neddie Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 (edited) I'd like to get some files off an old PC, but it's lacking some of the more up-to-date features like USB sockets or a network card. It has a floppy drive, but the files are just a bit too big to make that particularly convenient. It has a dialup modem connection but again the files are just a bit too big and the connection a bit too flaky. Another restriction is that I don't want to install new hardware or software because the machine isn't mine - it's running W95 but I'm thinking Knoppix may give me more possibilities. One option I've heard about (but don't know much about it) is a "null modem cable", does anyone know if this would be a reasonable solution? From what I can gather it's a way of connecting the serial ports together, but it's not at all clear how the two machines can then communicate with each other - do you need special software in order to transfer files across using this method? Is it unreasonably slow using the serial port? Wikipedia hints at a similar method using the parallel port - anyone have any experience of this? Again, how would the machines look to each other? Edited June 26, 2006 by neddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelcole Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 yep you need some software to connect the two using the serial or par port.. I used lap link.. I think windows had a program also by default but i am not sure what it was called. But it had to do with networking.. It is not really tooooo slow but it is not fast. With lap link you end up with an interface like explorer split down the center and you just move the files. Worst case. Zip the files onto the diskette, if the space is not big enough it will copy to multiple disks for you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 I've used the parallel port with laplink, or even the method that Windows 95 and higher had, which allowed you to connect together the ports, and transfer files. It can take a long time if you have a lot of data to transfer. Or pcAnywhere was just as good, since it did used to come with a cable to connect the machines together and do it this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 laplink is windows software, right? travsoft.com? So I'd need to buy 2 copies of that plus the right cable, and run windows on both machines? Is there no Knoppix-Knoppix solution that does a similar thing? I just found http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Seria...link-HOWTO.html but that goes into massive details about umpteen configuration files and setting this and starting that, password files and options, and it sounds like a right pain to get set up correctly, particularly for a one-off connection. Also can I just buy the right cable? (expensive?) or do I have to get my soldering iron out and cross over the pins myself? Another option is getting hold of a parallel port card reader, I'm wondering if that wouldn't be a simpler solution... I had considered zipping and spanning over floppies but as I said there's just a bit too much data to make that a pleasant job, and my laptop hasn't got a floppy drive so that would need an intermediate trip to some other machine which has got one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 You can buy the cables easily enough, without having to make your own. You just need to make sure it's the right type of cable, parallel perhaps, so that you can connect both machines together. I've only done it under Windows, so not sure of how it's done in Linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qchem Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 As it's not your machine, you might not want to - but I'd be tempted to simply remove the hard drive and install it into your new machine - extract the data you want, then put it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 As it's not your machine, you might not want to - but I'd be tempted to simply remove the hard drive and install it into your new machine - extract the data you want, then put it back. Exactly what I was about to say.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 No! No screwdrivers! :o It's not my machine and it has to continue working as it is. Plus I doubt it would be straightforward to plug this antique desktop hard drive into a laptop, which is the only box I've got. Plus if I did break anything I'd be in a lot of trouble so only the most cautious solutions please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murda Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 (edited) Null-modem cable doesn't need anything else than the cable and two computers. I tried it when we played games with a friend (both had win98). Just configure a null-modem line in windoze and you're ready to go. Just keep the installation media at hand, you might need it. Modern Linuxes can do this pretty easily, I think. Takes about 10min to get it up and working, and the cable costs around 5-15€ these days. EDIT: But yes, it surely is the easiest way to remove the HDD from the old computer and install to another one, where you want to copy your files. Edited April 4, 2006 by Murda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cage47 Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Yeap null modem is possible. You can make one with a serial patch cable buy cutting it over and crossing the right wires. Or you could install winzip into it and create zips that span disks on floppies. I did that back in the days for large backups. If you really want that data now this would be your fastest route. Just have enough floppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congdonb Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) neddie, LapLink.com has an older version V for MSDOS available for $50 which basicaly is MSDOS based boot disk that you boot each computer with to setup communication via the two computers serial or parallel ports. Cable is extra and cost $15. Use is simple: connect the cable between the two computers, boot each computer with the disk and after minimal serial port setup you get a split screen on source and target computer to move files. You can do the same thing home grown style (without the $50 laplink software) with a serial port null modem cable and a communication terminal program running on both computers and transfer files via Zmodem or other file transfer protocol. (Protocols vary depending on terminal program being used. Find a protocol that the terminal program on each computer has in common.) Process is easiest if you can compress the files to transfer into one file prior to transfer. Windows95 IIRC came with HyperTerminal. Like previously mentioned, null modem cables are cheap or you could make your own from an old cable and a few DB9 connectors. See www.nullmodem.com for more info. Once the cable is connected to each computer's serial ports, you launch the termninal program on each and set it up to communicate over the connected serial port on each at the highest connection speed both terminal programs have in common. Set the terminal program on the old Windows95 computer to transfer (send) file via zmodem or other common protocol and set the target computer's terminal program to download (receive) via the same protocol. Set the download path and stand back and wait for transfer to finish. Transfer time will depend on communication speed and amount of data to transfer. -Bill Edited April 5, 2006 by congdonb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 That sounds brilliant, thanks all for the suggestions! I didn't expect it to be easier with Windows, but if it's already got Hyperterminal then it might be best to try running that on the second machine too. I kind of expected Knoppix to have more tricks in this department :unsure: I guess its counterpart would be minicom? I've only used that with a GPS before, on the serial port. Good tip with the compression, if the transfer is one file at a time then I'll have to see if it's got a zip program. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I'll give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironfighter Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Have you thought about splitting the files onto floppies with something like this programme? http://freebyte.com/hjsplit/#linux It looks like you can use the windows app to split them and the linux version to merge them. :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted April 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 So I've got my hands on a parallel port to parallel port cable (actually with pcAnywhere written on it but I've not got the software), and I'm looking at Hyperterminal - unfortunately in the help it only mentions the serial port as a means of transferring files and only offers COM1 as a connection, nothing which looks like a parallel port. Anyone know if Hyperterminal can use the parallel port or if there's any other (preferably Free) tool to do this? As mentioned, either for W95 or Knoppix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Spend fifty cents and get a network card. Opening a computer isnt really that bad/dangerous/scary. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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