Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[richardl63]

Hi, I hope someone can help. I'm a bit clueless about computers. I have a new laptop to which I'd like to transfer all my files from my old laptop. I discovered that XP has a file transfer wizard but I don't seem to have what's needed to transfer the files, or do I?

My old computer is a Windows 98 with a floppy and cd rom drive and it's got a Xircom ethernet 10/100+ Modem 56 card that's used to connect to the internet DSL router, but the computer doesn't have an ethernet port, AND the USB port is damaged and can't be used.

My new computer has Windows XP Home, USBs, an ethernet port, no floppy drive, only a CDburner-DVD combo.

I happen to have what appears to be a standard ethernet cable to connect two computers. Can I somehow connect my two computers with this cable and transfer my files that way?

If you can steer me in the right direction or tell me what my options are I'd be very grateful.

Thank you!

[Zanthrick]

Yes, you should be able to use the ethernet port on the Xircom card. Which I'm guessing it's currently being used to connect to your DSL router. For a direct connection(laptop to laptop) you would need a crossover cable. A standard ethernet cable won't work. They are cheap, and are basically the same as the standard cable but with a few of the wires connected differently. It should only be a few dollars at most.

If you don't want to setup the connection yourself, you can use the included networking wizard in XP. I also believe there is a file and settings transfer wizard too. I havn't played around with networking in a while.

I'd suggest using google or another search engine for FAQ or How-To article, there are plenty out there.

A better forum to ask is at one of these sites:
www.anandtech.com <-- I believe they have a forum for networking, and a few articles on it buried somewhere in the site .
www.arstechnica.com

[richardl63]

Thank you very much!!! I'll get the crossover cable and give it a try!