I know I'll get blasted for asking such an OT question, but I really need some help here, and I know that many of you are very smart about such things!

We just got a new 'puter with Windows 98 running on it. (I know, I know... I don't want to talk about it :( )

We need to transfer folders to the new 'puter from the old 'puter which is running Windows 95.

Using a parallel cable on both LPT1 ports, I SHOULD be able to use Direct Cable Connection to do the transfer, setting the old one as the Host and the new 'puter as the Guest.

It don't work. I get the error message "cannot locate host computer". I have gone to Microsoft Support, and found the article that addresses this 'glitch'. THEY KNOW THIS IS A PROBLEM!

I followed their instructions to replace the vredir.vxd file from the original program CD. No good. I tried using the vredir.vxd from Windows 95. No good. I tried using a vredir.vxd that I got from a drivers source site on the web. No good.

I have done all the fiddling I can think of. I've checked, changed, rechanged the names of both computers. I've checked to ensure both have the same protocols running. Nothing is working.

My last attempt will be to try to load Windows 95 on the new computer and try to do the transfer using 95 to 95. Before I do that, I wanted your advice, opinions, suggestions, etc.

Please don't yell at me about buying a new computer right now. Believe me, I didn't want to do it. My husband couldn't live another day without it.

I'm also toying with the idea of saying it just can't be done, and returning the stupid thing to the store. That's a moral dilemma, though, 'cause it would mean lying to my spouse. Unless, of course, it really can't be done....?

Thanks in advance for your help, and for the time.

-- Debbie (lavoierd@gisco.net), October 28, 1999

Answers

I don't know if this is your problem but you can check it out.

Parellel ports can be unidirectional or bidirectional. Go into setup on each computer and make sure that LPT1 is EPP or ECP.

-- Tim Jacob (tjacob@nb.aibn.com), October 28, 1999.

Also, not just any parallel cable will work. Don't know the specifics, but be sure the cable is correct for using the Direct Connection.

I've set this up at home, 98 to 95, via a serial cable and it works.

If you're desperate, you could also try buying LapLink.

-- Hoffmeister (hoff_meister@my-deja.com), October 28, 1999.

After you finally do get connected, you might find the connection timing out on large files. Have no idea why or how to fix. So ship stuff a directory at a time, so you can tell where it dies.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 28, 1999.

For DCC, you MUST, repeat, MUST use a "laplink" or null-modem parallel cable. This is a special version of a parallel cable that ties the transmit lines at one end to the receive lines at the other, sorta kinda like a crossover cable for a LAN does. If you try to use a conventional parallel cable you'll be feeding the Tx lines from one machine to the Tx lines from the other, and it will not work. (You can't receive data on a transmit line.)

I have a null-modem parallel cable, in fact. I've done DCC, although it's remarkably slow. Youd be better off with a pair of cheapie NICs (LAN/network cards; NIC = Network Interface Card for short) and a crossover Ethernet cable so you can move the data at 10 or 100 MBps instead of the average 1.5-meg-or-so rate over the parallel port. ( keep a couple hubs, a few extra NICs, and some various crossover and straight-through Ethernet cables on hand for things like this. Total cost: about a hundred bucks. Usability: infinite and well worth the $.)

-- OddOne (mocklamer_1999@yahoo.com), October 28, 1999.

If you are handy with screwdrivers and cable connections, you might remove the hard disk from one machine, install it into the other, copy what you want to copy, then reinstall that disk back into its original machine. If you try this, you may need to change a switch, or a jumper, on that drive from master to slave, and change it back again before putting it back where it came from. If this procedure is not clear to you, then do not do it. :-)

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), October 28, 1999.