Quasqueton said:
How does one "easily" obtain a hub, and how easy is it to give IP addresses?
How easy is it to just take out the old HD and put it in the new box? I've been told that was an option.
Quasqueton
First, USB drives are the wave of the future and if your files are under a 128 mb or so then the easiest way to do things is buy one and use it. Even a 256 sized one is less than $100 and 64 mb ones are less than $30 at your favorite local office supply store. These little things are great and all you have to do is plug it into an available USB port and start copying files on to it. Then plug it into the new machine and copy again. Its a lot less hassle than CDR or even various networking solutions. Its also very fast and even a cheap one will hold more than 40 floppy disks worth of stuff. The only drawback is if you have some really big files you want to copy. These things are also called key drives because they are about the size of a car key. If you don't have the money or the files are too big or you old machine doesn't have USB ports then try swapping drives.
For my money nothing beats pulling the old drive out and dropping it in the new machine. If you are at all comfortable with a screwdriver it is a painless operation on modern computers.
A quick google search should lead you to several detailed explainations of the proceedure. Look a couple of these up and make sure you understand it before you start. Note details like the way cables are turned and how jumpers are set before you pull them. My summary below covers the high points, but read a more detailed one before you start. It varies a little depending upon the computers, but the steps are:
Open the case of the old machine and find the drive you want. Take out the little screws holding the drive in place (many nicer cases include a little drive cage that allows you to remove the drive without taking out any screws). Disconnect the two cables attached to the drive. Typically this is a wide ribbon cable that connects to the motherboard and a little power connector that connects to the powersupply.
Once you get the drive out open the new case and look for a spare ribbon cable and power cable like the one you just removed. Be very careful hooking up the ribbon cable as you can bend the little pins. It should only go one way because of a little plastic tab on the connector, but if you don't have one there is a little stripe on the ribbon. That side of the cable should be closest to where you connect the power cable to the drive.
If you plan to just keep the old drive in your new machine then find an empty drive slot and use those little screws to secure it to the new case.
However, if you don't plan to keep it in the new machine you can safely run the machine with the cover off and the drive perched securely where ever it will fit that doesn't interfere with the fans. This is not really a good idea, but it is the easiest way to do it if you are only going to have the drive in long enough for a one time file transfer.
A couple of things that might cause trouble--if you don't have a completely free cable you will have to deal with master/slave issues. The easiest way to do this is to disconnect a CD/DVD drive and then plug in the hard drive. Take off the power cord too. Then when you are done just plug it back up. Modern computers can adapt to the removal and reconnection without incident. Older machines are more tempermental. If you are going to have the old drive on the same cable as some other drive in the new machine then you'll have to learn about slave/master and cable select setups. Again google is your friend and its not that hard.
Once you get the old drive in the new machine just crank up explorer and start copy and pasting from old to new. Your drive letters may not be what you expect, so a little searching may be in order.
If you screw up you are unlikely to do any permanent harm, just be sure you take some notes or even some digital fotos to be sure you can put things back
exactly the way they were.
Good luck. If you run into any trouble I'll be checking this forum for a few days and try to bail you out.
Scotley
