Customer Reviews

Detto IntelliMover 3.0 USB Migration Kit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Ugh. This is a pretty stiff price to rent a program for one use. That's right -- the license "agreement", which you'll only find after unsealing the package and voiding your return rights, limits you to a single migration. Since the program must be activated via the company's website, there's no chance you can get around this restriction. To top it off, you'll have to reinstall all of your software on the new machine before you can migrate the "settings" from your old machine. By the time I was done doing that, I didn't save a whole lot of time compared to just reconfiguring the machine manually. I saved maybe an hour in an eight-hour session moving 30GB of data and reinstalling software. A lot of time was spent reconfiguring the things Intellimover missed, such as Outlook's rules wizard. My recommendation is to choose AlohaBob's PC Relocator instead -- that program moves applications as well as data, and there is no use limit. Like they say, owning is better than renting.

I bought this product with a new computer because I had downloaded several hundred - nearly one thousand - MP3 files, on the old computer, and I wanted to use them on the new one. The salesperson and many of the editorials (and testimonials) billed Intellimover 3.0 as an extremely user-friendly product that would transfer any file between two machines. However after using this program I would not reccomend it.

First, the program requires that you run on the old computer. It reads all your settings, your files, and any piece of data that is stored. Then, once the user installs the software onto the new computer, the files are transferred via a USB or Parallel cable. My first problem was with the IntelliMover program itself. Before a user can transfer specific files, like MP3's in my case, he or she must move all preferences. This may be convenient for many users who have meticulously configured settings on an older computer, but for a user like me (who was trying to escape the incoherent configuration of Windows XP)it simply spread the confusion of many settings from the old computer to the new one. Meanwhile, I found it nearly impossible to reverse the setting change. I strongly suggest that a user DOES NOT use this software unless he or she is completely and utterly satisfied with the settings that their old computer has. Otherwise, if a user isn't happy with the old computer, they'll be sharing it with the new one.

Secondly, the file transfer software does not seem to work under my cofiguration. I have one computer that I have been using for 3 years; it runs a Windows XP OS but has very little RAM. The second and newer computer is an extremely fast and efficient Gateway. Any time that I have tried to create a connection between the two computers to transfer the files that I need I get stalling until the system freezes and I must restart the operation. Currently I have not been able to fix the operation after nearly 20 attempts.

I am disappointed with this software. For the $50 that I spent, I receieved a USB cable, a parallel cable, and the Detto Intellimover software. For under $20 it is possible to buy a short cable at a computer store and use Windows XP's file transfer system. That software is no cost and has worked for me.

Although the review is critical of the software, I do concede that it is great at making a new computer work like the old one. However if file transfer is your central purpose for buying this software, back away slowly and don't look back.

I recently upgraded from an HP running XP Home, to a custom built PC running XP Pro, and wanted to transfer files to my new PC in an efficient manner. Well, after spending approximately 10 hours installing programs on my new machine, and then running Detto (which took about 8 of the 10 hours), I have had MULTIPLE problems with my new PC, which worked perfectly before I ran Detto. I should have used that time to simply burn stuff to CD's instead. If you are thinking of purchasing this product - STOP! Do NOT do that. Instead, either burn stuff to CD's or get a "mirror" program instead. Save yourself the aggravation, and the money. It's just not worth it. Too bad Amazon doesn't let you give something ZERO stars, 'cause that's my real rating.

This product trashed my new computer. I selected from intellimover's list only a few options for moving data, one of which was photos. The SW logic moved every .jpg, .bmp, and .gif file from the old to the new computer, which moved about 1GB of garbage, over 3000 gifs alone. Also, it created new folders and subfolders for all the "new" art. Thousands of tiny bits of art ("Welcome to your new (1997) Hewlett Packard"), scattered about hundreds of new folders and subfolders. My new Dell went from a clean machine to a cluttered mess in seconds! And to make matters worse, the only files I wanted, the photos, went to an obscure folder and my software couldn't find them! I had to move them all manually anyway. Also, it did not move my on-computer saved emails, my GPS map saved routes and areas, and a few other small items. For the hours of aggravated deleting I've had to do, 5-layers deep of folders with only 3 obsolete gifs in the bottom folder, I'd recommend avoiding this product and recording your data on a CD for manual transfer instead. I wish I had. It would have saved a lot of time and irritaion.

I've used this system twice. Once it worked as advertised. The other time it totally screwed up my system. The difference might be that on the successful use, I chose the Select All on the menu of files and settings to transfer. On the disastorous usage, I checked individual program files. Worst of all, Detto customer support was completely useless, ignorant, and unreliable (not returning calls etc).

LOOK INWARD XP USERS: This might all be solved by Microsoft. XP comes with a file and settings transfer program. Not sure exactly how it stacks up vs. Detto product, but I will try the XP program before messing with the Detto program again. Bottom line: a lot of money for a USB cord.

I don't know what that other guys deal is, but this software worked so simple and easy. If you don't want to move over your settings, simply un-check them - that's the beauty of this software, it allows you to select what you move and don't move over. I was able to get all of my personalized settings and preferences over in less than 45 minutes- thats extremely fast. And I have used the built in file transfer software numerous time to move mp3's and pic files from my laptop to my desktop and it works extremely fast and it's so simple. If you think using the tool built into XP is the answer - good luck! If sitting arround for hours waiting for just MS settings to move sounds fun then by all means. Your limited to a super slow serial connection or you can set up a network and connect via network cards, but how many of you know how to do that? Way too complicated. If you want your computer to look and feel like your old one without comlication, fear of overwriting files and at lightning speed, IntelliMover is the way to go!

I transferred from a Pentium 2 Gateway 233 MHz to a Pentium 4 HP Pavilion 2.4 GHz. I first tried the Windows XP Transfer Wizard, but there are several drawbacks to this method: (1) I had to establish a Small Office Network (buy a router, use the Network Wizard, etc.), (2) XP Transfer Wizard does not transfer preferrences, settings, or data from applications such as Outlook Express (which means you loose your Address Book and all the old emails). On the positive side, Windows XP transfer wizard did a good job with my MP3 files; it took about 30 minutes to transfer about 1200 files. Also, it came loaded with the Windows XP operating system (so it is "free").

Intelli-Mover transfers settings and preferences, as well as data files. The program needed 2 hrs 39 minutes for the complete transfer of about 1 Gb. Here are a couple of advisories: (1) You need to have applications loaded on your new computer before you transfer; (2) You will need a floppy to create a Transfer Wizard on the old computer; (3) Be careful with the transferred data, namely, do not delete an application like Outlook Express and reload it after you have transferred: you will loose your Address Book. (5) Note, also, you have to turn off all anti-virus software during the transfer. (6) You should not get rid of your Old Monitor before transferring; a blind transfer is really not an easy task. (7) Finally, you have to check all your applications by starting them before you can really deem the transfer complete.

I hope this helps.

I bought this because I bought a new computer and needed to transfer my old data to the new one. It worked perfectly the first time. Besides transferring your application settings, there is a file transfer feature that transfers your data files as well. It was easy to use -- but be sure to follow the instructions. Not that it's tricky or anything, but judging from other reviews, I think you might run into trouble if you take shortcuts or back out and restart. But if you just follow the "wizard," it will walk you through everything perfectly the first time.

After trying this program 10 times, I still have not managed to migrate my files to the new computer. Paid extra for the USB version of this program, and all I can say, is keep your money. We've had numerous problems with the connection being broken during transfer, which leaves no option other than to start over again. There is no way to resume the transfer after it has stopped. Over 12 hours later, still trying to transfer the files

This product is a piece of c___p. I doubt it saved me (or will save me -- I'm still trying to make it work 72 hours later) a minute of time over burning CDs. It is BUGGY BUGGY BUGGY and crashes CONSTANTLY!!! In the process of migrating from a Dell desktop to a Dell laptop, I have restarted this program well over 50 times at this point and have installed it three times. It is, first of all, a resource hog -- so you cannot do a single thing on either computer while it's operating. The original migration (which you can do only once) was reasonably fast -- but the "File Transfer Utility," which you use next in order to transfer files the original migration didn't catch, is all but worthless. (This is the one that crashes constantly.) Here, you'd do better with burning CDs. What's worse, the program simply stops operating - it doesn't tell you what's wrong, it doesn't warn you that a file is too large, that a file name is too long, or that system resources are low (my three theories for why it crashes). It simply stops. The only saving grace (really, the only one) is that I bought this for cheap on amazon instead of forking over 50 or 60 to buy it new. Then I'd be homicidal as well as frustrated almost beyond my ability to express. Don't use this product. Please.