Aringo:
There's a number of ways, depending on your budget, time and patience to
play computer geek,opening up the PC to play around with hard drives, Lan
cards, etc.
- You can send yourself an e-mail with attachments via one PC, sign off the
service, and log on to your email account on the other one, and retreive the
file. I do backup of some office files to my home PC in this way, where I
send myself an email attaching my Quickbooks data file, and retreiving it on
the other end. It is a lot more efficient if you have a broadband connection
and even more efficeint if you zip the files first, then unzip it on the
other end.
- You can also check out
www.sewelldirect.com
for software called "Fastlynx" where they furnish serial, parallel or USB
(or all 3)cables that you hook up one PC to another, you can install the
software on either end, and each PC can be on any Windows platform, Linux or
DOS, and files can be transferred from one PC to another, without trying to
understand anything about doing file transfers in "Windows". If you buy it
the first time, its pricey because of the cables, but I own previous versions
of Fastlynx going back at least 15 years, and since I got the cables, I just
get the updated software.
One feature I like is there is a way of installing the software even if the
floppy is busted, and you can transfer the files needed into the target PC
via a DOS command, thru a cable.
Because I was doing IT support as part of my consulting business some time
back, this software allowed me to transfer files from any PC to any PC
whether the serial ports are busted, parallel port has a bent pins, defective
floppies, non working CD-drives etc.
- You can buy the cables mentioned above, but it'll have to be special ones,
and I've seen it in Radio Shack, described as "Serial crossover cables", and
you can then attach the cables from one PC to another, and do a transfer
using Windows. When I tried it, both Windows are the same version, I haven't
tried doing it with different versions of Windows as you have. I value my
time nowadays more than the cost of saving a few bucks, so "Fastlynx" had
always been "savior"
- They also have USB zip drives, USB CD drives that you can attach to one
PC, unhook, then attach to the other.
- There are Remote access type PC services like "GoToMyPC", and "LogMeIn",
where you can sign up, for as little as $5.95 a month, and you can not only
operate one PC with another remotely, and "transfer files" as well. LogMeIn
has a "free" service, but the enhanced service cost you a few dollars. I
currently subscribe to GoToMyPC' and transfer file office to home this way.
In fact, I've tried transferring files from one PC to another, from my study
PC to the Living Room PC, trying out the "LogMeIn" advance service, available
for free for a short trial period (of a few hours. You need broadband for
these services to work right.
In conclusion, with Fastlynx, you use it to transfer files, and that's it.
With detachable drives, you can use it later on for backups, archiving etc.
With e-mail, depending on the size of the file, the limitations of your ISP
etc, you may of may not be able to do it effortlessly.
All in all, through the years, I find Fastlynx handy to have around. It's
almost like the rechargable car battery I keep in my trunk all these years.
All I need is to use it once if I'm stuck 100 miles from home, the car won't
start, and I won't complain about the $99.00 I paid for it.
