Vista Tutorial - What's best way to rip 20gb+ data off my old PC to my new one?

I only have one monitor & keyboard so i can only use one machine

I tried sharing all drives on my old PC & connecting via network cable but
my new PC doesn't see any of them

I was wondering whether i could connect to my old PC via USB cable so it
treats it just like a big drive - i realise it would be slower but i can
leave chugging away overnight

What's best way?

Jethro

You can use a KVM switch such that both computers will work off of one
keyboard, one mouse and one screen..

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

Two connect two computers using just one Ethernet cable is possible, but you
have to use what is called a Ethernet 'crossover' cable.. a standard
Ethernet cable will not do it..


"JethroUK©" <reply@the.board> wrote in message
newsYYsi.8742$Db6.7979@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
>I only have one monitor & keyboard so i can only use one machine
>
> I tried sharing all drives on my old PC & connecting via network cable but
> my new PC doesn't see any of them
>
> I was wondering whether i could connect to my old PC via USB cable so it
> treats it just like a big drive - i realise it would be slower but i can
> leave chugging away overnight
>
> What's best way?

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

I bought a x-over patch cable hoping it would work but even after sharing
everything with everyone on my old pc it doesn't - I don't really want to
set anything up because this is just a one shot deal then my old one goes in
the bin

trouble is i can't 'login' to my old machine & it may fail to start without
a keyboard plugged in so ideally i need to by-pass windows altogether &
that's why i thought maybe USB might work better



"Mike Hall - MVP" <mikehall@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:uegKWwo1HHA.5360@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Jethro
>
> You can use a KVM switch such that both computers will work off of one
> keyboard, one mouse and one screen..
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVM_switch
>
> Two connect two computers using just one Ethernet cable is possible, but
> you have to use what is called a Ethernet 'crossover' cable.. a standard
> Ethernet cable will not do it..
>
>
> "JethroUK©" <reply@the.board> wrote in message
> newsYYsi.8742$Db6.7979@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
>>I only have one monitor & keyboard so i can only use one machine
>>
>> I tried sharing all drives on my old PC & connecting via network cable
>> but my new PC doesn't see any of them
>>
>> I was wondering whether i could connect to my old PC via USB cable so it
>> treats it just like a big drive - i realise it would be slower but i can
>> leave chugging away overnight
>>
>> What's best way?
>
> --
>
>
> Mike Hall
> MS MVP Windows Shell/User
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
>
>
>

Hi,

To direct connect the two machines, you would need to use an ethernet
crossover cable or USB direct connect (null cable), and then set up shares
on the machine being accessed. Otherwise, you could use a hub, switch, or
router to connect the two machines via regular ethernet cabling.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"JethroUK©" <reply@the.board> wrote in message
newsYYsi.8742$Db6.7979@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
>I only have one monitor & keyboard so i can only use one machine
>
> I tried sharing all drives on my old PC & connecting via network cable but
> my new PC doesn't see any of them
>
> I was wondering whether i could connect to my old PC via USB cable so it
> treats it just like a big drive - i realise it would be slower but i can
> leave chugging away overnight
>
> What's best way?

JethroUK© wrote:
> I bought a x-over patch cable hoping it would work but even after
> sharing everything with everyone on my old pc it doesn't - I don't
> really want to set anything up because this is just a one shot deal then
> my old one goes in the bin
>
> trouble is i can't 'login' to my old machine & it may fail to start
> without a keyboard plugged in so ideally i need to by-pass windows
> altogether & that's why i thought maybe USB might work better

Since you only want to do this once and then toss the old box, pull the
hard drive out of it and either put it in an external enclosure or
temporarily stick it in the new machine. An easy way to do the latter
without messing with jumpering is to disconnect the new machine's
optical drive(s) and put the old hard drive on that cable.

The new machine probably has SATA hard drives but may have IDE optical
drives. If the optical drives are also SATA, then the external USB drive
enclosure is your best bet. You can also keep your old drive in it
afterwards (if it's healthy) for extra storage, etc.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User