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Issue #53: July 27, 2008

Q: Will be buying a new computer soon and looking for the easiest way to transfer files from the old one.  One thought; pull the old hard drive and mount it as a second drive in the new computer.  Your thoughts?  Is there an easier/safer way to do this? 

– Glenn H.
Shalimar, FL

A: Your idea is certainly feasible, though if it was me, I’d simply network the computers together, share out the root of the old hard drive, and copy the files I wanted.  There’s nothing wrong with your hard drive idea though.  You could make it a lot easier by putting the old drive in an external housing.  That way it would simply plug into a USB port rather than you having to take the new computer apart, install the drive, modify BIOS settings, etc, then reverse all that when you’re done.  In discussing this with you via e-mail, you said the problem you had was with compatibility – your old drive being EIDE and the new computer only having SATA cables.  The right external housing would have eliminated that problem, but your ultimate solution – using LapLink, was a pretty good one too.  To everyone not in the know, LapLink is a program specifically designed to help you migrate from one PC to another.  As with most things in the world of computers, it makes your work easier, but it comes at a price.  Since that package probably cost you at least $50, Glenn, I hope you have additional uses for it, or, if the software allows you to transfer the license, that you can find a buyer for it when you’re done.

Q: I use IE7.  Too many time, when I hit the “Return to previous screen” button, I get this little msg on the bottom left of my screen that says, “Connecting to site 127.0.0.1” and nothing else happens.  Sometimes I have to hit the button 2-3 times before it works.

– Ed K.
Wright, FL

A: Every computer that connects to the internet has an internal virtual IP address of 127.0.0.1, also known as “localhost.”  When you see that IP address, it’s referring to the computer that you are currently using.

I assume the “Return to previous screen” button that you’re talking about is on a web page, as opposed to the “Back” button in the IE toolbar.  In order for this button to navigate to a previous screen, there must actually BE a previous screen.  You didn’t say so, but I’m guessing this happens when you click this button after going directly to a page, either as a home page, or by selecting a link from your favorites list.  In those cases, there very likely is no “previous screen” for the browser to return to, and apparently, the default action is to try to contact the localhost.  Since you don’t have a web server running on your computer, nothing responds, so the browser waits for a little while before timing out and giving up.

By the way, you’ll always get unpredictable results when you hit a button 2-3 times while waiting for your computer to respond.  Each click takes place within a specific context, and if the click changes the context but the computer hasn’t responded yet, you have no idea of the context of your subsequent clicks.  Your multiple clicking could actually be what’s causing your problem.


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