Larry wrote:
http://www.thetornado.com/backup_files.asp

I was rummaging through Staples store last night looking for a cable when I
stumbled upon this gadget they are dumping for $20, so I bought one.

This is a really neat device that VERY rapidly will copy files between two
Windows PCs by simply plugging the self-retracting cords between their USB
ports. Inside the device, a little computer tells the PCs to run a file
manager program built right into the device. Once it boots, all you do is
drag and drop files or whole directories of files or groups of files from
one computer's file list to the other on the Tornado file manager....it's
that easy!

A 700MB DivX movie takes about half a minute to copy if you have USB 2.0
ports on both machine. That's REALLY quite fast.

The other nice thing is you don't have to set the PCs for file sharing
exposing the files to any other machines. This is local-only control
separate from any network. It's the perfect way to load up your laptop
with music/movies/stuff from your home computer to carry to the boat.

Because the software doesn't install into Windows, it leaves no residue
files on any PC it's used on. The software only runs when the device is
plugged in. So, you can take your laptop and the Tornado to someone else's
computer and swap files with them without trashing their system in the
least bit. Need to swap files with the computer at the office...just plug
it in to your laptop and the office computer. Because the computers are
separated by the Tornado's computer in the device, there's no automatic
movement of virus/trojan bad guys between them. Only files YOU choose in
either computer's Tornado file manager are copied. Windows has no
automatic control of moving files through the Tornado...no funny business.

Check your Staples store to see if they're dumping it....$20 is cheap!


I've been using one of those things for quite a while now. I use
it to connect my laptop to my workstation. Both are networked,
but the USB thingy is SO easy to use. Mine is made by ATEN and
it is called a "Laptop USB KVM Switch". You just plug it in and
it works. It's like a KVM switch but it has a file transfer
application. I believe I paid more than $20 for it.

Nice tip.
--

Larry in NH
rapp at lmr dot com