File Transfer between Computers

To file transfer between computers you need to decide how often, how big, how PC's are linked and the software to use, so consider these guidelines.

Every PC user at some time wants to do file transfer between computers or an external device.

Perhaps you have a laptop and need to transfer or synchronize files with a desktop PC.

Perhaps you want to backup files or archive files to another PC, or share files with someone on another PC.

Over the years I have tried just about every method of file transfer between computers possible - except wireless.

But what transfer method is best for you depends on these factors:

1. How often you need to transfer files to another PC
2. How large the files are that you want to transfer
3. What ports you have on each PC that you can link
4. What file transfer software you use

How often you need to file transfer between computers should be your first decision. If you only want to transfer one file a month then a basic simple method will do.

How large the file or files you want to transfer should affect which method you choose.

The larger the files, the longer it takes and the more importance needs to be placed on the speed of the link connecting each PC. It can make the difference between waiting minutes or hours.

Ports will Limit your File Transfer Speed

What ports you have available on each PC will limit how fast the file transfer between computers can be done.

Each computer port whether it's the serial port, parallel port, USB ports, Firewire port, ethernet port or infrared port all have different speed limits.

Even USB ports differ in speed, USB 2 ports are faster than USB 1.

Generally the older technology (serial, parallel) the slower the port, the newer the technology (USB, Firewire) the faster the port.

The exception to this is an ethernet port which despite being around a long time as a networking port for business office networks, is still very fast.

Finally, we have the choice of software to use for file transfer between computers. You might be wondering why the software would matter.

One software I have used extensively is from a company that has won acclaim for developing award-winning connectivity products.

It has also earned the trust of 15 million customers worldwide who rely upon it to transfer, synchronize, share, and remotely access billions of files per week, swiftly, securely, and reliably.

Their main products for file transfer between computers are PCmover and FileMover.

PCmover enables you to migrate your software programs, files, preferences and even registry settings from one PC to another PC. It does not however support transfers between different operating systems or transfer of the PC's operating system.

FileMover transfers files securely to and from other computers over a TCP/IP network, USB or serial cable.

Software can Limit your File Transfer

Putting aside whether one file transfer or synchronization software is easier to use than another, the method of transfer used by the software can have a big impact on speed.

In general software that does not rely upon the PC 's operating system i.e. Microsoft Windows, Mac, will be faster than software that runs under the operating system.

Although most file transfer software runs under say Windows for the user to select files etc, some software actually reboots the PC and runs outside Windows to carry out the file transfer.

The fastest file transfer between computers is achieved with this type of software, a good example will automatically and reliably back up transfer and recover everything on your computer.

Although software like this would be overkill if your file transfer between computers were just a few small files, it really comes into its own for large file transfers or complete disk backups.

To sum up

For small infrequent file transfer between computers, use the PC 's Windows based software or something like PCmover or FileMover. Then connect the USB ports on each computer through a suitable USB to USB link cable or ethernet LAN cable.

For large file transfer between computers, you should use high speed ports like firewire or ethernet. Then use a file transfer software like FileMover that supports transfer using these ports (ethernet), either under the PC operating system ( OS ) or better still, outside the OS, using Norton Ghost.

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