Bought a desktop and need to move my files

Okay, so my laptop has been my primary storage holder for the past 5 years or so. It is on its death bed, so I bought a desktop, which will now by the primary storage and work space for my photos. I know I need to get an external hard drive, but I don't quite yet have the funds for that, but it is #1 on my list of things to get. In the meantime, I would like to move some/all of my photos from my laptop to my new desktop, especially the projects that I am currently working on for myself and my clients. I have google drive installed on both machines, and I feel like in theory, there should be a way for me to utilize this program to transfer the files from one computer to the other, however, the specifics on how to achieve this, eludes me. I am not the most computer literate person, but I can usually figure things out with a little guidance. I have researched the internet for days, and I just can't seem to get through this one on my own. Can anybody offer me any solutions? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Well, a USB hard drive would be best as it could serve as a backup drive after the transfer is complete.

The fastest way to do it requires taking the hard drive out of the laptop temporarily, assuming its easy to access, which most are. Connect the laptop drive to the desktop with an adapter like this: http://www.amazon.com …pter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/. The desktop will see it like any other USB drive and you can just drag your files to the desktop's drive.

You can also network the two computers and transfer that way, but that may be a bit tricky depending on the operating system on each machine.

Sersiously, the easiest way for a minimally computer literate person to transfer files is to use a USB hard drive. It takes longer than moving them directly, but doesn't require touching the laptop's internals.

You have a desktop, you don't want external drives, you buy bare drives and put them inside the desktop. If that makes no sense go to a local computer store.

The easiest way to transfer smaller files is using a USB key or disk. A better way for large files it to put both on a network and enable file sharing. It can take hours or days to copy lots of files. Another way is to just take the disk out of your old computer and put it in the new computer. A computer store can help with that too.

How many files in GB do you need to transfer? Are any of them in a Lightroom catalog?

I'm going to assume both are Windows machines. You could put both machines on the same network, access the laptop from the desktop and copy the files that way. You'll need to know either the computer name or IP address of the laptop. Then you would press Windows+R. In the box, you'll type in '\\laptop_name_or_IP\c​$'. Then navigate to where the files are and copy them to your desktop.

Archibald wrote in post #17429706
How many files in GB do you need to transfer? Are any of them in a Lightroom catalog?

I'm not too sure how many GB it is, but its about 10 years worth of pictures...so nothing of a small amount. That is the main problem with the laptop (aside from outdated technology) it is out of space due to my pictures. I don't necessarily need to put all of them on my desktop (some of them are old enough and far back enough in my photography journey, to be retired to a better type of archive) but I want to make sure I can get everything off of the laptop before it dies for good and I lose all of those memories/pictures. Yes, ideally my lightroom catalogs would be included.

DGStinner wrote in post #17429946
I'm going to assume both are Windows machines. You could put both machines on the same network, access the laptop from the desktop and copy the files that way. You'll need to know either the computer name or IP address of the laptop. Then you would press Windows+R. In the box, you'll type in '\\laptop_name_or_IP\c​$'. Then navigate to where the files are and copy them to your desktop.

I have read about setting them up on a network, but I wasn't quite sure how to make that happen. They are both windows machines, and I understand the concept, but I gave it an attempt last night and failed. LOL. In my head it makes sense, I'm just not sure of the exact steps to get me there. I will try the steps you included later on today and see if I have any luck. Keep ya posted!

If at all possible I suggest keeping the desktop on a wired network, and then plug the laptop into the network as well rather than trying to transfer stuff over wireless.

Prop the laptop up to make sure it has good airflow and cooling, plug in the power and network, and let it go to town dropping all of its contents into a shared folder on the desktop. (You can then unshare the folder on the desktop if you need the extra bit of security for the data, or leave it open if you want to keep using the laptop for stuff till it actually goes kaput.)

As long as nothing else on the network is going to hog throughput, then a standard network transfer is usually faster than using a USB external drive as a go-between.


Hit up youtube if you're unsure of how to share folders, and ask questions if you get confused. Good luck with the new computer.

(Personally I prefer to keep at least one backup copy on an external drive or NAS, ideally NAS. If the power supply of the main computer goes up then there is a chance of it killing pretty much everything that shares its internal power rails, which includes USB external drives. Also easier to get yourself going again from an external backup if your main computer is down temporarily. Far easier to just unplug one cable and pick up a drive than having to open a case and fiddle with screws.)

Are your machines Microsoft. If so you should be able to use east transfer to move your files... It's already on your new machine and you should be able to download it from Microsoft onto your old machine... you'll need cd's or a large capacity thumb drive

For a large photo archive,
I would go the external HD route.

- Get an external large enough to hold everything and a more.
- Plug external into laptop and Copy all the files from laptop to the external drive.
- Plug external into desktop and copy all the files onto the internal drive.
- Set up a back up program to copy new image files to the external.
- Always at least two copies on two separate drives with two power supplies.


- The final step is to get yet another external drive to back up to, and every few months or so swap the external with one of the copies kept off site.

Got a good sized computer store nearby or a Radio Shack (if they still exist)? If so do it the old fashioned way with a $5 Ethernet crossover cable. See http://smallbusiness.c​hron.com …ethernet-cable-56523.html for full instructions. Quite fast as well.

John is correct. As he is also from PA that's just expected. Another way is this:
http://www.addictiveti​ps.com …mputers-in-windows-vista/

John from PA wrote in post #17442712
Got a good sized computer store nearby or a Radio Shack (if they still exist)? If so do it the old fashioned way with a $5 Ethernet crossover cable. See http://smallbusiness.c​hron.com …ethernet-cable-56523.html for full instructions. Quite fast as well.

Does any networking gear from the last decade or more actually need a crossover cable now? Everything I've used for years now has supported auto detection to adjust itself for point to point as needed.

Luckless wrote in post #17443007
Does any networking gear from the last decade or more actually need a crossover cable now? Everything I've used for years now has supported auto detection to adjust itself for point to point as needed.

True, but we don't know what the OP has or his abilities, beyond his statement that it is a 5 year old laptop.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17439431
For a large photo archive,
I would go the external HD route.

- Get an external large enough to hold everything and a more.
- Plug external into laptop and Copy all the files from laptop to the external drive.
- Plug external into desktop and copy all the files onto the internal drive.
- Set up a back up program to copy new image files to the external.
- Always at least two copies on two separate drives with two power supplies.


- The final step is to get yet another external drive to back up to, and every few months or so swap the external with one of the copies kept off site.

^^^

1TB capacity USB connected external harddrives can be found (like on Amazon.com!) for only $60, hardly a burdensome expense. It is highly unlikely that any 5 year old laptop had 1TB of data (the entire internal harddrive is smaller!)
Plug it into your laptop, and copy all of the images to it...then, as you need, you can access those photos from your new desktop PC selectively, merely by having the external harddrive plugged into the desktop PC.