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.

I've heard XP runs better than Vista. All these extra desktop features means more crap to process taking up more RAM memory, but this all just my speculation. As for a wireless router, my D-Link has been reliable for the past 2+years. Ive never tried transferring large amount of files/programs from one computer to another via wirelessly, but i have done by just burning everything i need onto a cd-r and just reinstalling them onto the new comp. As for the external HDD, what do you mean by "free" space? It should be fine loaded up w/ files and such. BTW what brand/speed/size are you running for the Ext. HDD? So far the easiest methods would be to go the CD-R or Ext. HDD route. For the time it takes to transfer all the items from one comp to another it'll prolly take longer than to just drag n drop into the Ext. Hdd or to burn a 700-800mb CD-R at 48x-52x(7mins tops). Hope that helps Felix.

for the file transfer - why don't you take a cross-over cable?
you could configer a peer-to-peer network within 30 sec and a TCP/IP network protocoll is available on every Windows OS since Win95
just set up a file share - that takes you 10 sec - and than copy the files with 100 Mbit/s
that seems to be the cheapest and easiest way ...

Gustl

I hope this falls within the rhealm of Felix's questions. If not, I apologize for taking the thread out of his focus on doing his new system.
What is a cross over cable?
Can you explain the process you mentioned here?
Sure would be a BIG help to some dummies like me since I am in the process of putting my 500GB USB files on DVD and each DVD (4.3GB) is taking wellover an hour using Nero. My purpose is to format the USB HD so it isn't running both Windows and UNIX (Ubuntu).
Is formatting is the only way I can remove a dual system since Unix doesn't appear to have a process I understand clearly to remove one and not the other system.
Thanks.
Cooltimes

I agree. You don't need a router just to connect two PC's.
Also, IIRC didn't XP include a file transfer tool via cable? I've been out of it for a while, but there are certainly more options available than building a full network just to transfer files.

If your other PC didn't recognize USB thumb drive, it may simply need the correct Service Pack 2 upgrades. I don't think you even need the whole SP2.

HArd drive performance is important, but getting an external drive isn't the solution. As with most things it really depends on how you intend to use the PC. I recently put together a PC with my son for him to use at college. Original design called for fastest everything - until he saw the price tag. Then we started looking at real needs - and ended up with a very nice machine. It really helps to know what you want to use it for.

Good luck.

hmmm ... that's a little difficult to describe for me
it's a standard network cable Cat5 <=> Cat5 with some crossed connections
this cable allows to connect 2 computers without hub/switch
so you only have to pay about US$ 5.00 for a 7 feet cable that allows full network connectivity

the setup is pretty easy:
choose a IP range like 192.168.0.1 & 192.168.0.2 with 255.255.255.0 as subnet mask (all to be done at your IP settings)
then set the file share on one computer
search the network from the other computer (via IP) and connect to the share
then you have full network function

a better description may come from a nativ speaker ...

Gustl

I remember Win 98 had this function, but you needed a special LPT crosslink cable - wich was really slow
this cable was provided for example with the pcAnywhere Host+Remote package, version 9.2 (IIRC)

I don't know if this feature was implemented in later OS versions

Gustl

only Win98 SP2 fully supports USB
also, your USB device needs a driver for Win98

Gustl

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.

Thanks. You made what I wanted to know clear and using your help along with Pnambic's later on post, I am going to do me a private home network. I already have a router and the Cat5 cable so curious as I am, I gotta try this with an old laptop my son gave me that has been in the closet for the last 3 years.
914's are super but the users here make it even better.

Over and out.

Thanks