Genealogy Chat

A pen drive (or memory stick) is very easy to use, it just shows up in Windows Explorer as another drive (like A; or C).

well, Ive ordered a pen drive - only £10.00, now I wait with baited breath to see if I can use it !! thank you all so much for your help brenda

I have never used one myself but pendrives are very useful. My daughter who is at university uses one to transfer work between home and college.

that sounds feasible to me. I do have an external USB drive. I could run two computers at the same time. I had never heard of a pen drive before, I suppose its like something you use in a digital camera. Thank you for your help, its been invaluable. Now onto the web to find a pen drive. thank you again brenda

Personally I think a pen drive. Stick it in one computer - download files on to it - stick it in the new machine - upload the files onto new machine. Then back to old machine -download more files onto pen drive -back to new machine etc etc etc You can have your two machines running side by side and can then make sure you have copied all the files successfully. Not very well informed on costs but Iwould have thought a pen drive might be cheaper - someone else might be able to offer advice on this.

what would be easier a pen drive or a cd reqriter? brenda

With regard to networking the two computers, it is not difficult but you would need to make sure both machines had network cards installed. As your current machine is 5 years old I doubt whether it would have one. External storage devices would be easier and cheaper. I think you can buy a reasonable pen drive /memory stick for about 25 pounds.

You are definitely not stuck. You can buy an external device to copy your files to, either an external CD drive or a pen drive - these can easily be transferred then to a new machine. As I said previously you will need to reinstall your programs from the original discs - but you usually find that a new computer will come with Microsoft Office or something similar already installed. What you do need is some expert help - do you not have a friend or family member who could just talk you through the options.

Just a thought, how could I network between the two computers? Is that difficult? I could maybe transfer the files that way. brenda

Looks like I shall have to struggle on with this machine. Its 5 years old and I have lots of files etc. I suppose I could get a cd rewriter and save the files on CDs and do it bit by bit. Couldnt bear to lose all my family history 20 years work !! If any new computer doesnt have a floppy drive then I am really stuck Progress?? brenda

It depends how much you have on your computer. If it is an old computer the memory is quite small. You may be able to E. mail yourself quite a few files.

Depending on how many files you have you may find that it will take quite a while to copy all your data on the floppies. Also be aware that a lot of new machine nowadays do not have floppy drives - you therefore wont be able to copy them on to your new computer. If you have a USB port on your machine then it might be easier to buy a pen drive, which is an external storage device. Basically it works just like an CD drive-but rather than copying your files onto the CD you are copying them on to the pen/memory stick

Ron's right. Don't attempt to transfer the files unless you are sure what you are doing. Do copy all your info as the others have said, by whichever means you have - floppy disk, CD, or memory stick (these last 2 will hold more information). As Elaine said, you will also need all the original software for, say, any family history programme you have. This will need to be installed on new computer. It isn't difficult to do once you know how, but scary if you are not entirely sure what's what! Good Luck Jacquie

this means then that I shall have to buy a CD reqriter - I only have a floppy drive at the mo. Is that correct?

Or network between the 2 computers? But dont ask me how. lol

You will need the original discs for programmes if you want to reinstall them on your new computer. Your data files can be backed up onto CD´s and then transferred to the new machine from the CD´s

The easiest way for the none techie is to save all your data from your programs to CD's, reinstall your programs on the new PC then transfer the data from CD's onto your new computer. If your none techie it aint gonna be easy, better to let somebody that knows what their doing do it for you. Ron www.genealogyprinters*com

You will need to buy some blank computer disks and save your files to disk. You should then be able to load what you want on to your computer.

can anyone tell me if I buy a new computer how do I transfer my progs and files onto the new hard drive. I know Im thick, but have no idea brenda