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I recently bought a new laptop and need to transfer data from my old desktop computer. Both the computers run Ubuntu (Gnome version).

Is there a way I can take a normal LAN cable and connect the two computers together and transfer the files?

Because the other option is to copy it first on an external hard disk and then to the hard disk of the new computer. That could be time consuming as I do not even have a 1TB external hard disk.

And no, I do not have a WIFI network.

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  • With two computers, it is a good idea to have a router in order to connect to the internet. And at the same time you get a LAN between the two computers. Install an SSH server, for example openssh-server in one of them and connect from the other computer and transfer the files via rsync. -- A wired connection (ethernet LAN cable) is faster and more reliable than a wireless connection.
    – sudodus
    Nov 26, 2018 at 10:06

2 Answers 2

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Yes, you can, NIC adapters nowadays are all Auto-MDIX so you don't need special LAN cable.

Set both computer to fixed ip in same subnet, for example, one 192.168.1.1 and the other 192.168.1.2, with netmask 255.255.255.0

And then use regular sftp or samba to transfer files.

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  • Thanks. I could indeed connect the two computers as you suggested. However, when I try to transfer the files, they are transferred through sftp. That is very slow. Is there any way I can copy files faster?
    – deshmukh
    Nov 29, 2018 at 13:15
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The other potentially faster option worth considering is a USB-SATA cable (approximate cost USD10).

Remove the drive from the old computer and plug into the new computer, then copy over. In most set ups, this should give you faster I/O than ethernet.

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  • +1 and OP probably doesn't need a new cable as they can use the old one.
    – Turtle10000
    Nov 26, 2018 at 9:00
  • I assumed it was a laptop, but if it's a desktop that's definitely a good idea!
    – moo
    Nov 26, 2018 at 10:55

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