transfer cable for programs?

[Jo-Anne]

My two current computers use WinXP. If I buy a Windows 7 computer, in theory
I can transfer all my files and settings with a transfer cable and its
software (Dell offers the Belkin Easy Transfer Cable). I have some questions
before trying this:

* Assuming the cable works, will it also transfer all my old programs onto
the new computer and put them in the right places so they'll work the way
they did before?

* What about settings that are stored in the Registry? Would it transfer
them--and if so, would they still work?

* Would it matter if the new computer were 64-bit rather than my current
32-bit? (I know some very old 16-bit programs won't run, but what about the
others?)

I guess the most crucial questions are whether using this kind of transfer
is safe and whether it's as straightforward as the manufacturer says it is.

If it could cause file corruption or screw up any native settings on the new
computer, I'd probably be better off reinstalling programs, copying and
pasting datafiles, and creating new settings.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

My two current computers use WinXP. If I buy a Windows 7 computer, in theory
I can transfer all my files and settings with a transfer cable and its
software (Dell offers the Belkin Easy Transfer Cable). I have some questions
before trying this:

* Assuming the cable works, will it also transfer all my old programs onto
the new computer and put them in the right places so they'll work the way
they did before?

* What about settings that are stored in the Registry? Would it transfer
them--and if so, would they still work?

* Would it matter if the new computer were 64-bit rather than my current
32-bit? (I know some very old 16-bit programs won't run, but what about the
others?)

I guess the most crucial questions are whether using this kind of transfer
is safe and whether it's as straightforward as the manufacturer says it is.

If it could cause file corruption or screw up any native settings on the new
computer, I'd probably be better off reinstalling programs, copying and
pasting datafiles, and creating new settings.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

User manual for F5U279 cable is here.

http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/qig_f5u279_8820-00235.pdf

It mentions it will be using "Windows Easy Transfer", and
not a Belkin piece of software as such. The limitations of
Windows Easy Transfer would be stated on a Microsoft page.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...files-and-settings-frequently-asked-questions

"What can I transfer to my new computer?

You can transfer most files and program settings. Specifically:

Program settings. Settings that keep your programs configured as
you had them on your old computer. Windows Easy Transfer
*doesn't* transfer the programs themselves.

To use the programs from your old computer, install
them on your new computer, and *then* transfer files
and settings for those programs.
"

I presume that means registry settings recorded for those programs,
are transferred over.

*******

It would appear you could skip the "Easy Transfer Cable" altogether, if
the network was up and running when the two PCs were connected to the same
router. Since Belkin seems to be using Microsoft software, I don't see
the software being a particular benefit (as you can download that
software for yourself). What you could do, is try this software
first, and see if the dialog boxes match the Belkin user manual pictures
of it or not. If the dialog boxes match, then it implies Belkin
hasn't added anything to it.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer

*******

Easy Transfer Cables are a special kind of USB device. Normally, you can't run USB
cables from one computer to another. But the chip in the middle of an Easy Transfer
cable, solves that problem. There were at one time, several chip companies making
the necessary chip.

The chip uses "MailBox" buffers. There is sufficient isolation between either side,
that the two sides are not aware they're functioning in a peer network.

+----+----+
----> | | | ---->
+----+----+

+----+----+
<---- | | | <----
+----+----+

This article doesn't do the subject justice. One manufacturer I believe, was sued
and forced to stop making their chip (patent infringement?). At one time there were
USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 chips, and a "sucker play" on Ebay, would be to sell unsuspecting
individuals the USB 1.1 version (which is slow as molasses). In the past, I'd have
suggested checking user reviews for evidence the cable used the USB 2.0 version chip.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Transfer_Cable

At one time, the drivers provided came in two types. One driver type, supported
an "FTP like" protocol. You opened what looked like a couple FTP program dialogs
on either end, and you could transfer files from one machine to the other. (The
dialog boxes might have been fashioned to "look like" WSFTP dialogs.) The limit
of this, would have been the painful manual transfer of files, as you located them
in the file dialog. (The dialogs would have looked like this.)

http://www.networking4all.com/img/gallery/helpdesk/wsftp/files3.gif

An improved idea, was to implement TCP/IP networking, using the mailbox buffers
to handle the packets. And that flavor of driver is more "generic" and supports
just about anything you might want to do. I suspect the Belkin product,
could be installing the networking style driver, and then relying on
the Windows Easy Transfer to do its thing over a TCP/IP stack. That
is easier from a design perspective, than the "custom" protocol used
with the original "FTP like" programs.

So what it boils down to, is the Easy Transfer cable looks like an Ethernet
cable connection, in a way. If you managed to get networking working well enough
on each box, that they had TCP/IP addresses, then chances are you wouldn't
need an Easy Transfer cable at all.

If Belkin had provided their own software, perhaps my recommendation would be different.

Paul

 

[Jo-Anne]

User manual for F5U279 cable is here.

http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/qig_f5u279_8820-00235.pdf

It mentions it will be using "Windows Easy Transfer", and
not a Belkin piece of software as such. The limitations of
Windows Easy Transfer would be stated on a Microsoft page.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...files-and-settings-frequently-asked-questions

"What can I transfer to my new computer?

You can transfer most files and program settings. Specifically:

Program settings. Settings that keep your programs configured as
you had them on your old computer. Windows Easy
Transfer
*doesn't* transfer the programs themselves.

To use the programs from your old computer, install
them on your new computer, and *then* transfer files
and settings for those programs.
"

I presume that means registry settings recorded for those programs,
are transferred over.

*******

It would appear you could skip the "Easy Transfer Cable" altogether, if
the network was up and running when the two PCs were connected to the same
router. Since Belkin seems to be using Microsoft software, I don't see
the software being a particular benefit (as you can download that
software for yourself). What you could do, is try this software
first, and see if the dialog boxes match the Belkin user manual pictures
of it or not. If the dialog boxes match, then it implies Belkin
hasn't added anything to it.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer

*******

Easy Transfer Cables are a special kind of USB device. Normally, you can't
run USB
cables from one computer to another. But the chip in the middle of an Easy
Transfer
cable, solves that problem. There were at one time, several chip companies
making
the necessary chip.

The chip uses "MailBox" buffers. There is sufficient isolation between
either side,
that the two sides are not aware they're functioning in a peer network.

+----+----+
----> | | | ---->
+----+----+

+----+----+
<---- | | | <----
+----+----+

This article doesn't do the subject justice. One manufacturer I believe,
was sued
and forced to stop making their chip (patent infringement?). At one time
there were
USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 chips, and a "sucker play" on Ebay, would be to sell
unsuspecting
individuals the USB 1.1 version (which is slow as molasses). In the past,
I'd have
suggested checking user reviews for evidence the cable used the USB 2.0
version chip.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Transfer_Cable

At one time, the drivers provided came in two types. One driver type,
supported
an "FTP like" protocol. You opened what looked like a couple FTP program
dialogs
on either end, and you could transfer files from one machine to the other.
(The
dialog boxes might have been fashioned to "look like" WSFTP dialogs.) The
limit
of this, would have been the painful manual transfer of files, as you
located them
in the file dialog. (The dialogs would have looked like this.)

http://www.networking4all.com/img/gallery/helpdesk/wsftp/files3.gif

An improved idea, was to implement TCP/IP networking, using the mailbox
buffers
to handle the packets. And that flavor of driver is more "generic" and
supports
just about anything you might want to do. I suspect the Belkin product,
could be installing the networking style driver, and then relying on
the Windows Easy Transfer to do its thing over a TCP/IP stack. That
is easier from a design perspective, than the "custom" protocol used
with the original "FTP like" programs.

So what it boils down to, is the Easy Transfer cable looks like an
Ethernet
cable connection, in a way. If you managed to get networking working well
enough
on each box, that they had TCP/IP addresses, then chances are you wouldn't
need an Easy Transfer cable at all.

If Belkin had provided their own software, perhaps my recommendation would
be different.

Paul

Thank you very much, Paul! Your explanation and links are very helpful. It
looks like no matter which approach I use (cable or network), I won't be
able to transfer programs. Over all I don't mind reinstalling programs,
although it's nice that I can keep my settings by using Easy Transfer
software. I gather from Microsoft's webpage that I don't have to worry about
transferring from my 32-bit Windows XP computer to either a 32-bit or a
64-bit Windows 7 computer. I just have to download the right version of the
program.

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

Thank you very much, Paul! Your explanation and links are very helpful. It
looks like no matter which approach I use (cable or network), I won't be
able to transfer programs. Over all I don't mind reinstalling programs,
although it's nice that I can keep my settings by using Easy Transfer
software. I gather from Microsoft's webpage that I don't have to worry about
transferring from my 32-bit Windows XP computer to either a 32-bit or a
64-bit Windows 7 computer. I just have to download the right version of the
program.

Jo-Anne

The only encouraging thing I can say is, you've just installed a new OS,
and if you don't like what Easy Transfer did to the target system, you can
always reinstall the OS on the new install machine. So it's not like any
foulups are permanent if they happen.

Paul