I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I have two computers now. My old one which has Windows98, and a new one with Vista. My old computer is no longer connected to the internet, and has all of my old pictures on it, in an HP Image Zone Program that came with my camera.

I am trying to figure out how to get those pics on a CD which i can then install on my new computer. I just can't figure it out?

Can somebody "walk me through" the steps? Pretty please?

Does your '98 machine have a CD burner? It's been so long since I've used '98 that I can't remember for sure, but I don't think it had built-in CD burning software. You can install a 15-day trial version of Nero (http://www.nero.com/enu/downloads-nero8-trial.php) and burn the photos to CD, and then copy them to the new machine.

Of course, to install the trial software you'll have to connect the old machine to the network again. If you're going to do that anyway, it might be easier to upload them to an online photo hosting service like Picasa (http://picasaweb.google.com/) or Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/), then download them onto the new machine.

If you cannot connect the '98 machine to the network for some reason, you can try Windows "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard", under Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools. You'll need to connect the two machines with a serial or USB cable. I haven't had a lot of luck with this method but then I've pretty much always kept my machines networked until I was ready to junk them.

How strong are your computer skills? If you are at all handy, and have a lot of pictures to transfer, your best bet might be to just pull the hard drive out of the old computer and hook it up to the new one. You can pick up a USB enclosure for a hard drive for about $20 or so at bigger electronics stores (such as Fry's, if you are in California) or online from somewhere like NewEgg.com. Alternately, you could just open both cases and plug the hard drive from the old box into the new one, although that would only work if the new computer has a free IDE connector (most newer computers have the hard drives connected via newer SATA connections).

Another option that you might consider would be a null modem cable. The tricky part of that one is that it might be a little hard finding one that would work between an older computer and one that is brand new. Does your new Vista box have a serial port? If so, you can find serial-to-serial cables that would let you connect the two computers and transfer files between them. An even better choice would be a USB-to-USB cable, although you might have a really hard time finding one that is compatible with Windows 98.

-Jeff

One more idea: if the '98 box has USB ports, you can copy all the photos onto a USB thumbdrive and then copy them off onto the new machine.

Thanks for your replies Andrew and JeffG!

I can't get the CD to work..that old computer is such a pile of junk...but my son is using it for Word for school reports etc.so I'll be hanging on to it for a while. My tech skills are very lacking. I have snapshots for most of the pictures on that computer anyway...so I will probably just scan my favorites, and put them on the new computer for a slideshow.

Great idea on the Picasa and Flickr suggestions. I might end up trying that...just feeling to lazy to deal with hooking up the old computer to the internet right now.

Is a USB thumbdrive the same as a flashdrive? My son has one of those. I wonder if the old computer will recognize it? I'll have to try that.

Thanks again guys!

Is a USB thumbdrive the same as a flashdrive? My son has one of those. I wonder if the old computer will recognize it? I'll have to try that.

Yes, same thing. Windows 98 was the first version* to fully support USB, so if the machine has the physical ports that should work.


*Windows 95 OSR2b had a USB supplement driver, but it didn't work very well and didn't support the full range of USB devices.

Thanks Andrew!!!:)