flash drives

[denshl]

I want to transfer a number of pictures. files .and programs
from one laptop to another laptop. After the transfer can
the files be deleted from the drive to leave it free to use
again

[Ethel]

Yes

[mightylegend]

yes easily deleted

d t h ?

[mightylegend]

I download tv programmes store on a flashdrive , an 8gb one.
then watch directly on my dvd player which has a usb socket.
after viewing i delete the episodes .

Simple

[vehelpfulguy]

Hang on with those YES replies.

While you can transfer pictures and other personal files from one laptop to another via a flash drive you CANNOT transfer programs.

When you install a program on your computer as well as copying the files to your PC it updates important Windows system files like the registry.

If you just MOVE the program files from one computer to another they will not work, and that is NOT the same as an install.

You will need to INSTALL the program on the new laptop using the CD or a copy of the install code.

Once you have done that you can UNINSTALL the program off the old PC if you want to.

[denshl]

thank you all for your input. I was particularly interested
in the last comments regarding the transfer of programs
since my main interest is with the transfer of programs
previously downloaded from the internet. I will have to
think again
Thanks.

[Ethel]

If you downloaded them from the internet once and they were free, you can download them again.

If you downloaded and paid for them you will have a licence key which you can use. If the licence is limited you can telephone the program support (or email) and explain the situation.

[ACtheTROLL]

you'd be surprised how many progs will "just" copy.

generally speaking ... the bigger the less likely (office!)
progs for specific devices won't copy

but the best way to settle the argument is to do it ... just be aware that it might not.

progs with a serial no will almost certainly need re-registering and if you have the cd or install file ... don't mess about - just reinstall

finally do be aware that a usb stick is about as unreliable as it gets.
the design is full of bad possibilities
it's also very slow ... yes you can get 4Gb from tesco for �8.98 - but filling such a devive with small files is a n overnight job
use
http://www.download.com/TeraCopy/3000-2248_4-1 0671835.html
they are cheap - so are built to a very low budget
they stick out of a hole in your PC so are easy to snap or damage
the type of memory used will reset over a few years - a cd won't
and finally ... they are easy to loose (I've lost 100s - but I did find a lost top under the bed .... how it got there I don't know)

[Thunderchild]

if you download a program from the internet you can put the install file you downloaded onto the flash drive and copy it to another computer and then install it no problem there but as for copying an installed program its a 50/50 chance

if your doing alot of transfers you may want to consider a usb hard disk which although much larger will provide the most speed and capacity versus price memory cards are costly because they are small and convenient and made of intergrated circuit memory which is much more expensive than the aluminum disks in a hard drive