Ask Slashdot: Old PC File Transfer Problem

An anonymous reader writes I have an old Compaq Contura Aero laptop from the nineties (20 Mhz, 12 Mb RAM, Windows 3.11, 16-bit, PCMCIA, COM, LPT, floppy) with 160 Mb drive that I would want to copy in full to a newer machine. The floppies are so unreliable — between Aero's PCMCIA floppy drive and USB floppy disk drive — that it is a total nightmare to try and do it; it just doesn't work. If that option is excluded, what else can I do? I have another old laptop with Windows XP (32-bit, PCMCIA, COM, LPT) that could be used; all other machines are too new and lack ports. Will be grateful for any ideas.

Comments

file transfer

[pen-helm]

There used to be a program called Laplink that would transfer between machines over a cable. You could get special parallel "Laplink cables," but perhaps a null-modem serial cable would also work. (Light googling suggests you can use a 7-wire, null-modem serial cable.)

I see there is a laplink.com web site.

Wikipedia says, in MS-DOS 6.0 (and PC DOS 5.02) there was something like it included: INTERSVR and INTERLNK. But it looks harder to use.

Re:file transfer

[MrBingoBoingo]

Probably faster to unplug the hard drive, order an adapter, and let UPS deliver it. The filesystem should be supported by any modern OS. If the disk works it will be a matter of browse and pluck.

Re: file transfer

[gerf]

I have one on the shelf next to me. Yawn. Email me if you'd like to borrow it.

Re: file transfer

[jtownatpunk.net]

It took me about 14 seconds to find one for $20 on Amazon. IDE or SATA hard drive, USB2 interface. Took me longer to type that than to find the enclosure. Could probably find one even cheaper if I took the time.

Re:file transfer

[onproton]

Regarding this idea: a couple of years back I bought this universal hard drive adaptor, since then it has gotten me out of quite a number of jams. After removing the drive, you can attach it to one of the adapter's IDE/PATA/SATA ports and directly access the files via a USB connection from the adapter - I'd say this is probably the least frustrating way to handle this situation.

Re: file transfer

[bill_mcgonigle]

you forgot to order the right Compaq IDE laptop header adapter. Whichever one it is for this model...

Suddenly a Laplink cable and a VirtualBox running DOS with a detachable D: doesn't seem so awful bad. Move the image from the XP box via flash drive or network, mount it loopback and profit before lunch.

http://www.pcxt-micro.com/dos-...

Re: file transfer

[wierd_w]

I dont know if you are serious or not--

No. No ancient aliens. ESDI was in use in server equipment from that era. 200mb ESDI interface drives were pretty common inside IBM PS/2 series towers of that era.

Specifically, found inside IBM PS/2 model 60 systems.
http://ps-2.kev009.com/pcpartn...

These featured an MCA ESDI hard disk interface in the later models. (Early models had MFM controllers.)

If you suspect aliens, please inform the person selling this 680mb ESDI drive on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/MICROSC...

MFM and ESDI technology didn't get much beyond the 600-700mb before it was completely eliminated, but you CAN find drives that large with that interface type.

No aliens involved.

Re:file transfer

[ihtoit]

laptops haven't had parallel ports since 2010. Serial ports went out around the same time. Firewire is hen's teeth as is PCMCIA/Cardbus, and finding something with an infrared port is like bottling unicorn farts.

Pull the disk

[borcharc]

Get a ide controller and whatever adapter you may need and just plug the hd into your current workstation. Perhaps one of those usb -> ide deals would also be a easy answer. Why make it more complex then that?

Two options

[nhtshot]

The first option would be a PCMCIA ethernet card. Since you have 3.11, if you install a PCMCIA nic that has windows 3.11 drivers, you can simply use windows file sharing to copy everything. There's plenty of old nics on ebay.

Second option is to use pkzip to zip up everything you want. Buy a null modem cable and transfer the zip files using x/y/zmodem. Windows 3.11 had a terminal program and the windows XP laptop will have hyper-terminal.

The second option is much slower, but null modems are easier to find than pcmcia network cards with windows 3.11 drivers.

Jeez, don't make this harder than it needs to be.

[Anonymous Coward]

Simple way:

1. Open up old laptop. Run defrag program. Set it to show the entire blockmap for the old hard drive.
2. Turn on new laptop's webcam, set it to stream output to a text file. Focus webcam on the blockmap from the defrag program on old computer.

The webcam will read the contents of each block on the old laptop's HD and write it to the text file on the new laptop. Easy peasy.

Old School Kermit

[captjc]

Null Modem serial cable and download a copy of Kermit. I recently had to do this to transfer software from Windows 7 to a PLC network card that for some reason was a 286 embedded PC running DOS. Worked fairly well.

Kermit For Windows

Kermit for DOS

Re:Old School Kermit

[goodmanj]

Upvote the parent. If you were trying to do this in the early 90s, you'd have either physically moved the disk into a new computer -- and oldschool IDE has a bunch of surprises that will bite the unwary -- or used Kermit.

Just be aware that your average '90s serial port probably won't work above 57 kilobit/sec, which means transferring 160 megabytes will take the better part of a day.

Re:Old School Kermit

[frovingslosh]

Kermit is a good choice, should be able to do all he needs with no extra cost as long as he can cable 2 computers together.

I specifically dislike those telling him to buy a UBS adapter for the old disk drive or other solutions that require spending money and waiting. I do have such an adapter, and a PCMCIA firewire card that would open other options for me, but they are not needed in this case.

Another option that seems to be ignored is that XP computer he says he also has. At that vintage it likely has USB and Ethernet. I would try swapping the drive into that (if it isn't too thick to fit) and booting the XP computer with a Live Linux CD (the 3.11 Windows disk will likely not boot properly and would not have the needed drivers even if it did). Then from Linux you could easily write the 160 meg drive contents to a USB flash drive or transfer it across ethernet to the destination computer (I would do that with FTP but there are any number of options).

It's a compaq aero... hdd is ide 40 pin

[Darkelf]

5 seconds on Google verified this machine has no USB... tho it's age should make that obvious.

It uses a standard 2.5" notebook hard drive, with the standard 40 pin IDE interface.

If you don't want to pull the drive... Laplink cable is easiest.

Pulling the drive is still a good, easy option, attach to a cheap usb interface.

You also mentioned 16bit pcmcia... if we have a pc card NIC, access to Internet? The ftp xfer option is there too.

Pcmcia + compact flash

[grahamsz]

Put a 64MB CF card in a CF to pcmcia adapter and Windows should see it has a hard disk.

Then stick that in a modern card reader and you should be home free

Re:Jeez, don't make this harder than it needs to b

[AmiMoJo]

Seems like a lot of effort. I just get a serial cable and press my tongue against the TX pin. Then type "copy COM1:" on the source machine and open up Notepad on the target. By hovering my hand over the keyboard on the target the little electrical shocks from the serial port cause spasms that make my hand type the file out. It's slow and painful but some people like that.