Best way to transfer mass data?

Michael Wade · Dec 20, 2014

i dont know if "Mass" would be correct, but i dunno around 100gb... i need to transfer 100gb(bit less, but near 100 i think) from a laptop to a desktop....
the fastest Ethernet cable i have is a cat5 cable, if that is even fast :??:

ive heard you can transfer data from Ethernet , but how?
anyways, question is- what's the best/quickest way to transfer data? and why is the chosen way the best way in your opinion?
if theres any info you need on the laptop or desktop feel free to ask,i can pull it all up

thank you all!

unksol · Dec 20, 2014

The fastest way is to take the laptop harddrive out and stick it in the desktop and copy and paste the files.

The easiest way, assuming they have gigabit cards, is to connect them with the cat 5 cable, share the files, and copy and paste them.

cilliers · Dec 20, 2014

You are talking about a crossover LAN connection with a single LAN cable. More modern LAN adapters do the cross-over internally so that you don't have to get a specially crimped "cross-over" cable. I've personally had more success with static IP addresses on both machines rather than DHCP when doing this. Also tend to your advanced sharing settings in windows Vista or later, so that sharing over the network is set to "allowed".

W.r.t. to copy speed:
100GB is realtively small and should copy over the LAN cable within half an hour if you have gigabit LAN on BOTH machines. If both your laptop and desktop have gigabit network adapters, then you will typically get 240 - 480 Mbps. I know this is not close to the theoretical speeds of gigabit LAN, but these are typical speeds for copying over gigabit LAN with Windows OS.

A more troublesome route for a beginner would be to remove the HDD from the laptop and plug it into the PC, but you might run into some file ownership issues afterwards, especially if you are running windows 7 or 8 from within a different Microsoft account than the one on the laptop.

Hence I advise using the LAN cable method.

Here's a quick guide for Windows 8:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDo3uP48pg

Michael Wade · Dec 20, 2014

cilliers :

You are talking about a crossover LAN connection with a single LAN cable. More modern LAN adapters do the cross-over internally so that you don't have to get a specially crimped "cross-over" cable. I've personally had more success with static IP addresses on both machines rather than DHCP when doing this. Also tend to your advanced sharing settings in windows Vista or later, so that sharing over the network is set to "allowed".

W.r.t. to copy speed:
100GB is realtively small and should copy over the LAN cable within half an hour if you have gigabit LAN on BOTH machines. If both your laptop and desktop have gigabit network adapters, then you will typically get 240 - 480 Mbps. I know this is not close to the theoretical speeds of gigabit LAN, but these are typical speeds for copying over gigabit LAN with Windows OS.

A more troublesome route for a beginner would be to remove the HDD from the laptop and plug it into the PC, but you might run into some file ownership issues afterwards, especially if you are running windows 7 or 8 from within a different Microsoft account than the one on the laptop.

Hence I advise using the LAN cable method.

Both of my machines contain a Gigabit network adapter, so LAN would be the fastest yes?

scottypres · Dec 20, 2014

Michael Wade :

You could take the hard drive platters out and stick them in your DVD drive.

No, but LAN ethernet transfer would be the fastest and easiest way to transfer the files. Don't worry about crossover unless you know how to configure it. Just use a gigabit router or such and transfer them that way. By the time you've swapped the HD twice, you'll likely be done. Plus swapping disks can possibly introduce problems.

If you have usb 3.0 and an external Sata to Usb connector, you could do it that way, (if the drive has been laying around)

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Device-Adapter-Cable-SY-ADA20079/dp/B0057UAB2K

you can find cheaper ones too. They're nice to have around

Michael Wade · Dec 20, 2014

scottypres :

Michael Wade :

You could take the hard drive platters out and stick them in your DVD drive.

No, but LAN ethernet transfer would be the fastest and easiest way to transfer the files. Don't worry about crossover unless you know how to configure it. Just use a gigabit router or such and transfer them that way. By the time you've swapped the HD twice, you'll likely be done. Plus swapping disks can possibly introduce problems.

If you have usb 3.0 and an external Sata to Usb connector, you could do it that way, (if the drive has been laying around)

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Device-Adapter-Cable-SY-ADA20079/dp/B0057UAB2K

you can find cheaper ones too. They're nice to have around

I think ill use the method you provided sata to usb, seems much less hassle, since the laptops going in the bin anyways, thanks a bunch

robb7979 · Dec 20, 2014

Michael Wade :

scottypres :

Michael Wade :

You could take the hard drive platters out and stick them in your DVD drive.

No, but LAN ethernet transfer would be the fastest and easiest way to transfer the files. Don't worry about crossover unless you know how to configure it. Just use a gigabit router or such and transfer them that way. By the time you've swapped the HD twice, you'll likely be done. Plus swapping disks can possibly introduce problems.

If you have usb 3.0 and an external Sata to Usb connector, you could do it that way, (if the drive has been laying around)

http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Device-Adapter-Cable-SY-ADA20079/dp/B0057UAB2K

you can find cheaper ones too. They're nice to have around

I think ill use the method you provided sata to usb, seems much less hassle, since the laptops going in the bin anyways, thanks a bunch

Why waste a good drive? I vote for dropping it into the desktop.

Michael Wade · Dec 20, 2014

robb7979 :

Michael Wade :

scottypres :

I think ill use the method you provided sata to usb, seems much less hassle, since the laptops going in the bin anyways, thanks a bunch

Why waste a good drive? I vote for dropping it into the desktop.

I could do that, i have the space and everything, meh why not haha

putting it like that this post is rendered useless, thanks everyone!

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