How to connect 98 laptop to XP desktop

As I am new to this, I have no idea what to do, so please
forgive my lack of knowledge. I am not even sure if I am
posting in the right group for this question.
I have a Win98 laptop that is dying and want to move the
files I want from it to my WinXP desktop. This will be a
one time temporary connection. After the file transfer
the laptop will be discarded so I am looking for the
easiest and most economical way to do this.

Can I do a direct USB connection between the 2 platforms?
(USB 1.1 on laptop, USB 2.0 on desktop)

If not, what would be the easiest way? There is no RJ-45
jack on the laptop so the ethernet/NIC/hub connection
would be more costly and difficult.

Any help on this will be appreciated. Thanks.

I will look into that option right now. Thank you very
much.

You can use the USB ports. However, you would need to buy
two USB network cards. Then use RJ45 crossover cable.
This would be a bit expensive.
Depending on how much data you have - one quick, easy,
and relatively inexpensive solution would be to buy a
thumb drive (a little hard drive slightly larger than a
nail clipper). You can get a 128MB drive for around
$50.00. They connect to USB 1 or 2 and they simply show
up as another hard drive on your PC. You could copy the
data (in a few trips if neccssary) from laptop to the
thumb drive and then from thumbdrive to desktop.
You can buy one almost anywhere now and you will
probably find it quite useful for other things later. If
this is not a viable solution for you, let me know and I
will give another suggestion.

>-----Original Message-----
>As I am new to this, I have no idea what to do, so

please

>forgive my lack of knowledge. I am not even sure if I am
>posting in the right group for this question.
>I have a Win98 laptop that is dying and want to move the
>files I want from it to my WinXP desktop. This will be a
>one time temporary connection. After the file transfer
>the laptop will be discarded so I am looking for the
>easiest and most economical way to do this.
>
>Can I do a direct USB connection between the 2

platforms?

>(USB 1.1 on laptop, USB 2.0 on desktop)
>
>If not, what would be the easiest way? There is no RJ-45
>jack on the laptop so the ethernet/NIC/hub connection
>would be more costly and difficult.
>
>Any help on this will be appreciated. Thanks.
>.
>

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, but I only got around to
continuing this now.

I actually found your suggestion of the thumb drive the
most viable as others have suggested things from USB>RJ45
adapters for network connection to serial, parallel,
infrared, and 802.11b/a/g connections. The closest one I
found was a Net-LinQ USB product for 2 controllers that
was $70. But I still have to install something to make it
work.

So I find the thumb drive suggestion the most attractive
as I know about these gadgets but never thought I'd need
one.

I do have 2 questions about this. If you can help me out
with it I will greatly appreciate it.

1) Will these devices show up / work with Win98 (laptop
side) as PNP with no problems (I know they will work with
XP)

2) Which brand(s) and model(s) would you recommend?

And speaking of thumb drives I recently read about the
Linksys wireless Compact USB Adapter($72). I know that
one of those already cost more than the drives you
suggested but I'm curious as to what your feelings are
about them.

I know this is kind of a late reply as this thread is
already on the 3rd page but hopefully you will still see
it. Thanks again in advance.

Shinya

Each of these thumbdrives comes with the drivers on a CD. These
drivers are only required for Windows 98 (and older) OS.
So, for your 98 computer, you will need to install the drivers (should
be quite painless). For your XP computer...it will work right our of
the box.

In regards to which thumbdrive.... I think one brand is pretty much as
good as another. The only thing I would recommend looking at is this:
If you intend to buy one that connects to a key chain, make sure you
buy one that has the key chain connection to the actual drive (not the
little cap). Obviously, your chances of losing it would increase if it
is connected to the cap. I bought the BUSLink model (not sure of the
manufacturer), but I just went to Best Buy and got mine. If you are
not in a hurry, you can usually find some pretty good deals online.
Check out http://www.edealinfo.com. They have a 128mb drive for $19.99
(after rebates).

As far as the wireless "thumb cards". I haven't done much research on
these. I have purchased an external USB wireless network card in the
past. I guess it is kind of neat to have them so little, though I'm
not sure of which scenario you might be in to find a great use for a
"portable" USB wireless card. I'm sure some will find this useful. Who
knows...maybe I will one day. I would check to see if they have a
lesser range, though it is probably unlikely.



"shinya" <shinya@concentric.net> wrote in message news:<09e001c34c49$545228e0$a101280a@phx.gbl>...

> Hi,
>
> Sorry for the late reply, but I only got around to
> continuing this now.
>
> I actually found your suggestion of the thumb drive the
> most viable as others have suggested things from USB>RJ45
> adapters for network connection to serial, parallel,
> infrared, and 802.11b/a/g connections. The closest one I
> found was a Net-LinQ USB product for 2 controllers that
> was $70. But I still have to install something to make it
> work.
>
> So I find the thumb drive suggestion the most attractive
> as I know about these gadgets but never thought I'd need
> one.
>
> I do have 2 questions about this. If you can help me out
> with it I will greatly appreciate it.
>
> 1) Will these devices show up / work with Win98 (laptop
> side) as PNP with no problems (I know they will work with
> XP)
>
> 2) Which brand(s) and model(s) would you recommend?
>
> And speaking of thumb drives I recently read about the
> Linksys wireless Compact USB Adapter($72). I know that
> one of those already cost more than the drives you
> suggested but I'm curious as to what your feelings are
> about them.
>
> I know this is kind of a late reply as this thread is
> already on the 3rd page but hopefully you will still see
> it. Thanks again in advance.
>
> Shinya