How do I transfer all my files from one PC to another?
May 16, 2024 8:02 AM Subscribe
Two PC laptops, running Windows 7 and 10, I believe. I need to transfer all my old files from the one to the other. Easy, right?
My original plan was to copy all the files onto an external hard drive and use that to transfer them. But my old computer won’t give me admin access to the (brand new) external hard drive.
I cannot seem to make a shared network drive on either of them that the other is capable of seeing—I verified they’re on the same wi-fi and discoverable but nothing shows up.
I bought a cheap USB-A to USB-A cable from Amazon thinking I could hook them up and transfer directly. They do not show up as potential destinations to each other at all.
I think I could possibly transfer files with Bluetooth, but it won’t let me transfer folders, just individual files one at a time. HELP. I do not know why this is so hard!
I can see that there’s a Plugable transfer cable for sale on Amazon with its own file transfer software, but before dropping another $40 on that, I figured I’d ask if there is some better solution I’m overlooking. I’m at my wit’s end and on the verge of taking these both to Best Buy or something just so I can get this stupid transfer over and done with. Thanks in advance for any help or advice here (if buying the $40 cable is the best option I’ll just do that!)
My original plan was to copy all the files onto an external hard drive and use that to transfer them. But my old computer won’t give me admin access to the (brand new) external hard drive.
I cannot seem to make a shared network drive on either of them that the other is capable of seeing—I verified they’re on the same wi-fi and discoverable but nothing shows up.
I bought a cheap USB-A to USB-A cable from Amazon thinking I could hook them up and transfer directly. They do not show up as potential destinations to each other at all.
I think I could possibly transfer files with Bluetooth, but it won’t let me transfer folders, just individual files one at a time. HELP. I do not know why this is so hard!
I can see that there’s a Plugable transfer cable for sale on Amazon with its own file transfer software, but before dropping another $40 on that, I figured I’d ask if there is some better solution I’m overlooking. I’m at my wit’s end and on the verge of taking these both to Best Buy or something just so I can get this stupid transfer over and done with. Thanks in advance for any help or advice here (if buying the $40 cable is the best option I’ll just do that!)
Best answer: When I did this recently, I gave up on networking the two PCs and ended up just using a USB hard disk as intermediary.
(I was actually able to network the 2 computers successfully, but network transfer speed was just too slow.)
I used XCOPY (you can also use ROBOCOPY) in DOS for the fastest copy speed to and from the external hard disk.
That's what I did, anyway. Other experts here may have had more luck with a networked method.
posted by snarfois at 8:11 AM on May 16, 2024 [4 favorites]
(I was actually able to network the 2 computers successfully, but network transfer speed was just too slow.)
I used XCOPY (you can also use ROBOCOPY) in DOS for the fastest copy speed to and from the external hard disk.
That's what I did, anyway. Other experts here may have had more luck with a networked method.
posted by snarfois at 8:11 AM on May 16, 2024 [4 favorites]
My original plan was to copy all the files onto an external hard drive and use that to transfer them. But my old computer won’t give me admin access to the (brand new) external hard drive.
Did you use some kind of backup software to do this? I could see this being a problem if you imaged the hard drive and then mounted the image on a different computer, but regular old drag-and-drop onto USB hard drive in Windows Explorer shouldn't give this problem.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 8:15 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
Did you use some kind of backup software to do this? I could see this being a problem if you imaged the hard drive and then mounted the image on a different computer, but regular old drag-and-drop onto USB hard drive in Windows Explorer shouldn't give this problem.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 8:15 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
Yeah, an external hard drive (or, better yet, a USB flash drive) would be the simplest and most straightforward way of moving the files. If you tell us more about the issue you're having with the admin rights, we might be able to troubleshoot it for you. In general, you should not need admin rights to connect an external drive to a computer.
posted by alex1965 at 9:01 AM on May 16, 2024
posted by alex1965 at 9:01 AM on May 16, 2024
Best answer: Some corporate-controlled PCs have software on them to prevent using non-approved USB storage, could that be the issue?
posted by BungaDunga at 9:12 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by BungaDunga at 9:12 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A different option:
Connect the two computers with a crossover cable (YouTube link) to transfer your files.
posted by inviolable at 9:45 AM on May 16, 2024
Connect the two computers with a crossover cable (YouTube link) to transfer your files.
posted by inviolable at 9:45 AM on May 16, 2024
Wait wait wait! By just "copying" the files, you will lose all the date information associated with the files - they will all have the transfer date as their "last modified" date.
Look at the free version of Acronis backup software. It will use the external drive you're getting anyway; create a backup archive on it; and then you can install Acronis on the other machine to restore the files.
You can even keep the external drive and use it to back up your system regularly. Acronis will detect which files have changed so you won't have to do a complete copy each time - saving your time and disk space.
posted by amtho at 10:01 AM on May 16, 2024
Look at the free version of Acronis backup software. It will use the external drive you're getting anyway; create a backup archive on it; and then you can install Acronis on the other machine to restore the files.
You can even keep the external drive and use it to back up your system regularly. Acronis will detect which files have changed so you won't have to do a complete copy each time - saving your time and disk space.
posted by amtho at 10:01 AM on May 16, 2024
Wait wait wait! By just "copying" the files, you will lose all the date information associated with the files - they will all have the transfer date as their "last modified" date.
Not true! Copying a file is not a modification, so the modification date does not change.
Copying does change the creation date, because a copy is a new file. Creation date matters much less to most users (when you sort files by date, it is normally by the modification date). But if you do care about it, you can move the files instead of copying, and that will preserve creation date. If you want to copy not move, and preserve creation date, then use robocopy.
Windows is complicated, so there will be exceptions in particular circumstances. But I just tested copying a file on Windows 11 between local folders on a standard NTFS filesystem, and back and forth from a USB drive, and the modification date did not change.
posted by Klipspringer at 10:22 AM on May 16, 2024 [3 favorites]
Not true! Copying a file is not a modification, so the modification date does not change.
Copying does change the creation date, because a copy is a new file. Creation date matters much less to most users (when you sort files by date, it is normally by the modification date). But if you do care about it, you can move the files instead of copying, and that will preserve creation date. If you want to copy not move, and preserve creation date, then use robocopy.
Windows is complicated, so there will be exceptions in particular circumstances. But I just tested copying a file on Windows 11 between local folders on a standard NTFS filesystem, and back and forth from a USB drive, and the modification date did not change.
posted by Klipspringer at 10:22 AM on May 16, 2024 [3 favorites]
robocopy has a flag that will preserve the metadata.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy
posted by grokus at 10:42 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/robocopy
posted by grokus at 10:42 AM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
Best answer:
IMPORTANT: formatting the drive will destroy any existing data that is already on it, so make sure you back up that data somewhere else if you want to keep it.
posted by Aleyn at 2:21 PM on May 16, 2024
But my old computer won’t give me admin access to the (brand new) external hard drive.This shouldn't be a thing, like, at all. If you're really getting that sort of error from the source computer you want to back up, I'd recommend formatting the drive using that computer, using the exFAT filesystem type, which should maximize the drive's compatibility and avoid any weird NTFS permissions shenanigans.
IMPORTANT: formatting the drive will destroy any existing data that is already on it, so make sure you back up that data somewhere else if you want to keep it.
posted by Aleyn at 2:21 PM on May 16, 2024
Seconding Aleyn's advice. File transfer between machines, especially Windows it seems, is often a challenge. Format the drive on the old PC, copy a few files, make sure they can be read/copied to the new PC.
If you are still getting errors, we need to know the exact wording of the error message, and the status of the old computer (that is, is it a former corporate-owned machine that may restrict USB devices).
A more extreme solution might be to take the physical hard drive from the old machine, mount it in an external drive case (very inexpensive) and see if it can be read by the new machine that way. This should not damage your old hard drive in any way, though you'll need to be sure you can get a compatible external case. If it doesn't work, plug the hard drive back into the old PC and think of something else.
Consider whether this might also be a task for a cloud service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. if they will install to your Win7 machine. You will need to pay for sufficient storage, and it will take some time, but might be a good solution.
posted by lhauser at 6:04 PM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
If you are still getting errors, we need to know the exact wording of the error message, and the status of the old computer (that is, is it a former corporate-owned machine that may restrict USB devices).
A more extreme solution might be to take the physical hard drive from the old machine, mount it in an external drive case (very inexpensive) and see if it can be read by the new machine that way. This should not damage your old hard drive in any way, though you'll need to be sure you can get a compatible external case. If it doesn't work, plug the hard drive back into the old PC and think of something else.
Consider whether this might also be a task for a cloud service such as Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. if they will install to your Win7 machine. You will need to pay for sufficient storage, and it will take some time, but might be a good solution.
posted by lhauser at 6:04 PM on May 16, 2024 [1 favorite]
I use AnyDesk to do this all the time. Not super fast but it gets the job done.
posted by rmmcclay at 6:27 PM on May 16, 2024
posted by rmmcclay at 6:27 PM on May 16, 2024
I have a couple of "USB disk drives". The official description seems to be "Generic - Compact Flash USB device."
I've plugged them into various computers without trouble. They were cheap. A My Book from 2008 is 300G capacity. But they are really slow compared to any sort of modern storage.
posted by SemiSalt at 12:54 PM on May 17, 2024
I've plugged them into various computers without trouble. They were cheap. A My Book from 2008 is 300G capacity. But they are really slow compared to any sort of modern storage.
posted by SemiSalt at 12:54 PM on May 17, 2024
Response by poster: Thanks all. I think I found the issue, and am painfully proceeding with the file copying. There was a red herring with a mysterious empty D: partition on the old computer that was actually the one giving the admin issue (still don’t know why) plus the external hard drive not showing up on unless plugged into a specific USB port (so I mistakenly assumed it was D:) I swapped it around until I found that it worked and showed up as E: and now I’m able to copy my files.
posted by music for skeletons at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by music for skeletons at 9:29 AM on May 23, 2024 [3 favorites]
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I'd focus on this method, it will likely be the fastest and easiest.
When you say "won't give you admin access", what do you mean? What error are you getting when you try and copy files from the old computer to the external hard drive? "Admin access to a drive" isn't generally a thing.
If the problem is that you don't have access rights to read or copy the files on the old PC, that problem needs fixing before any transfer method will work.
I bought a cheap USB-A to USB-A cable from Amazon thinking I could hook them up and transfer directly. They do not show up as potential destinations to each other at all.
This method won't work.
posted by Klipspringer at 8:08 AM on May 16, 2024 [7 favorites]