How to Use a USB Data Transfer Cable

Contributor

By Craig Brewer
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (3 Ratings)

A USB data transfer cable is a great way to move data from an older computer onto a newer one. With the advent of Windows Vista, a number of vendors are producing USB cables that allow you to connect two computers simply through USB ports instead of traditional wireless, ethernet, or other Internet-based connections.

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Two working computers
USB transfer cable
Transfer software (always ships with the male-male USB data transfer cables)

Step 1

Start both computers. Be sure the operating system is running fine on each computer.
Step 2

Attach the USB cable to a USB port on your new computer. The operating system will recognize the type of cable that has been attached.
Step 3

Install the software from the CD when prompted. If your new computer is running Windows Vista, you will not need to install the transfer software on the new machine since it comes prepackaged with data transfer applications. Older versions of Windows, however, will require updates.
Step 4

Install the software from the CD on your old computer if it is running any version of Windows older than Vista.
Step 5

Attach the USB data transfer cable to your old computer.
Step 6

Follow the prompts that appear. They will guide you through the specific details of deciding which data you want to transfer from your old computer to your new computer.
Step 7

Allow time for the transfer to complete.

Tips & Warnings

Note that transferring data from two machines running Windows Vista will not require you to install any new software. Using any other operating systems will require the installation of the accompanying data transfer software in order for your computers to recognize each other through the USB cable.

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