Best way to transfer files between computers?

If I have one machine set up to capture/edit video and another for music
production, what would be a good way to transfer files between them? Say, a
musical piece I've created that I want to use in a video.

If both machines have Firewire or USB 2, can those be used for rapid data
transmission between machines? If so, how would it be done? Is there more to
it than simply running a cable between machines?

The reasons for doing this are if the video machine is rendering, I can
still be working on recording, and also so I can use the DVD burners in one
machine for everything.

Thanks for all input.

The best way to connect 2 PCs is through a router. Connect a router to your modem through the WAN port and the 2 PCs to router on the other ports. Share the drives and that's it.

Get 2 Gigabit ethernet cards, one for each machine and a gigabit switch, connect each machine to the switch using Cat 6 cable and the set up a shared folder. That would be the fastest connection. But if you don't want to spend much money just go to your local computer store and buy a crossover cable connect the two computers network cards togeather, assign IP address and Subnet masks to both computers, if you are unsure how to do this google it or just ask.

Don, No need for a router, he never mentioned anything about sharing an internet connection, all he wants to do is file share between two computers.

There is no need for gigabit switches either.

Can you run gigabit over a cross over?

Yea I guess there should be no logical reason why you can't as long as it is a Cat 5e or Cat 6 crossover.

It might be a bad assumption but I assume most people have a broadband connection and want to share the internet as well as files. Even if it's not the case at the moment, it might be in the future. That's why I always recommend a router.

You can always get an xdrive herehttp://www.xdrive.com/ I have one and it allows me to access and swap files easily.

Hmm... Well If you have an Ipod that has enough space on it you could transfer the files Via the ipod...

You need to go into itunes and tell it to " Enable Disk use"

Or the same thing if you could a hold of a Portable hard drive.



Or if you cant do that you could do a file transfer over the network

Hooked up Via a Router, Switch , hub or anything like that

But you must make sure that both computers have Writing / access to each other so you can drag and drop files.

I prefer to use proven, reliable technology.

Using 1.44MB Floppy Disks is the best way to transfer files, though you'll need quite a few of them theese days, did I mention I know a great place to buy them ? Anyway, using the disks not only transfers the files from system to system, they also act as an automatic backup ! Let's see wires & wi-fi do that !

</sarcasam>

Floppy diskettes?
They are not large enough with the continuous transfer.
If I could, I would prefer the USB "flash" drives. I have some 8GB ones that I could use as backup if need be.
At the same time they would allow massive transfer loads...albeit slowly done.
I have one computer I need to do this on but it won't acknowledge media.
The only way I have to extract a file from this computer is to have it connected to the Internet and send a message with an attachment in an e-mail service.

I suspect it is possible to have a similar program running just between two or few(but more than one) computers.
I think Eudora has such a program(free); but, of course, this computer won't install anything, either.

Snail

Snags!
I checked out that Xdrive and it is closed 12 Jan '09.
That just might have met my difficult computer's needs.

Another thought which comes to mind is the idea of "hot swapping" hard drives.
Especially if a resilient Solid State hard drive could be used (or is it solid state optical drive???[Edit: never mind this confusion]).
Anyway, if you run your OS and peripherals on the computer system/stations and load your data onto a hot swap data drive then remove that drive and install it in the other computer system/station, this would be a quick way....I don't know how well it would work.
From what I have observed, flash drives do this but are small(physically) and usually not as much space as "internal," "external," or "portable" devices.
That could just be marketing adjectives, though.
I think an internal hard drive can be used just as an external would be but would necessitate an enclosure -- for aesthetics and maybe safety reasons.
I think also that this is pretty much the composure of the external hard drive; am I wrong??

I really suspect "portable" is a marketing term in reference mostly to physical size, then maybe weight, then lastly -- if at all -- its durability.
After all, a tower computer can be relocated and in fact toted in a bag. Thus, it could be "portable." I don't know where the line (if there is one) is drawn.

I don't know if you can take a hard drive that was installed within a computer(tower, desktop, or laptop for that matter) and install it in another computer and be able to access its data. I think its file format could be an issue(FAT, NTSC...) but ...the old systems can be accessed from newer technology although not the inverse(backwards compatible...)