AboutKarl Zick Expertise I can answer most questions on Windows 9X and XP - or other aspects of PC software and hardware installation, upgrade, and troubleshooting. Visit my free web site at www.kzconsulting.info for tutorials, tips and tricks, and problem identification and solution.
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Previous USAF Colonel and Aerospace engineer. PC consultant for over 15 years. Client database of over 70 small businesses and individuals.
Question I'm trying to get the important files off my girlfriend's old computer which is running on windows 98. It does not have a cd burner. It does have an ethernet card, but I have no idea how to network it to my vista laptop. I have an external hard drive that is usb powered but it does not come up on the windows 98 computer. Can you please advise the best steps to try and transfer her important files (mostly pictures and mp3's) to an external hard drive or my vista OS laptop. Much thanks.
Answer Hi Aaran,
Theoretically, all you need is a Win 98 driver for your external USB hard drive to make it work. However, if the external hard drive has an NTFS format and her machine is FAT32, then that won't work. If I have lost you already, do not give up.
My next suggestion would be to try a flash drive. They are cheap and you can usually download a Win 98 driver from the manufacturer. The question then is how to install the driver on her 98 machine. It probably has a 3 1/2" floppy drive input, but how do you get the driver onto the floppy to install it? You go to Walmart or someplace and buy a floppy with a USB adapter and then plug it into your notebook. Download the driver to your notebook and copy it to the floppy, stick the floppy into her old machine, and get the flash drive talking to the old hard drive.
Plan C would be to remove the hard drive from the old computer and copy anything you want to from it to any other computers hard drive. To do this, all you need is an IDE-to-USB adapter and you can order one from geeks.com or newegg.com for about $20. It can be used to connect ANY hard drive or CD player to any computer with a USB input - and I use mine all the time. Great investment and easy to use.
