BleepingComputer.com: Can Files Be Copied From Xp To Windows 98?

Can I copy files from my new computer (XP Pro SP2) to my old computer (Windows 98)? (I have 7 GB of room on there which I could use for backup, if it is possible.) Thanks.

What kind of files were you thinking of?

fozzie, on Mar 15 2007, 08:52 PM, said:

Just the things I want to keep - emails, documents, photos.

The easiest way is to buy a Flash Pen/Drive with drivers for Win98.

Keithuk, on Mar 15 2007, 10:06 PM, said:

So, it is not possible to copy directly from a machine running XP to a machine running Windows 98?

Sure you can

What to you mean by "directly" though?
Do you mean via a network?

Hello,

There is a way to do a "Direct Connect" between the two computers. You need to buy a cable that will plug into the serial (?) ports. I haven't succeeded with it yet, but there are instructions that come with the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" on XP. It starts with the description of the cable-link. It is made for copying files from old to new o/s, so you don't want to go that far. The protocols you will need for Win98 machine can be gotten from Microsoft Legacy system "support". What I wanted to do was logon to my old machine to do what you want to do, use it for a backup and access the good old programs there. Make sure you get a free firewall for your 98 machine, and when you run the netsetup.exe, you will have to approve the connection on both firewalls.

I stopped working on that method when I got DSL (FIOS) from verizon that gave me a really nice router and I can plug both machines into that. I get stuck when the Network Wizard (after you have the two machines wired via their ethernet ports or serial ports) wants to write a network setup disk to removable drives that do not include my DVD writer. But then I got a flash drive and it did give me that option, to write to the flash drive.

Your USB ports on your 98 machine are probably in the back and hard to reach, which makes the flash drive solution painful. However, I do think the flash drive is the easiest solution, especially if you are only going to copy over text and e-mail files. Do read up on how to backup and restore Outlook Express mail files, also your address book. It is a different method; make sure you load your mail files into your win 98 OE before you write over the medium you use to transfer the files (dvd, cd or flash drive).

Flash drives are on sale at Best Buy right now, only $10 for a 512 meg. Of course that is small and they offer one gig for $20. Those are good buys. Just look for them on sale.

I spent almost $20 on the cable to direct connect the two machines, and that was a sale price. It was expensive because each end of the cable has two sizes of plugs in case the machines differ in size. I kind of liked that solution (if I can ever make it work) because then you can logon to your old machine and use your new monitor to access both machines, and not need to have your router turned on (connected to the internet). It just depends on what kind of hardware you already have.

One other solution is to dial-up to the other machine. That takes a different set of protocols (eg tcp/ip) and some others. Not sure, if you only have one phone line, if you can be online plus call your other machine.

If you respond with what hardware you have, and if you have an ethernet card in the old machine, check the speed of it 'cause the old ones ran at 10 and the new ones run at 100 and if you have different sizes, the data will transfer at the slowest rate.

So, I guess the answer to your question is "Yes". The help in XP has some decent descriptions of the different ways to LAN your machines together. Hopefully one of the engineers out there will notice this question and add info/corrections to this post if needed.

Best wishes,
"joygreen"

If you do it via serial cable it will take HOURS so grab a crossover Ethernet cable give both computers an IP address and make sure you put them on the same subnet and then share a file on Windows 98, then browse to it and copy your backup files to it.

Thanks. I've just connected to broadband and got an ADSL modem, which I found out is actually a router - that's what gave me the idea of perhaps using the memory on the old drive for backup, rather than cds. I don't need to access the old computer from this one, other than to transfer things to be backed up. My biggest problem is that I don't understand the concepts or jargon well enough to have "proper" conversations, or to know what to do, and you don't get any user manuals any more I gather from what you say that there is no problem with the older OS letting "new" stuff be copied there. So, if I can figure out how to use the router to hook them up, give them IP addresses and how they go on a subnet, I would be able to do it. Or, I could just lose the lot when all of the hackers wreck my computer - when did computers stop being fun? Thanks again.

How many ports do you have on the router? Because you may need to buy a switch so you can connect both computers up.

Hi again, I'm sorry I didn't look at your "name" when I answered. I think you should keep your old machine off the internet so it doesn't get @#$%%'ed on by the bad guys. So if you can plug in more than one "telephone line but bigger" plug into your router, you can connect your old machine to the router and unplug the wall plug to take it offline when you do your backups.

You will also have to "map" the old machine, give it a drive name, usually the old names c: on the old machine will be mapped as z: and you will know you are saving your files to your old machine. That's the only time your old machine will have to be turned on, is to get it networked (connected) to your new machine.

You are trying to make a small home network (lan=local area network). If the machines are close together, they can be wired (not wireless). You also might want to find a program that makes a lan for you. Sorry about the jargon. Try your xp help file under LAN or network. I used to have a great link for connecting an xp to a 98 but it got hammered after a hacker got me. I really miss my stuff, so don't give up!

Yes, the computers are right next to each other, so connection is no great drama. I do want to keep the other computer "clean" and think it might be easier overall to get an external hard drive and just backup to that. I understand that I can get "imaging" software and copy it all so that the whole thig can be restored, but I still need to find out it I need special software to do that, or whether the "normal" backup software does the same thing. Even though it is just a "mucking about on the internet" computer and there is nothing important on this computer, it would be a major pain reinstalling everything if it bit the dust. And the reinstallation cd doesn't give the updates.... And I don't remember all of the add-ons and plug-ins and things I've put on (should have written it all down...) I might give it a go anyway, just to see if I can. Thanks so much for your help

Imaging software just takes a picture of the whole thing at one point in time. What if there was a bug in there when you took the pic? Then you'd just be restoring it.

An external drive will probably come with software to do the backups automatically. Then it would be plug and play and that would be nice.

Maybe check with your broadband provider and see if they do backups for a few bucks a month? I know verizon does; and that is really the safest way to do it; your stuff would be offsite.

But then, do we trust our ISP's?

You will figure it out. Have you thought about dating a geek for awhile?

ComputerWhizz7, on Mar 16 2007, 08:23 AM, said:

I don't know.....The blurb says it "features simultaneous Ethernet and USB connectivity, allowing
two PCs with discrete IP addresses or PPPoE clients to share a DSL line". Does this mean they can connect up?

joygreen, on Mar 16 2007, 09:15 AM, said:

Once upon a time, I knew what was going on with the computer. You bought your software, it came with a manual so you knew how to work it, you loaded it, if the computer went bung you reloaded it from your disks. Now, they give you a disk that isn't even everything, make you go on the internet to get the rest, don't give you any manuals and you have to ask other users how to work it....
I would like a backup of the system that contains everything so that you can just reload everything if something happens. I lost my service pack 2 on XP because I was told to "repair" it from a disk that didn't have the SP on it.... I thought I'd do a full back up but it said I'd need 50 million cds (well, 14 or something) - if I have to buy more cds, the price of an external drive may not be so bad, considering you wouldn't have to sit there changing disks.
As for dating a geek "for a while" - infinity wouldn't be long enough, I suspect....