which cable to transfer data

Hello :), I studied some old threads on this and things seem to change in this field so I decided to open a brand new one.

I want to transfer the files, folders and photos from my broken screen Dell ( which still starts) Inspiron laptop which holds windows 7 sp 1 to my newer HP laptop which holds windows 7 sp 1 professional. Both are 64 bit.

They both have USB, HDMI, VGA and firewire ports. Only the Dell has an e-SATA port.

All suggestions much appreciated.

Cheers,
Thelma

PS to take the Hard Drive out off the Dell is a real difficult one. I know some laptops have a very easy access but this is a real sod.

Hello again :)

Since yesterday, I have been googling again, and watching videos on YouTube to collect info to help me solve my problem.

Now, the solution I have come up with in my head I have not seen anywhere so I want to ask here if it's possible.
I have borrowed a little flatscreen TV and can connect my broken screen Dell laptop ( which still starts up ) to this to use as a monitor via a VGA or HDMI cable plugged into both items.
Now I can apparently use my Dell laptop by looking at the TV screen.

Can I then use a Lan cable between my Dell and the newer HP to start transferring data ( files, folders and pictures) from the Dell to the HP laptop? So this means there are in fact 3 items connected but with different cables and there is no link between the TV screen and the HP.

As soon as I get confirmation I can go and buy the cables I will need.

Thanks very much for any help.
Cheers,
Thelma

aren`t the 2 PC`s on the same network, you should be able to see the laptop from the other PC, just copy and paste what you want.

I would just pull the drive from the machine with the broken screen, hook it up to your other PC and just copy and paste, will take you 5 minutes.

Either way will work.

If you wanted it do it with a LAN cable it has to be a crossover cable, it`s not the same thing as a patch cable that you`re already using.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable

I would just pull the drive.

By the time you went to the store you`d be done, why waste money on gas and a cable you`ll use no more then 1 time ?????

Hi, Brian :) and thanks for your answer.

I am just back, had to go shopping anyway and the Media Markt is opposite the Aldi (supermarket). A friend borrowed me an HDMI cable and I got a 2 meter crossover cable for 5.99 euros, so not all not to bad. And as I said the Drive in the Dell is a swine to take out plus the fact that I might get a new screen perhaps in the future if she really not only starts but works.

Now I have the monitor and the Dell connected by HDMI and both on and both plugged into power. Now I need to find out what to press on the Dell to get the monitor to take over the screen from the Dell.
Be back later

It Was fn + F1.
The screen is working. Has asked me password to start and after that my account password. Given both, then it was stuck on welcome for 5 minutes. Now I have my normal screen and am connected to the wifi so apart from the screen, the Dell still is fine ( for the moment. I have not used the crossover cable jet, can I plug that in now in both laptops ?

Sounds like you go things working, congrats.

This may be a little late but just for general information, unless the computers you are using are older, crossover cables aren't needed any longer. Modern NICs, switches and routers have implemented Auto MDI-X which automatically senses whether the connection needs to be crossed over or not and switches to that mode. If the connections are gigabit, no crossover is ever needed due to how the transmit/receive wires are used (10/100 uses 2 wires to transmit and 2 to receive, gigabit uses all 4 wires in both directions).

Hi Strollin :), and thanks for your info.

That is exactly why I started this thread in the first place because I had heard about these new ways of communicating between two PC but did not really understand it.

Now I have used the old ways. As a matter of interest the old broken screen, Dell took at least 45 minutes to start giving any sign of life after the initial passwords were asked and given.
For anyone how faces the same problem, you have to be extremely patient when you hoop a fallen, broken laptop to an external screen for the first time to get it going. Took almost an hour before the cursor was moving.

By the way, both laptops are from 2009

Hooking an external monitor to a laptop shouldn't take any time to "start giving any sign of life". Glad it all worked out for you but there's some other explanation why the laptop took that long. Perhaps there were updates being installed during that time which can oftentimes blank the display until after the updating completes.

Well with this picture of the whole operation, one monitor and 2 laptops I will mark this thread as solved.