Using Dropbox to transfer files to new PC

6 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

6 years ago

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

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
6 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
0
biwa45 thanked juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
Related Discussions
Is there a way to transfer my cell phone saved messages to my PC?
Q
Comments (16)
What great options. Digitizing a lifetime of music, voice recordings, movies, etc sure is time consuming. But it's wonderful there are so many options out there. Raven- I had forgotten all about Heartland catalogue. It's been probably 20 years since I ordered from them. Those are some great gadgets. The one with lp too is a bit pricey - esp. since I have a cd recorder connected to my turntable. It's a lot less convenient than having it by the computer - but it works well. The one for just tapes looks good. Grandms'- I don't need the turntable portion, but your post made me think that with the right cables (do you happen to know what they are?) I should be able to hook up my old compact stereo/cassette player to my computer. My question about that has always been that I don't think i have an input into my sound card. Does that mean I have an integrated sound card (without its own input port). But there must be cables that could transfer from a stereo to a usb port. Heck - are there cables that go to a firewire port - or perhaps that's overkill for music files. What's Pyro? Did that come with turntable - or just a program you have? I assume Roxio cd creator could do that - burn a cd? how did you find Cakewalk easier than Audacity? I think I've heard good things about both. And Urlee and Jean love Audacity and find it easy. So I'd appreciate any other thoughts in deciding which software to use? Thanks. Lynn.
...See More
Transferring old files to new computer
Q
Comments (9)
On ebay you can find a device I like called a disk drive 'rack' or carrier. You put it in like a floppy drive, on the other 1/2 you put in any disk drive. Then you can plug in the disk like a floppy and run it anytime you want to look at the drive. This could be something for $14 that would help you to move files from old , hard drive, to a new one $60 for 750gb on amazon. JDMADERA has the disk racks for serial (SATA or parallel) or you can use an external hard drive, or any drive with an external adapter $14. I personally like the reasoning of buying a new drive to put all my files on it. I get a new drive, I copy my old files and test the new drive for a while before I commit to it , and have the chance to sell my old drive while having a backup. Another idea: If many files are text based then zip or RAR them and mail them to yourself. Many mail sites accept 2mb up to 20mb mail attachments. That might handle most of your documents and that way you have them backed up. It's a secondary backup.. you should still have them somewhere else but one site I use has been good to me for 5 years, for free, holding 40mb of stuff. I apoligize if I didn't answer your Q excactly. I'm in a hurry and tried to offer what I could to what I thought I saw in your post.. in a 30 second quick read. Andre
...See More
Transferring files to new computer
Q
Comments (6)
Certainly Open Office is a viable alternative to Microsoft Office depending on your needs because the two platforms are not 100% compatible. Certainly you can try Open Office and see if it meets your needs. I don't know about Quicken but I would imagine there is some kind of "export" feature. Whether you use that in a newer version of Quicken or move on, is up to your. I hear good things about Mint (.com) but haven't used it personally. Microsoft has discontinued Money.
...See More
Transfering pictures from old PC to new laptop
Q
Comments (12)
The email might not be the best option, depending on your connection. If you reduce the file size of the picture, you reduce the quality of the image. They have really inexpensive USB drives out now. I bought a 1GB drive for $14. You just drag your pictures over until it is full, then drag them into your MyPictures folder on your new computer. It is reusable - just delete them off after you have them transfered and do it again until you are finished. A CD will hold less than a 1GB USB drive. Large USB drives are available. Hopefully you don't have thousands of pictures on your computer - I have 10's of thousands! Make sure you learn how to use your burner and back up your photos soon - hard drives fail, no matter how new the machine - you are on borrowed time if you do not backup your pictures, and it only takes a few minutes.
...See More
mike_kaiser_gw
6 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.
0
biwa45 thanked mike_kaiser_gw
Steve J
6 years ago
last modified: 6 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.
0
biwa45 thanked Steve J
biwa45
Original Author
6 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.
0
mike_kaiser_gw
6 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

Jean

Comments (6)

juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl

Related Discussions

mike_kaiser_gw

Steve J

biwa45
Original Author

mike_kaiser_gw

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Using Dropbox to transfer files to new PC

Jean

Comments (6)

juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl

Related Discussions

mike_kaiser_gw

Steve J

biwa45Original Author

mike_kaiser_gw

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

biwa45
Original Author