Using Dropbox to transfer files to new PC

8 years ago

My husband's Dell Inspiron 560 seems to be on its last legs, after 9~10 years of working for him. We are resigned to buying a new one and trying to get used to Windows 10 (Groan--we had been hoping to stay with Windows 7 on both our computers until 2020. His old PC now freezes, over and over, so hubby began trying to save his most important files (No, he never heeded warnings to keep things backed up!) by putting them on flash drives, but at some point the computer wouldn't do that any more. Right clicking doesn't work, either. When I try to change the booting order in the BIOS so as to use a recovery disk, the arrows don't work and the various items just keep flashing and shifting around. Now my husband is laboriously attaching files to emails, which also poses difficulties, but so far may have rescued a few of his most essential documents.
I (as the "computer person in the family) have been looking into Dropbox as a way of saving files for transfer to a new PC, as it still seems to be working, but there is something I can't understand. Up to now, when he puts something into Dropbox so he can use it on his iPad, we can't figure out how to get that file out of Dropbox and into one of the usual folders (such as "Documents") on the iPad. Is that even possible?
If it isn't, then the question becomes, would such a thing be possible on a new computer, or would the files he puts on Dropbox be forever condemned to be used THROUGH Dropbox, and never be able to be moved into the "library" of videos, music, pictures, documents, etc., that Windows has on one's PC? Any suggestions much appreciated. I am afraid to buy other special software for transferring files and folders to a new PC for fear the the old computer's hardware may be too far gone to handle it.
If worst comes to worst, he says he is reconciled to losing most of what he had in his computer, but I would like to spare him that experience. Any help much appreciated.

Featured Answer

Jean

8 years ago

Perhaps move the files to an external drive, then to the new computer?

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Comments (6)

juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
8 years ago
Dropbox says "Yes" you can move files from one PC to another:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/move-to-new-computer
biwa45 thanked juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
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mike_kaiser_gw
8 years ago
The whole point of the "cloud" based services like DropBox is that you can access your files from anywhere, any time. Typically you just need the user name and password. In it's most basic form, you decide what folders you want to move into the cloud and the application will take care of the rest.

DropBox is just one player in the field, there's Google Drive, Microsoft's OneDrive, Amazon Drive, and many others. They all offer some level of "free" storage, with more available for purchase. If you want to avoid paying, just sign up for multiple services and split up the folders.
biwa45 thanked mike_kaiser_gw
Steve J
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I would recommend buying a usb drive reader. Yank that hard drive out of the old computer, and connect it to the new one. Then copy the files you need over. When doing so, copy the files you want to Dropbox. Will save you a ton of time and frustration with the old computer not working. Bypass it all together unless the hd itself is what's going bad.

You old hd is a SATA, so this should work for you. https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Adapter-Cable-Power/dp/B005B3VO24/ref=pd_sbs_147_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005B3VO24&pd_rd_r=XMK3XNTH75RD4550AZQ2&pd_rd_w=Aw7ZM&pd_rd_wg=W7lil&psc=1&refRID=XMK3XNTH75RD4550AZQ2

When you plug in your drive, it should show up as another drive, just like a usb drive. Then its just drag and drop.
biwa45 thanked Steve J
biwa45
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you all. A new non-PC-related problem butted in and took up a lot of time, so I didn't get to your answers as soon as I would have liked. I have not been able to move anything to an external drive (Just, nothing happens), but as I tried over and over again to do something with hubby's old computer (how this finally happened, I don't know, but) I got to a screen that told me that the SATA hd was bad. The computer has a dual core hd, and two hds were listed, one SATA and one not--one "good" and the other "bad." I presume there were two listed because of the dual core, about which I know next to nothing.

Next time we are in this situation, if the hd is still good, I'll remember what you suggested, Steve.
mike_kaiser_gw
8 years ago
Drive encloses are pretty cheap, I paid about $10 for one and it works just fine. After you buy your new computer, pull the old drive and see if you can get it working outside of the machine. With a bit of luck and prayers to the computer gods, you might get lucky. If not, the external enclosure will still come in handy for backups...

Using Dropbox to transfer files to new PC

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