COM port questions

[Soviet_Genius]

I'm using Norton Commander to transfer files onto a really old laptop through a COM port because there is no other way to get them there if they don't fit on a floppy. First it's disturbingly slow. Is there any way to make it faster? And can I plug or unplug the wire while the computer is on?

[michaewlewis]

yes, you can unplug a serial cable while the pc is still on.
The speed of the transfer depends on the capability of the program. hyper terminal can support speeds up to 921,600bps, although Hyper terminal isn't generally used for transferring files to another computer. As I don't know much about Norton Commander, except that Norton doesn't make it anymore, you'll have to check your transfer settings and tweak them a little.

[Soviet_Genius]

Maybe I can use the parallel (printer) ports? Are they faster? And which program can I use (keep in mind that the laptop has DOS/Win3.1)

[michaewlewis]

I don't think parallel is any faster. Not sure though.
Check out this link: http://www.rmonet.com/commander/

[WillyW]

I seem to remember that Laplink using parallel ports was faster.
Could be wrong though.   It's been a while.   


urls to check out:

http://oldfiles.org.uk/powerload/msdos.htm   
Text search the page for    Laplink   .    See all the instances.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplink
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LapLink_cable
Some general reading I found with Google.    Might be helpful.