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    best way to transfer data to new laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by dosu, Oct 21, 2006.

  1. dosu

    dosu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I need to get the data from my old laptop to my new laptop. I would like to do it inexpensively... either get an external (possibly portable)hard drive, or i wondered if they make something like a USB to USB cable, so i can transfer the data that way? What is the best way to do this. Any help appreciated.
    Thanks.
     
    dosu, Oct 21, 2006
    #1
  2. drumfu

    drumfu super modfu

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    define "inexpensively" because buying a portable hard drive is probably the most expensive way to do it
     
    drumfu, Oct 21, 2006
    #2
  3. sheff159

    sheff159 Notebook Deity

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    How much data are we talking here? 1-2 gigs? If so then just go and get a flash drive. If its alot more then that you might have some problems doing it cheap.
     
    sheff159, Oct 21, 2006
    #3
  4. EagleDevil

    EagleDevil Notebook Evangelist

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    Any local area network will let you do it (USB, FireWire, wireless). You just have to use Windows to set it up. Not hard, but you can Google the instructions.

    Chris
     
    EagleDevil, Oct 21, 2006
    #4
  5. Dustin Sklavos

    Dustin Sklavos Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    I'd highly recommend connecting a FireWire cable between the two machines. That's always worked for me and the connection is incredibly stable. The flipside, though, is that it does tend to bog both computers down.
     
    Dustin Sklavos, Oct 21, 2006
    #5
  6. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'm suprised no one here mentioned a standard crossover cable yet. That's by far the cheapest method.
     
    Budding, Oct 21, 2006
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  7. Reezin14

    Reezin14 Crimson Mantle Commander

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    I second the crossover cable.
     
    Reezin14, Oct 21, 2006
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  8. burningrave101

    burningrave101 Notebook Deity

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    If it was only a few gigs then he could just burn the data to a couple of DVD's. If It's a lot more data though then i would just network the two computers together using a crossover cable.
     
    burningrave101, Oct 21, 2006
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  9. dragonesse

    dragonesse Notebook Deity

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    crossover cable!
     
    dragonesse, Oct 21, 2006
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  10. hollownail

    hollownail Individual 11

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    If you have a hub or router, then ethernet would be the best way. If you have a gigabit router, you can get around 10 MB/s.
    Thats how I transfer data from my MBP to my desktop and vice versa.
     
    hollownail, Oct 21, 2006
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  11. RogueMonk

    RogueMonk Notebook Deity

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    - Flash drive.
    - CD-R
    - Crossover Cable
    - Firewire Cable
    - Upload/download to a website
     
    RogueMonk, Oct 21, 2006
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  12. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

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    Crossover cable or dual layer DVD-RW's (do they make em yet?).
     
    Gator, Oct 21, 2006
    #12
  13. matt.modica

    matt.modica Notebook Consultant

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    Thats my first choice. A flash drive would be my second.
     
    matt.modica, Oct 22, 2006
    #13