ago and as you can see here http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum1/HTML/007741.html

Viol has a HD permanently outside the box. When it gets right down to it, actually mounting a HD in a bay and securing it is the toughest part of the whole thing...and you ain't gonna be doin' that. =)

I can't wait to hear how all this will turn out...