Transfer Of Info

prospect

Hi All,
I have an IBM ThinkPad Pentium II here, that i am tiding up for a friend.
I want to format it and reinstall the OS, which is Win 98 (NOT 98 SE).

There is 35MB of files, which i would like to keep. But i can't get my disgo to work on the machine, (98SE driver doesn't work).

Any suggestions of a handy to whip the files off the machine? (there is no CD burner and i don't have 25 florries hanging around.

Cheers

colm_c

You could try networking it? ie plug it into an ethernet connection and transfer it over... or zip it and ftp it and then download it when you're done...

prospect

Two good options, thanks.
Any other ideas though, is there any sort of transfer cable available, or would a NIC be essential?

Khannie

You can get serial->serial or parallel to parallel connectors also (though they can be slow, they are effective).

Nic is only essential for ethernet (fast).

If you want to keep file size to a minium, use 7zip (www.7-zip.org) with ultra compression. It's the dogs.

Also, what about taking the hdd out?

prospect

Khannie wrote:

Also, what about taking the hdd out?

But i couldn't format and re-install the OS if i did that, could I?

Actually, what if i partitioned a part of the HDD, and put the files in there. Could i format the remainder, and reinstall, then pull the files back and remove the partition? Would that work?

zap

ye that would work use partition magic if your gonna do that, a transfer cable would prob be the best option if you don't have a NIC.

prospect

Right oh guys 'n' gals.

Thanks for all your advise, much appreciated.

P

dal

I re-installed Windows 98 the other week for someone. I backed up all the existing files first but it turned out that it wasn't necessary as the re-install keeps the files anyway. I wouldn't recommend this though just in case it doesn't work like that for you.

Can you not search for win 98 drivers specific to your usb key? Or is that what you meant in your first post (I assumed it was some generic driver).

You could also use Khannie's suggestion and stick the HD in another computer, mount it as a second drive and then copy all the files over, stick it back in the first computer and reinstall as normal.

unkel

Khannie wrote:

use 7zip (www.7-zip.org) with ultra compression

Wow that is good! Compressed a MS SQL Database backup and an Excel file with lots of data, not many formulae and got 90% compression. Thanks for sharing, Khannie

prospect

dal wrote:

Can you not search for win 98 drivers specific to your usb key? Or is that what you meant in your first post (I assumed it was some generic driver).

Yep, i tried to download the specific driver but Win 98SE was the only one available.

dal wrote:

You could also use Khannie's suggestion and stick the HD in another computer, mount it as a second drive and then copy all the files over, stick it back in the first computer and reinstall as normal.

Oh right, I see what Khannie meant now. Sorry, bit slow, I am winding down for friday

Khannie

unkel wrote:

Wow that is good! Compressed a MS SQL Database backup and an Excel file with lots of data, not many formulae and got 90% compression. Thanks for sharing, Khannie

You are most welcome:) and yeah, it's amazingly good compression. You do need a fast processor, or lots of time for it though.

Prospect: Yeah, that's what I meant. No need to apologise; I should have been more clear.

zap

7 zip really is excellant

Capt'n Midnight

Yeah 7zip has a certain wow factor, for AutoCAD drawings it can compress files better than the latest version of WinZip in some cases to half the size of the equilivant ZIP file !!!

for 35 MB - borrow a parallel port zip drive or a USB key with drivers that work with 98 or reuse one disk many times !

cd folder
attrib *.* +a
xcopy *.* a: /m

(this ticks off files as they are copied to the floppy - the windows equilivant would be to move files to the floppy)

prospect

dal wrote:

re-install keeps the files anyway. I wouldn't recommend this though just in case it doesn't work like that for you.

I unwisely ignored the second line of dal's advise.
I put in a Win 2K pro disc and it asked me if i wanted to upgrade, and there was a note saying that it would keep the existing files and programs.
So I figured, great, and went ahead with the install. My plan was then to back-up the files with my USB key, and then format the machine.
The install went okay except, it gets to the Installing Devices screen, (this screen may flicker, bit) and then it goes to the Finishing screen. The computer re-boots, the Win2K screen pops up, then a dos screen reading something about NTFS, then it goes back to the Installing Devices screen. It is like it is stuck in a loop.
Any ideas?

prospect

Okay guys,

After a bit of research, when the setup prompt appears, i have discovered that by pressing Shift+F10, i can open a command prompt.
So, using DOS, i am gonna copy the files to floppy disks and transfer them to my pc, for backing up to CD. (It'll take time, but it is my own bloody fault)
After the files are safe and sound, i won't be too worried about thrashing the machine.

Cheers

vibe666

maplins do a cable to attach a laptop hard drive to a desktop pc (2.5" to 3.5") if that's any good to you. only a few quid, and takes the headaches out of the whole process.

prospect

aaahh, sounds interesting also,

will check that, cheers