depending on what ports your laptop has you can do the following

null modem serial cable - very slow
parallel cable (you need a certain type ) - very slow

both of those u can use the laplink software, but its very dated and id only recomend it if your laptop was old

faster options

usb transfer cable (youd need a special link one i think)
network (easiest to setup so long as ur laptop has a ethernet port, you may need to buy an ethernet card for your pc,but they are cheep, then get a cable known as a cross over patch cable and its easy enough to set up)

firewire - similar to use but just different port's and different speeds

id recomend goign along the networking route, unless the laptops very dated do reply if u need more info

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jonsimmonds, have you tried connecting two pcs via Firewire?
I really want to try that. How fast is it? Is it difficult to set up the connection?


oh, and CATHAIN, I'd use the ethernet option ;-)
after you're done transfering the files and stuff, you can start a multiplayer game and have some fun

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quote:

Originally posted by icedale jonsimmonds, have you tried connecting two pcs via Firewire? I really want to try that. How fast is it? Is it difficult to set up the connection?

Ive never used a firewire conection, ive always used ethernet when transfering stuff, and a ethernet pic card is loads cheeper than a firewire pci card. i think it is just a case of getin a firewire cable and pluggin the 2 pc's together if you want to give it a try. for more info try searching google with 'firewire networking'

Jon

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Well the laptop i got is brandnew pentium4 windows xp etc. Does it matter if the the os are different because my desktop is windows 98.
So wot exactly is an ethernet card and wehre could i get one?
Thanks again for the info

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any pc store will sell a ethernet card and a crossover patch cable,

imm asuming since your laptop is brand new it will have a ethernet port on it all ready, it will be similar in shape to a phone socket if you goto start - conect to - show all conections, it will show all networkind devices on the laptop and it should confirm there if your laptop has ehthenet (nearly all lap tops do)


it wont matter with different os's as windows xp has a utility that creats a floppy disk with a automated setup program, so from the start menu - conect to - show all conections, there will be a bit on the left saying "set up a home or small office conection" run that and follow the instructions and its all easy and self explaintary

as to where to buy a card from imm not sure of any good us retailers so i cant really help you out there

Jon

[edit] a ethernet card is a device that slots into a slot on the main pc, and allows it to conect to a ethernet network, and are cheep and simple to use

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quote:

Originally posted by jon any pc store will sell a ethernet card and a crossover patch cable, imm asuming since your laptop is brand new it will have a ethernet port on it all ready, it will be similar in shape to a phone socket if you goto start - conect to - show all conections, it will show all networkind devices on the laptop and it should confirm there if your laptop has ehthenet (nearly all lap tops do) it wont matter with different os's as windows xp has a utility that creats a floppy disk with a automated setup program, so from the start menu - conect to - show all conections, there will be a bit on the left saying "set up a home or small office conection" run that and follow the instructions and its all easy and self explaintary as to where to buy a card from imm not sure of any good retailers there so i cant really help you out there Jon [edit] a ethernet card is a device that slots into a slot on the main pc, and allows it to conect to a ethernet network, and are cheep and simple to use

Blah clicked quote in stead of eddit..... seams like i cant delete my own posts now either

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Thats everything i needed to know, Thanks

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A cheap way would be to burn them on cd rw and upload them to your laptop, that is if you don't have your network setup with the router and all.

ethernet cards are only 56k, transfer rate i think ., i would think that your laptop has a USB port, i would buy an external CD Writer and do it that way , or buy a 250Mb ZIP Drive and stick it into your laptop,messing around with network cards and firewire can be tricky.

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quote:

Originally posted by DJ RozzeR ethernet cards are only 56k, transfer rate i think ., i would think that your laptop has a USB port, i would buy an external CD Writer and do it that way , or buy a 250Mb ZIP Drive and stick it into your laptop,messing around with network cards and firewire can be tricky.

what are you on about? ethernet cards are either 10mbs, 100 mbs or 1000mbs (this is used more in server setups but is begining to appear in desktop computers), the most common type is 10/100 which can transfer data at both speeds.

cost of a network card + 10m cross over cable patch cable - £10.02
cost of external cd writer - £77.74
cost of zip drive - £74.20
(all prices taken from ebuyer.com and include vat)

so for the simple process of transfering files its obvious whats the cheepest, and windows xp has a utility that configures networks automacally and creats a disk that can be ran on machines not running xp.

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quote:

Originally posted by CATHAIN Hey all, I've just got me new laptop and was wondering whats the best way to transfer large amounts of mp3, movies files etc from my home computer to my laptop. I could use cds but it be fairly wasteful. Any suggestions appreciated Cheers

Dont use cdr's use a cdrw instead. There still quite cheap and take less than 60 seconds to erase. Thats what i would do anyway