How can you copy data between PC & Laptop?

[vlc]

I got a PC running 'win98se' an a laptop running 'win-xp-sp2'.
also i got...
a cat-5 cable with a phone-plug at each end.
and an ipod.

now i figured i should be able to copy across data with 1 of the later 2 items above, trouble is i've never done this before.

and i did try to with my ipod but it wasn't recognised by my pc's win98se o/s even tho i heard it should have worked.

so cheers 4 any help.

[Plotloss]

Presumably you got a CAT5e lead with an RJ45 at either end, if its a phone plug then its some sort of strange extension cable for PSTN

To connect a laptop directly to a desktop without a hub/switch you need whats called a crossover cable which is wired differently at both ends.

[Jinx]

Once you got the cross-over cable you then have the joy of trying to get win98 to talk to XP...... If you have USB ports on both I'd get a USB stick such as
www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3SMZ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=USB+drive&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0&v=1#infoarea

and use that instead.

[plcrtr]

Or, send yourself the files in an email then access that email from the other machine if possible.

Saves fiddling around with wires and network protocols.

[leorest]

I got lucky with my USB memory stick and found the WIN98 drivers on the net. It works OK but you can get blue screens if you unplug it when the OS is not expecting it and sometimes it refuses to let it go even when you have shut down all applications and open documents. If that happens the best thing to do is remove the stick only once the system has shut down.

Either buy a cheap stick which you know has W98 drivers written for it or see if there are ipod win98 drivers.

There are millions of other ways of doing this using usb, network, serial, and parallel cables but memory stick is the easiest, once you've got the driver sorted, IMO!

[aldi]

Has the '98 PC definatley got a network card in it? Most didnt at that age. If it has, you can do it but theres quite a few steps.

[tycho]

Get a hard drive external enclosure from somewhere like ebuyer.

Like this: www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106538

Then you can just copy the data over as it should just appear as a removeable drive in windows.

[leorest]

tycho said:

Get a hard drive external enclosure from somewhere like ebuyer.

Like this: www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106538

Then you can just copy the data over as it should just appear as a removeable drive in windows.

Good point! If you're into opening the things up then just transfer the W98 hard drive into the new PC as a slave. Make sure you boot from the XP drive and drag and drop your files.

[vlc]

Plotloss said:

Presumably you got a CAT5e lead with an RJ45 at either end, if its a phone plug then its some sort of strange extension cable for PSTN
To connect a laptop directly to a desktop without a hub/switch you need whats called a crossover cable which is wired differently at both ends.

maybe i've gotten confused between both plug types, for i thought the RJ45 plug was smaller than the standard phone plug end?

also, i do beleive the cat-5 lead as earlier mentioned is wired as the crossover type.

so do i use it for connecting both up via their phone-plug-ports/sockets, with no extra software needed for this?

also my motherboard lists it having a - VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter.
an i do have sufficient USB ports on either machine, though no connecting cable.

[thepassenger]

vlc said:

maybe i've gotten confused between both plug types, for i thought the RJ45 plug was smaller than the standard phone plug end?

Larger. Look for something "kinda like a phone jack" but with 8 connectors inside it. That's an RJ45 port.

vlc said:

also, i do beleive the cat-5 lead as earlier mentioned is wired as the crossover type.

Brilliant.

vls said:

so do i use it for connecting both up via their phone-plug-ports/sockets, with no extra software needed for this?

If both machines have a "8pin phone jack" on them then yep, one cross-over cable and that's all you need with no extra software.
Basically with the cable connected (in WinXP) go:
Start > Control Panel > Network Connections. Look for the ethernet connection (unplug the cable and it's change to "Media disconnected" with a red X in the bottom corner).
Pull up the properties, select TCP/IP, open properties for that.
IP address of first machine = 192.168.0.1 (you'll have to type this)
Subnet = 255.255.255.0
Leave everything else. Every subsequent machine incriment the .0.1 number by 1 (so second machine is .0.2, 3rd is .0.3 and so on).

vlc said:

also my motherboard lists it having a - VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter.

Yep, that's a ethernet adapter If that's the desktop machine it'll most likley be near to the rear USB ports (around where the parallel port, keyboard & mouse sockets are).

[big_treacle]

if you only have to do this once you could burn the data on to a cd.