Getting Data From PC to PC
As time goes on, it becomes increasingly likely that you’ll need to transfer the programs and data you have stored in one computer to another.
Several factors make it so. New-generation computers with 386 chips offer major improvements in performance at bargain prices, tempting many owners of older IBM-compatible machines to buy new models.
Furthermore, many users have added portable computers to their equipment inventory, usually as a supplement to a desktop unit.
There are a couple of handy ways to accomplish such transfers.
When you want to connect computers by cable, you can use special file transfer software. Of the several good products that do the job, I recently tested Fastlynx from Rupp Corp. of Los Angeles.
A newer and more powerful way to transfer programs and data is with a portable hard disk that can be connected to first one and then the other computer. I have tested DataFile from Axonix Corp. of Salt Lake City, with 20 to 200 megabytes of storage and prices ranging from $799 to $2,299.
Cable-transfer software has been on the market three or four years, and by now it has been honed into a fast and easily used product. The best-known program is probably Laplink III, the latest version of Laplink, produced by Traveling Software Inc. of Bothell, Wash. It is standard equipment with several popular portable computers. Another leader in the field is Brooklyn Bridge from Fifth Generation Systems Inc. of Baton Rouge, La.
Fastlynx, which has a reputation as the fastest of the file transfer programs, comes in a $150 (suggested retail price) package that contains two transfer cables, plus software on both 3 1/2- and 5 1/4-inch diskettes.
One of the bright-red, eight-foot cables connects computers at their serial ports. Each end of the cable has connectors, one for 25-pin serial ports and the other for nine-pin ports.
The second cable connects the computers through their parallel ports--the port normally used for connecting to a printer.
Choosing which cable to use affects performance. Using the parallel cable is much faster than using the serial cable. In many cases, it also may be the only way to make a connection. Some computers, especially older ones, do not have serial ports. But all IBM-compatible computers have a parallel port.
However, if you use the serial cable, you don’t need Fastlynx software pre-installed on both machines. The machine with the software can automatically place a copy on the other, a process called cloning.
Either method is very fast. The serial cable can transfer up to 11,500 characters per second and the parallel cable up to 20,000, depending on computer processor speed and disk access speed.
There are a couple of ways to use Fastlynx, including expert modes that let you issue streamlined commands. But the easiest way, especially for occasional use, is the “split-screen” mode in which names of the files on each computer are displayed in side-by-side lists. You choose which files to copy to which computer by highlighting their names using the keyboard.
You have to be careful that the list for the receiving computer is positioned on the directory in which you want the new files to be placed, however. It is easy to copy files into the wrong place, which I proved more than once.
Fastlynx includes additional software that lets you connect two computers together more or less permanently. This gives the second computer access to all of the programs, data files and even the printer on the first computer. It isn’t a substitute for networking, but it might make sense in a two-person office.
Using the cables supplied with the program, the computers would have to be within several feet of each other. Special cables from Rupp would allow computers to be up to 100 feet apart. The idea behind the Axonix portable hard disk is basically the opposite of file transfer. It allows you to keep your files in one place--on the portable disk--and move the disk around among computers.
The portable DataFile hard disk measures roughly 3 inches high, 6 inches wide and 8 inches deep. There is a separate power transformer box with input and output electrical cables to contend with. Even so, the combined weight is under 4 pounds, and it is small enough to be carried in a tote bag or an attache case.
The DataFile hard disk connects to any computer through its parallel printer port. If your computer has two such ports, it will automatically assume that it is connected to the second, preventing interference with the printer-connect to the first port. (Your computer will know the ports by the names LPT1 and LPT2. Most computers have only LPT1.)
The drives are medium-fast by today’s standards, with average access times of 27 milliseconds. But the parallel cable transfer slows down the performance considerably. For instance, the DataFile drive took five times longer to copy a 400-megabyte file than did the built-in drive on my computer, which is rated at the same speed.
DataFile opens a lot of possibilities. If you were going on a road trip where IBM-compatible computers were available at various stops, carrying along DataFile would give you twin advantages at each stop: working on your own files with your own software and using a desktop computer, which is usually more pleasant to use than a portable. Similarly, you could take work between office and home on DataFile. At home you could get by with an inexpensive single-floppy-drive computer--desktop or portable--because DataFile would serve as the hard disk.
Considering that DataFile costs about the same as a good tape backup unit of similar capacity, it could serve double duty--as your backup system and your data transport system.
THE SPECS Fastlynx
A $150 high-speed file transfer system with cables and software.
Features: Separate serial and parallel cables to connect computers; software to select files to transfer; self-cloning feature to download Fastlynx to the other computer; one computer can run software and printer attached to the other.
Requirements: IBM-compatible computers with at least 256 kilobytes of memory and DOS 2.0 or later.
Manufacturer: Rupp Corp., 7285 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90046. Phone: (213) 850-5394.
DataFile
Portable hard disks ranging from 20 megabytes at $799 to 200 megabytes at $2,299.
Features: Stores programs and data to use with any computer. Connects through parallel port. Key lock prevents unauthorized use.
Requirements: IBM-compatible computer.
Manufacturer: Axonix Corp., 1214 Wilmington Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah 84106. Phone: (800) 866-9797., Los Angeles Times
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.
