OT: Got a new computer, need some advise..., file transfer with router or cable, ext hard drive Options

[neo914-6]

Just got a Dell Inspiron 530S with Duo Core processor.

Spoke to Dell Tech Support and they say I can transfer XP files from my old computer to Vista with a wireless router. What should I shop for, there's alot of routers? Are they priced for speed limits and what should I get at a minimum? Can you do it with a cable?

I also have files from a PC with Win98 that I'd like to transfer. I'm told this isn't possible to Vista with a router. I've burned some CD's but it's a really slow process. It won't recognise my thumb drive.

They say I should also get a external hard drive to store files and keep less on the computer (better performance) and to avoid losing data in a crash or corruption. I have a 220GB internal drive, how much should I keep "free"?

Page loading seem slow, I expected much faster speed. I currently have 2GB and can expand another 1GB so Dell TS sold me a 512MB memory upgrade. Is page loading limited by ISP or memory? My ISP (SBC) has a faster DSL upgrade.

[Pnambic]

Tons of things go into determining how fast your computer goes. Things like quantity of RAM(memory), quality of Processor, video card, hard drive access times....and this can be broken down into little parts like the size of the cache on the processor, the speed of the hard drive, the front side bus of the motherboard, the front side bus rating of the RAM, processor on the video card, amount , quality and speed of the RAM on the video card, number of pixel pipelines on the video card, etc, etc, etc...

But Internet speeds are generally determined by your ISP and the Internet in general anymore. Most computer network cards support 10/100 MBits transfer speed. Many new ones go up to 1000. Most broadband ISP's only provide 2 to 6 MBit download speeds. (Though I read an article that said some Cable companies were preparing a 90 MBit system.) But you can see clearly where the bottleneck generally is.

Transferring files doesn't require a home network, but I always suggest a router to help protect your PC/Laptop when using the Internet anyway, so it wouldn't be a bad purchase. Plus, it would allow you to share that Internet connection to multiple computers in your house.

I've used DLink, Netgear and Linksys Routers. I'm most comfortible with Linksys, though I really don't have any complaints with DLink. The Netgear I've used was kinda flakey.

Internet comes into your house and into the ISP's DSL Modem.
Modem connects to the Router.
Router connects (either by cable or wirelessly) to other computers in your home.

This way all computers in your home are connected. You can share the Internet connection and transfer files among the computers at your leisure. You can also share printers, play multiplayer games, etc.

The Router also serves as one more layer of security when trying to keep people from hacking into your computer. Nothing's absolutely safe, but this helps make you safer.

As to your free space, Windows used to start freaking out when your hard drive had less than 10% free. I'm not sure what the official suggested free space is anymore. I can usually tell by system performance when its time to clean up the hard drive (and most times reinstall the OS...)

Hope this helps.