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Aloha Bob’s PC Relocator v2.0

By Bart Koslow, Los Angeles Computer Society

PC Relocator promises to seamlessly “transfer your programs, settings, documents and everything else to your new PC without overwriting your operating system”.  If you have ever spent days attempting to transfer files and install programs that were on your old computer to your new one, you will understand the siren call of being able to automatically transfer everything from your old to your new computer. Does it work? Read on!

The first time I used PC Relocator was about one and a half years ago. At that time I transferred everything from a computer with a 4.3GB hard drive running Windows 95 to one with a 13.6GB hard drive running Windows 98 Second Edition. As I remember, I had about 3.0GB of programs, and files on logical drives C, D and E on the old computer, which I transferred to my new computer with similar logical drives, each the same size or larger than the old computer. I ran the program overnight, using a parallel port connection. It took about seven hours. My old computer was not altered. When I booted my new computer everything looked exactly the same as my old one. Every program ran with the one exception of Microsoft Front Page, which I had to reload on the new computer. Based on this excellent experience, I decided to try PC Relocator again on the new computer I just built. 

This time I would transfer from about 9GB of programs and files from a computer with a 13.6GB hard drive running Windows 98 Second Edition to one with a 40GB hard drive running Windows 98 Second Edition. Both drives had logical partitions C, D and E. The program comes on a CD with a parallel port transfer cable, a Quick Start Guide and a 49-page user manual. Operating systems currently supported are Windows 95, 98 and ME. Future versions will support Windows NT and Windows 2000. The version of operating system and version of Internet Explorer on the Target PC must be the same or higher than the version on the Source PC. If different versions of product suites, such as MS Office, are installed on the two PCs you must uninstall the suite on the Target PC before relocation. After relocation you may then install the new version.  When I ran the program, I quickly found out that my Target PC had an earlier version of Internet Explorer. I was told to update my version. There is a late version of Internet Explorer on the CD, which may be used to bring the source and target versions up to requirements, as explained in the manual. Transfers may be made via parallel port connections or using a network. Future versions will include USB port transfers. Not having a network I opted for the parallel cable transfer. 

I followed checklist of preparatory tasks, which should be performed on both computers before running the program. They are: run scandisk, run virus scan software, turn off power management features, restart both PCs, close all programs, and connect your PCs via parallel port cable provided or TCP/IP network. Next, you install PC Relocator on both PCs. You may install from the CD, from a diskette created from the CD or from the Internet. I used the CD. Once the program is begun on the Source and Target PCs, you follow the screen prompts. If no problems are detected, press GO, and you are off. After I did this, I saw a screen indicating the transfer rate and estimated remaining transfer time. I was in shock when I saw a transfer time of about 28 hours, and a transfer rate of approximately 46K/second. Letting the program run for an hour just confirmed the times. Being an impatient person, this was not satisfactory. When I cancelled the transfer, PC Relocator quickly removed all vestiges of the attempt. Instead of using this program, I used a file transfer program to transfer data and other files to my new computer, and then installed all the programs I desired. The file transfer program rate was 8 to 10 times faster (using the same parallel cable) than PC Relocator. 

The program does work. If you use a network connection, the transfer time required should be reasonable. It is slow using a parallel port transfer. In this case, I would only recommend it with some qualifications. If you have a large amount of programs and files to be transferred via a parallel cable connection (I had about 9 GB), you will either need a lot more patience than I had, or you should uninstall programs that may be more quickly installed from a CD on the new PC, or that are not needed, and eliminate files not required on your new PC. If you have a smaller amount of programs and files (like the 3GB I had on my early transfer), you should be fine. Aloha Bob’s PC Relocator is a program that fulfills a needed task.