Best way to move a lot of data

[bino]

I have an old desktop computer with a 1TB drive that is almost full of data, and want to move it all to a new laptop that has a 1 TB drive.

The laptop has USB3, but the desktop does not.

Both computers have gigabit capable network connectors.

What is the best and fastest way to move the data from the desktop to the laptop? Does a "crossed" LAN cable still work? Or can anyone suggest something better?

[Forkinhades]

What versions of Windows do you have?

Do you have a router?

[KhunBENQ]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

Edited May 16, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[LivinLOS]

Does it need to be fast ??

My router isnt a gigabit setup.. I keep meaning to get a 16 port gigabit switch. But if I need to shift large amounts.. Just set it shifting then go to bed.. wake up and its done.. You move a LOT of data at 100Mbit/s overnight..

[KhunBENQ]

As said, no router necessary.

Forget WiFi of course.

Use a specialised program to backup/synchronize ("robocopy" or something like that).

Windows Explorer is useless in case of power failure or other problems (no smooth continuation/resumption).

Biggest "hurdle":

force Windows to use the LAN connection instead of WiFi over router.

It will insistently prefer WiFi over LAN (if you need details let me know).

Simplest disconnect/switch off WiFi.

You move a LOT of data at 100Mbit/s overnight..

100 Mbit/s is slower than the usual harddisk transfer rates (approx 30 MByte/s = 240 Mbit/s).

Use Gigabit !

Edited May 16, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[2fishin2]

Another method create your own network and share out each computer. Another is just purchase a cheap adapter and attach the old hardrive to laptop via adapter and sata or usb connection. But seriously you have 1TB of data? Many ways to do this but will take time, thats a lot of data.

[Forkinhades]

^ with that amount of data to 'protect' you should be seriously thinking of installing a NASdrive.

[topt]

^ with that amount of data to 'protect' you should be seriously thinking of installing a NASdrive.

Also does the OP really want to move all that data to a new laptop with the same capacity? The "new" drive will be almost full before you start.

[MRYANG]

Fastest way: Insert your notebook drive in your desktop computer via SATA and copy. Do a partition on the disk before copy.

Don't understand the nit-picking about the size - 1 TB is less than 40 uncompressed Blu-Ray movies or a 45 min long 4K movie in 60 fps (480mb/sec uncompressed). And that wasn't even the OP's question.

[2fishin2]

Fastest way: Insert your notebook drive in your desktop computer via SATA and copy. Do a partition on the disk before copy.

Don't understand the nit-picking about the size - 1 TB is less than 40 uncompressed Blu-Ray movies or a 45 min long 4K movie in 60 fps (480mb/sec uncompressed). And that wasn't even the OP's question.

Thanks for that smart guy.

[ronthai]

Just buy an external USB 3.0 external drive. I recommend Western Digital 1-2-3-4 TB external drives, but many others are great also.

Just overnight copy all from your old desktop (= USB 3.0 compatible guaranteed) to the external drive.

After that what ever is important copy to your new LapTop and you will have a backup anyway.
If buy a 3-4 external USB 3.0 drive (Western Digital), you will have plenty of extra backup space.

IF you do NOT plugin the external drive(s) daily (24/7) they could last for decades.
Save backup drives in a sealed plastic bag, moist free with a few Silica Gel packs.

[Jeffrey346]

If you have a 1TB drive that's almost full, why move it to another 1TB that will be almost full as well. What have you accomplished?

[robblok]

Fastest way: Insert your notebook drive in your desktop computer via SATA and copy. Do a partition on the disk before copy.

Don't understand the nit-picking about the size - 1 TB is less than 40 uncompressed Blu-Ray movies or a 45 min long 4K movie in 60 fps (480mb/sec uncompressed). And that wasn't even the OP's question.

Thanks for that smart guy.

He is right.. 1tb.. man I got at least 8tb full of data. Comes with the times. Time for me to buy an other extra 5tb harddisk.

[Alwyn]

I use dropbox, then I can access my data from any machine, anywhere. I guess you don't have an apple machine as icloud offers similar to dropbox. Monthly cost for 1 tb is £7.99 or £11 per month for unlimited space. I've been using Dropbox for years and swear by it for file sharing (big files in particular that are too big for attachment)

Edited May 16, 2015 by Alwyn

[Shiver]

I use a Hard drive dock which is USB 3.0 capable, and just drop the SATA drive from the desktop into it. That way you can copy what you want when you want it, or just leave it as it is and you have effectively 2TB of total storage for your Laptop.

I got mine from a shop in Central Plaza, though the manufacturers website is here http://www.oricothailand.com/2011/index.php?〈=en It was 1900 Baht.

[Edit]: Just looked at the site a little more closely and they have a newer version than the one I have for 1290 Baht.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Shiver

[bino]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Thanks for the reply. It pretty much confirms what I had planned to do, but good to know that ordinary LAN cable will work.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Yes. Mostly video collection of movies and TV shows that I have spent a long time finding and downloading. Wouldn't be the end of the world to lose them, but would mean downloading all again.

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

Indeed - I am aware, which is why I'm looking for the fastest solution. Even 10 hours is faster than the time I have spent to assemble the video collection.

[bino]

Fastest way: Insert your notebook drive in your desktop computer via SATA and copy. Do a partition on the disk before copy.

Hell of a good idea- didn't cross my mind. Thanks for that. I'll probably try the LAN connection first as it is slightly less ambitious than opening up the computers.

Don't understand the nit-picking about the size - 1 TB is less than 40 uncompressed Blu-Ray movies or a 45 min long 4K movie in 60 fps (480mb/sec uncompressed). And that wasn't even the OP's question.

Right On. Thanks for that too.

[bino]

If you have a 1TB drive that's almost full, why move it to another 1TB that will be almost full as well. What have you accomplished?

I'll have moved all of the data from a computer that I haven't decided what to do with yet... reformat and re-task it somehow, or maybe give away to the extended family up-country.

[EnglishJohn]

I put the laptop hard drive into a portable hard disk case and connect it to the main PC via USB and copy the files directly onto it.

[Jaggg88]

First of all I dont understand why you would want to transfer data from a nearly full 1TB HDD to one of the same size.

However, here is the fastest way to transfer data between two devices that have gagabit network capability. You do NOT!!!!!! need a crossover cable - a standard Cat 5e ethernet cable is all that is needed, although it must be Cat 5e not just Cat 5. Gigabit sends and receives data over all four pairs of internal wire at the same time so does not need a crossover, also for a number of years now manufacturers have been supporting ethernet auto mdix. If you used a crossover the data would only transfer @ 100Mbits. You need to turn off WiFi and set a static IP on the same subnet on both devices (eg 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2). There are plenty of video tutorials on you tube.

An alternate way would be to purchase a small gigabit switch. Using cat 5e cables connect the switch to your internet router and both devices to the new switch. The gigabit layer 2 switch will direct traffic from one PC to the other without going thro' the router @ 1000Mbits(1 Gig). This method does not need you to change any IP setting as the router will allocate IPs to all devices via DHCP. Again you must turn off WiFi.

In the unlikely event your internet router has Gigabit network capability you dont need the switch just plug both devices into the router. Dont forget to turn WiFi off.

[gandalf12]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

If you use a standard Ethernet cable between computers it wont work as you wii have Tx to Tx and rx to Rx. You need a crossover cable. All that does is is to put the Tx to Rx and Rx to Tx

[RichCor]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

If you use a standard Ethernet cable between computers it wont work as you wii have Tx to Tx and rx to Rx. You need a crossover cable. All that does is is to put the Tx to Rx and Rx to Tx

This is no longer true as many current RJ45 Ethernet support Auto MDI/MDI-X that auto-sense the Rx and Tx positions on the cable jack.

Though I've encountered three instances where Auto MDI/MDI-X failed to either correctly auto-sense or had issues maintaining a stable connection where I had to create an actual cross-over cable connection.

Edited May 16, 2015 by RichCor

[TheKnave]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

If you use a standard Ethernet cable between computers it wont work as you wii have Tx to Tx and rx to Rx. You need a crossover cable. All that does is is to put the Tx to Rx and Rx to Tx

This is no longer true as many current RJ45 Ethernet support Auto MDI/MDI-X that auto-sense the Rx and Tx positions on the cable jack.

Though I've encountered three instances where Auto MDI/MDI-X failed to either correctly auto-sense or had issues maintaining a stable connection where I had to create an actual cross-over cable connection.

Auto MDI/MDI-X is only implemented on hubs/switches/routers/etc., and NOT on computing equipment. The obvious reason is that only one side can do negotiation, or the sides would be continuously re-negotiating, and posibbly never reach a stable state. Gigabit Ethernet is pretty sensitive, using all conductors for Rx/Tx, and only a good quality crossover cable, Cat5e or better should be used. A gigabit switch is a much better alternative, and very cheap to buy.

[Jaggg88]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

If you use a standard Ethernet cable between computers it wont work as you wii have Tx to Tx and rx to Rx. You need a crossover cable. All that does is is to put the Tx to Rx and Rx to Tx

This is no longer true as many current RJ45 Ethernet support Auto MDI/MDI-X that auto-sense the Rx and Tx positions on the cable jack.

Though I've encountered three instances where Auto MDI/MDI-X failed to either correctly auto-sense or had issues maintaining a stable connection where I had to create an actual cross-over cable connection.

Auto MDI/MDI-X is only implemented on hubs/switches/routers/etc., and NOT on computing equipment. The obvious reason is that only one side can do negotiation, or the sides would be continuously re-negotiating, and posibbly never reach a stable state. Gigabit Ethernet is pretty sensitive, using all conductors for Rx/Tx, and only a good quality crossover cable, Cat5e or better should be used. A gigabit switch is a much better alternative, and very cheap to buy.

Wrong! In the last few years most NICs support auto MDIX and ALL Gigabit NICs have to support it otherwise gigabit speed will not work.

Quote from Wiki:-

Medium dependent interface crossover (MDIX) (the “X” representing “crossover”) is a female 8P8C port connection on a computer, router, hub, or switch. Straight through cables connect pins 1 & 2 (transmit) on an MDI device to pins 1 & 2 (receive) on an MDIX device. Similarly pins 3 & 6 are receive on an MDI device and transmit on an MDIX device. The X refers to the fact that transmit wires on an MDI device must be connected to receive wires on an MDIX device. As a rule, end stations (i.e., PCs or workstations) and routers use an MDI interface, hubs and switches use MDIX interfaces. Newer routers, hubs and switches (including some 10/100, and all 1 Gigabit or 10 Gigabit devices) use Auto MDI/MDIX to automatically switch to the proper configuration once a cable is connected. The other four wires are used but are not crossed since Auto MDI/MDIX is mandatory at the higher speeds. See Ethernet over twisted pair for more details on cables and standards. Some Routers and other devices have an uplink switch to go back and forth between MDI and MDIX on a specific port

[Jaggg88]

Just so we can put the crossover cable issue to bed :-

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2219416/lan-wan/do-you-need-a-crossover-cable-.html

The OP is connecting two devices with Gigabit NICs

[RichCor]

Auto MDI/MDI-X is only implemented on hubs/switches/routers/etc., and NOT on computing equipment. The obvious reason is that only one side can do negotiation, or the sides would be continuously re-negotiating, and posibbly never reach a stable state. Gigabit Ethernet is pretty sensitive, using all conductors for Rx/Tx, and only a good quality crossover cable, Cat5e or better should be used. A gigabit switch is a much better alternative, and very cheap to buy.

I believe most Laptop and Desktop GbE ports supports Auto-Sense MDI/MDI-X but it may be disabled either in the BIOS or the OS when it configures the port via device driver.

"Acer Aspire 4820T -- Atheros AR8151L GbE LAN Controller with Integrated Transceiver, Supports automatic MDI/MDIX functions"

All All Intel-based Macintosh computers are Auto MDIX.

On some LINUX Ethernet Drivers or ethtool you can set the mode to MDI, MDI-X or MDI-Auto

[mdix auto|on|off] [autoneg on|off] [advertise N] [phyad N]

mdix auto|on|off

Selects MDI-X mode for port. May be used to override the

automatic detection feature of most adapters. An argument of

auto means automatic detection of MDI status, on forces MDI-X

(crossover) mode, while off means MDI (straight through) mode.

The driver should guarantee that this command takes effect

immediately, and if necessary may reset the link to cause the

change to take effect.

But yes, auto-sense MDI/MDI-X Ethernet enabled on two devices at the end of a single cable, as you say, can be disruptive.

[KonaRain]

Youse guys are amazingly knowledgeable..

Alohz

[dotpoom]

No need for a special crossed cable.

Connect both laptops with a good quality ethernet cable.

Share the drive of the old laptop and connect from the new laptop.

Gigabit ethernet will be faster than the read/write rates of the harddisk (conventional ones?).

I do this regularly to synchronize (backup) my desktop PC data to the laptop.

Do you really have 1 TB of useful relevant data?

Will still take more than 10h (estimated).

He wants to move it from a PC to a Laptop

[jjablonsky]

The fastest way to do this assuming that they are both SATA drives is to (if your comfortable with this) remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it into the desktop as a secondary drive then move your relavant data to the new laptop drive. The other methods here will also surely work but they will take much more time.

Also just for future reference if a lot of your data is pictures and home videos Flickr offers tTB of free storage for such.

Edited May 17, 2015 by jjablonsky

[NeverSure]

If I had the ports and cables I'd put both the new and old laptop HDD's in a desktop and copy the data over. That's where the most bandwidth would be across the motherboard to the HDD's and it could all be done locally without confusing the issue. Now the limiting factor should be the read-write speed of the HDD's unless it pegged the ram or cpu which I doubt. I can't recall a modern full sized motherboard that didn't have at least 3 sata ports and all I'd need would be some very cheap cables if I didn't have them.