Transfering media files quickly!

BJC

Hey all, more amateur problems. I've got over a hundred gb of films, music and pics on my pc that I want to put on my laptop. I've got a 160 gb external hdd but I'm wondering is there any sort of direct link I can hook up between the computers instead to speed the whole process up or any other method that's faster?
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Lazarus2.0

Crossover cable to join the 2 machines would be quickest and less error-prone .

BJC

Crossover cable, that's the same as an ethernet cable isn't it?

AlmightyCushion

Kinda. You're probably thinking of a straight through cable. The cross over cable has he wires arranged in a slightly different manner.

BJC

So one would be wasting one's time trying to do it with an ethernet cable?

Snowbat

Unless both your laptop and desktop ethernet ports are gigabit-capable (in which case you can use a regular straight-through ethernet cable as Auto MDI/MDIX is part of the gigabit standard), you'll be restricted to 100 Mbit transfer speeds and it will likely be faster to use your external hdd as intermediate storage.

If both machines have FireWire ports and run Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, you can hook them together with a standard FireWire cable for ~400 Mbit (or ~800 Mbit if you have FireWire 800 ports).
(M$ decided to discontinue this feature for Vista and later)

Another possibility is a USB2 transfer "cable" - an interface that makes each end look like a USB device to the other end and enables data transfer between hosts and will probably get you around 250 Mbit - eg http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=329461

Ponster

BJC wrote: »

So one would be wasting one's time trying to do it with an ethernet cable?

You can easily convert an Ethernet cable to a crossover cable. It's just the wiring that is different.

calex71

does your broadband router/modem (assuming you have broadband) have more than one ethernet connection or usb connection or wireless???

you could easially trasfer the files via shared folders with very little set up involved and by connecting both pc's directly to the router.

BJC

calex71 wrote: »

does your broadband router/modem (assuming you have broadband) have more than one ethernet connection or usb connection or wireless???

you could easially trasfer the files via shared folders with very little set up involved and by connecting both pc's directly to the router.

Ok, I'm sitting in front of both my laptop and pc now with both machines connected to my netopia modem via two ethernet cables.....now what??

enda1

Put your laptop lower than your computer.

Then tip your computer and shake a bit to halp the data flow.

Obviously the more you tilt the computer the faster the data flow but then you might get the problem of over flow and data loss to the surroundings.

Good luck.

BJC

I find the main problem with this method is when the assorted debri that lives on top of my pc falls off and hits me on the head. Oh well, has to be done.

Ponster

BJC wrote: »

Ok, I'm sitting in front of both my laptop and pc now with both machines connected to my netopia modem via two ethernet cables.....now what??

See if one machine can 'ping' the other.

START -> RUN

Type 'cmd' ad ENTER

in the MSDOS window type' ipconfig' and note your IP address.

Open the same window on the laptop and type "ping 'IP ADDRESS OF COMPUTER"

if you get anything other than "response in Xms" repeated 3 times then wait for me to sober up and we'll do the rest.