Old PC to New PC – Backup, Network; or Drive Swap?

Topic

New Reply

People,

Posting this here because I believe it relates to the OS more than anything else…but if not, please (Mr. Administrator), feel free to move it accordingly:

My new Dell 8250 is on it’s way, which will be running XP. My old box, a Dell 700, is running Win98SE.

I’m about to start the long, tedious backup & transfer process, which consists of burning all important files, folders, downloaded programs, bookmarks, address book, etc., to CD-R, for upload to the new PC when it comes.

Typical documents aren’t a problem. But the main use of my PC is that of a DAW, for the purpose of multitrack recording. As a result, my audio libraries (which are located on my secondary drive) are freakin’ huge; & the process could conceivably take an inordinate amount of time (as in, forever.)

So…is it possible to:

A) Network the existing PC to the new PC via an Ethernet cable (I’ve got a 10/100 LAN card in the existing box; & will have integrated 10/100 LAN capability in the new box); & upload everything to the new PC? Does XP have a utility for that? This is what I would really like to do…

…or…

Backup everything I need onto my existing secondary drive; & pop that in the new PC?

[&; as an aside…when secondary drives are originally installed, they are formatted to the file system of the existing OS, right? (which, in my case, is Win98SE/FAT32.) If I pop the old 2nd drive in the new Dell, which is running XP (or just ribbon cable it in for ghosting), would there be a conflict? Doesn’t XP have a dual boot option that supports different OS’s. Could it be done in that way?

Please help.

Thanks in advance,

mark4man

BTW – I don’t intend to leave the old secondary drive in the new PC, as I want to get a new secondary drive of larger capacity (& also would like the benefits of having a new, larger one, formatted to XP/NTFS.) And…I would really like to utilize method “A” anyway, if possible.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Mark, since I’m doing the same thing on my end, let me share a few tactics that I employ.

A) I use CD-RW discs to burn large tracks onto, and once I’ve finished the mixdown I can then erase the CD – or keep it if I might need it later.
I use two hard drives: Drive C: is the boot drive, and is partitioned with 15GB for Windows and Program Files. The remainder of the drive is data. (The workstation is dedicated so I don’t have to worry about excess growth on the system partition). The second hard drive exists simply for a mirror of the data partition on the first.
C) Lastly, I recently invested in an external firewire (IEEE-1394) external hard drive, using off the shelf parts although you can buy them whole. It was cheaper that way. This allows me to take anything that I am working on to another location if necessary.

Using hard drives for backup is speedy. Doing over a network turned out to be painfully slow, even over 100MBps connections. If I had the bucks, I’d invest in a RAID array, but I gotta eat too so that’s out. Another thought, on my DAW I don’t worry too much about the OS and applications – I can restore those in a few hour’s time. The data is irreplaceable so I use the hard drive scenario for speed, and insurance against mechanical failure.

If you want to work with scenario A in your example, it will work – map a network drive and use the built in backup utility in XP (Pro has it installed by default, Home does not) for the archival. Just set it to go to the network drive letter, set your schedule preferences, and off you go. Check it once in a while to make sure the backup is running properly so you don’t get caught in a pinch.

Your question regarding formatting – XP (and 2000) will give you the option of using FAT32 or NTFS as the file system. NTFS is more robust and may be a better option but ultimately it will be transparent in action.

Reply | Quote

You can do either one of your proposed solutions. Option a) only requires the lan connection at each computer, a “crossover” cat5 cable, used to connect 2 computers directly, and the ability and desire to set up a network between the 2 computers. While this is not hard, it does require some jumping through hoops, especially to get xp and 98 to communicate. When it works, it works flawlessly. Getting it set up to work can be a little tedious (check some of the posts on this forum; it’s quite a popular subject).

Option only requires loading up your secondary drive, popping the top of the new machine, making sure the new computer’s hd is set to master and the migrating one is set to slave (jumper on the back of the drives), and boot it up. Your computer will almost certainly recognize the secondary drive, and there’s no reason to mess or worry with dual boots. Just boot to the master drive, firing up xp, and copy your stuff from old drive to new.

If you want to set up the network (are you going to keep the old computer around? Might come in handy), it will work just fine, although it may be a little slow (probably faster than burning cd’s and transferring that way, especially if it’s multiple disks. That’s tedious, too)

If it was me, I’d just fill up the hd and move it on over, but like anything, there’s plusses and minuses……

good luck,

kip

Reply | Quote

Guys,

Thanks.

kip,

Is there any way to transfer everything to a “new” secondary drive using method B? In other words…I get the new PC & install a new secondary drive…& then hookup the old secondary drive (via the extra connector on the ribbon cable system); & move files from old secondary drive to new secondary drive?

My intention is to have a new secondary drive in the new PC; & I was hoping to avoid a double transfer (most of my really important files are digital audio, both .wav & proprietary, which will be used in the near future for pre-mastering to CD for bulk replication & eventual sales.) Needless to say, they have to remain in perfect condition. If I use the basic master & slave method, those files will be first transferred to the new PC’s primary drive; & then to over to a new secondary drive, when it’s installed. Should I be concerned about double transfer; & can my double slave scenario be accommodated?

Thanks,

mark4man

Reply | Quote

In any basic pc setup, you have 2 ide channels, each capable of using 2 drives each. So, depending on what’s coming on your new pc, you should be able to do this:

ide 0 master: main hd
ide 0 slave: new secondary drive

ide 1 master: cd (or dvd…)
ide 1 slave: the secondary drive from the old system.

If you have more than one cd type drive installed (ie: cdrw and dvd rom) you would still be able to accomplish the transfer by temporarily unplugging one of the cd types until you have your stuff moved over.

Btw if you do only have 1 cd type, meaning an extra space, it might make some sense to just leave the old secondary drive installed. Unless you have other uses in mind for it, I’d just leave it in there.

good luck,

kip

(ps by adding a RAID card, or if your new motherboard has RAID capability, you can add 2 more ide channels, meaning 4 additional drives. Of course you have to have a honkin big power supply to drive it all…..)

Reply | Quote

kip,

That’s why I like this board…guys like you & Wyly.

I’m giving my old secondary drive away (after it’s dumped out), to one of my PC musician buddies (so he can also have a separate source for his audio files)…but I’ll definately use that method…gotta be way better than networking.

Thanks very much (& also: thanks Wyly),

mark4man

Reply | Quote

What is a “crossover” cat5 cable?
I will be needing to transfer some data from an old PC to a newer one; I understand that PC Relocator is a great program to do this with. Anyone have any experience with it?
Eli

Reply | Quote

> What is a “crossover” cat5 cable?
It has the transmit signal at each end joined directly to the receive pin at the other end, this enables you to connect two computers together without using a hub or switch.

StuartR

Reply | Quote

Thank you.
I’m going to my “friendly” Fry’s Electronics in the AM and pick one up. Any idea what they run?
Eli

Reply | Quote