Transfer of Data Made Fast, Easy

Sooner or later you’ll find yourself with a hard disk full of programs and files that you need to transfer to a hard disk on another computer. This often happens when you buy a replacement computer or a portable to go along with your desktop machine.

Just to complicate matters, the new machine might have a different size disk drive--say, a 3.5-inch drive, instead of the 5.25-inch models on your old computer. Since a big disk won’t work in a small drive, or vice versa, you can’t transfer your files from one machine to another by putting them on floppy disks first.

Don’t worry, Fastwire II has come to the rescue. It is a package of file transfer software and special cables for connecting two computers that makes the job of transferring programs and files extremely easy.

You can purchase Fastwire II with either of two cables, or both. Created by Rupp Bros. of New York, it sells for $129.95 with one cable or $159.95 with both cables.

One cable connects the parallel printer ports of two computers. This data transfer method is about 16% faster than the alternative.

The other cable connects the computers’ serial ports, which normally are used for a modem, mouse or printer. The software automatically knows which kind of cable you are using.

There are two software disks, a 5.25-inch disk and a 3.5-inch disk. You can either copy the program files onto your hard disk or use it from the floppy drive.

Fastwire II is the easiest file transfer program I have seen. You merely decide which computer will be the “master” and type the “FW2” command. The other computer has to be the “slave” and you type “SL” to get it started. You can transfer files from the master to the slave or vice versa.

The names of files that can be transferred are displayed in a vertical list on the master computer’s screen. You can easily select all of the files on the hard disk, or just those in some subdirectories, or individual files scattered throughout the hard disk, simply by moving a highlighting bar and tapping the F5 key.

Rupp Bros. claims a transfer rate of up to 50,000 bytes (characters) a second using a parallel port and 20,000 bytes a second via a serial port, but acknowledges that in typical use, rates are somewhat slower.

I gave Fastwire II a good workout by using it to copy 16,780,082 bytes in 1,024 files, including subdirectories, from a Compaq Plus to a Compaq Portable III. Using the Plus as the master, Fastwire II automatically recreated all of my subdirectories and files on the new computer in 26.8 minutes using the parallel port. I did it a second time, connecting the serial ports, and it took 31.2 minutes.

Either way, it was an absolutely painless process. It took only a handful of keystrokes to get it started and then I could walk away until it was done.

Among the many intimidating things about personal computing are the new words and concepts you have to learn. Spreadsheet and database are two examples, but at least they bear some relationship to the way business is conducted on paper--with ledger sheets and client lists, for instance.

Unfortunately, there is no paper equivalent to help us understand “hypertext” software. Basically, it allows any text or graphic to be linked to any other text or graphic.

Thus, a paragraph describing a penguin could be linked to a picture of a penguin, allowing the user to instantly switch from the description to the picture.

The most elegant implementation of hypertext is HyperCard, created by Apple for its Macintosh computers. It works so well because all Macs have the same graphics abilities, user interface and mouse pointing devices to control cursor movement on the screen.

HyperCard was such an instant success that a new segment of the software industry has sprung up to provide what Apple calls “stacks” of HyperCard data. Many shareware and public domain stacks also are available. In fact, a trade show dedicated to HyperCard products has been launched.

There is no HyperCard-like software for the IBM and compatible world of PCs because there is no standard graphics, user interface or mouse. But users of IBM and compatible computers who want to experiment with hypertext now can do so with Black Magic, a hypertext word processor from Ntergaid of Bridgeport, Conn.

It allows you to create text and link it in a multitude of ways. It also allows you to capture graphics from other programs such as PC Paintbrush or Lotus 1-2-3.

The process of creating hypertext with Black Magic is surprisingly easy. Suppose you own a real estate company and want to use hypertext to let your customers search for details of homes for sale.

First you would type a list of properties including address, size, number of rooms and price. Each element on a line of text would then be linked to further descriptive details. For instance, moving the cursor to the size entry and pressing a key could display a floor plan and lot plan drawn with a computer-aided design program such as AutoCad. Similarly, pointing at the reference “LR” would pop a complete description of the living room on the screen.

The hypertext document could be made available on several computers or even in several different offices because Black Magic comes with special software to read (but not create) hypertext documents, which Ntergaid has placed in the public domain so that it may be freely copied.

Documentation for Black Magic is slim but adequate. It is riddled with typographical errors, however.

If you’ve seen Apple’s HyperCard, you won’t be very impressed with Black Magic. But if you live in the IBM world, it’ll at least get you started with hypertext.

Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the author cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Richard O’Reilly, Computer File, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053.

THE PRODUCTS

Fastwire II

A package of software and cables to connect two desktop computers, or a desktop and a portable, and allow files to be transferred from one to the other at high speed.

Features: Automatically senses how computers are connected and makes it easy to choose which files to transfer. Creates new subdirectories automatically if required. The serial cable has two connectors at each end, a 25-pin connector for PC and XT-compatible serial ports and a 9-pin connector for AT-compatible serial ports.

Requirements: IBM-PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible with 160 kilobytes of RAM. Publisher: Rupp Bros., P.O. Drawer J, Lenox Hill Station, New York, NY 10012, (212) 517-7775. $129.95 with either parallel or serial port cable, $159.95 with both cables.

Black Magic

A hypertext word processor for IBM and compatible computers that allows mixing text and graphics.

Features: Includes a public domain reader program that may be freely copied and distributed so that others may use the hypertext documents you create with Black Magic.

Requirements: IBM-PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible computer with EGA or VGA graphics card and monitor, at least 192 kilobytes of RAM and a hard disk.

Publisher: Ntergaid, 95 Connecticut Ave., Bridgeport, Conn. 06607, (203) 368-0632. $150.

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