Transferring Files between Computers (was Re: XYWRITE digest 1145)

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

There are two issues involved: the physical link between the
computers and the actual transfer. For the latter, you might want
to try one of the most ingenious utilities I have come across in
the last couple of years.

It is XXCOPY, freeware at www.xxcopy.com. It is a Windows command
line version of the old DOS XCOPY command, with a raft of
additional switches that let you do almost anything conceivable
with it. E.g.,

xxcopy c:\ d:\ /BI /C /H /Q3 /S /Y /X*.swp /ZY

does a complete incremental backup of your hard disk onto a
second disk, deleting any files on the second disk so that its
contents become exactly those of the first. The "/X" parameter
leaves the swap file alone so it doesn't annoy you with an error
message when it can't copy it. XXCOPY can do other things, for
instance move files or give you lists of files with certain specs
instead of copying them. It comes with a 32-bit version for use
in a DOS window or a batch file, and a 16-bit version for use
under real DOS.

Cheers,
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7454
nsivin@xxxxxxxx