Customer Reviews

LAPLINK PCMover 4.0

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

About five years ago I purchased Laplink Technical to move my files from my old laptop to my new Dell desktop computer. It worked perfectly the first time. This time I purchased PCMover to move my files from my old Dell (running ME) to my new Dell (running XP). After several days of struggles I did manage to get my files transferred, but not without a LOT of problems.

First of all, the software refused to recognize my Home Network linking my two Dell computers. I happily moved files back and forth between the computers using copy and paste so the network works perfectly. PCMover would not, under any circumstances, recognize the link, so I was forced to
use the enclosed USB cable - a slower way to transfer the files.

PCMover compressed the files before transfer but it is a resource HOG. I have a small program running that monitors my memory and PCMover drained the memory all the way down fast, then slowed the computer, then eventually crashed my old computer over, and over, and over again. I had to transfer 26gb of data and I had about 10-15 computer lockups and it took several days to move all the data.

Laplink...how can you let this product out the door like this? Eventually, I used my Home Network to move most of my files from the old computer to the new one so PCMover wouldn't have to do much work, and still it crashed my old computer. In the wee hours of the morning this morning I finally got PCMover to finished its task and now my new computer is running fine. I would have tried to use my old copy of Laplink Tech but I couldn't find the old software box, so that was why I bought PCMover thinking it would be an improvement over Laplink Tech and would be compatible with XP.

If I could have turned compression off I suspect the transfer would have gone well without crashing my old computer but this was NOT an option. Also, the sofware tries to be "cute" by referring to its operations in "moving van" terms. When the files are being transferred it's called "unloading the van". This is NOT funny when the process is crashing the computer.

My suggestions to Laplink - fix the bug that prevents the software from using the network connection, have the compression be an option, and don't try to be cute by using "moving van" terms. If you get the software it will eventually work and I hope your experience with it goes better than my experience.

Having used LapLink products in the (distant) past, I bought PCMover without a second thought. Wasted $40 and a LOT of time. This "utility" managed to move a grand total of 99MB in 15.5 HOURS before I killed the process. This is over a 100MB ethernet crossover connection. The same connection moved 5GB in about 10 minutes using Total Commander. Calls to LapLink resulted in a variety of suggestions, none of which improved performance. PCMover isn't a viable solution for Windows XP. By the way, this is exactly the same software sold by SpearIt as "MoveMe", so avoid that one as well.

I don't know how it did it, I plugged in the cable, ran though the steps on both computers, and then after about 10 hours, it was all there. My new computer had everything, all my music, pictures and even the programs! It does take some time so you may want to run this before going to bed. The only side effect was that I had to do was reactivate office.

I am currently the System Administrator for 4 companies and have been in the IT industry for 20+ years. Over those years I have used LapLink products since their introduction. I puchcased MCMover when my wife decided to upgrade her laptop. I was also looking for a good way to upgrade computers at work. I picked up a copy of PCMover, installed and tested it at work. I had to do the dreaded "online validation". The test worked as advertised although it was slow averaging about 5 Gig/hr. Once the "test" was completed I uninstalled it from both test machines feeling pretty confident that it would work for the wife's computer and thinking that it would be a good addition to my work utilities.

Fast forward 4 days. Sunday morning the wife and I get up and head to our local BestBuy and purchase her a new laptop. She heads out for the afternoon and I am left to move her data. I installed the software, entered my serial number and "no go". Got the lovely message "You have exceeded your validations for this product". I logged on to laplinks web site thinking I can either call someone at tech support or do an online chat. Can't do this either because they are only available during "business hours" M-F. The only option, purchase yet another serial number to the tune of $39.95.

2 of the companies that I am the Sys. Admin for are software companies and I understand the need to prevent piracy but if you are going to have an online validation you should also be able to remove the validation when you remove the software so you can reinstall on another machince if necessary. MS has the same problem with Office 2003. It can be done because Adobe has this option with Photoshop CS and CS2.

While it does work as advertised I cannot recommend it because of this horrible policy. If you need to use it more than once then stay away from this one.

I tried all morning with their tech support trying to get network transfer to work but still no dice. They escalated the issue and got back to me 3 days later asking me to check the timezone and time. Of course that didn't fix anything. I have since sold my old computer. Laplink has a no-refund policy. You bet I'll be disputing charges with my CC company!

NO REFUNDS BY THIS COMPANY, PERIOD. I spent HOURS trying to get this to work. It messed up my old computer. Did not transfer anything. When I contacted their tech support, they said Oh, we know those programs won't transfer, sorry. They have false advertising which states that it "transfers all your programs." What a lie! I have a very high level of computer expertise. My advice: Don't waste your money. I am sorry I did.

I bought this to make a transfer easy. I teach programming in college. 12 hours later of clean up, I am just about to erase everything and do a clean build. Good luck it either works or it does not work. I would be extra careful going between xp and vista

I didn't do anything special. I didn't try to customize the move. I did print and read the 7-page directions first. I used the silver USB 1.1 Laplink cable. Then the move of 42G of data took 9.5 hours and it all works.

Do not waste your money on this software, much less your valuable time!!!

If you expect to transfer your data using the included Laplink USB 1.1 cable, forget it! There is a technical glitch with the drivers for this cable that requires a repair "process" that is not clearly explained and I could never get to work (if it works at all!) - even after searching support, FAQs, LiveChats, multiple uninstalls/reinstalls, etc. There are also manual changes to your computer's registry that can supposedly be made to fix the problem, but I was not comfortable doing them in the first place, and especially not after seeing how poorly the repair process "worked". You will not know if you have this problem until AFTER you have a clean installation, and go to select USB as your Method of Transfer and find it is greyed out - this problem is NOT picked up while checking for software updates during installation.

LiveChat support is only available days and early evenings EST; phone support is only available on a scheduled basis - their schedule. If you do run into any problems, you may be able to get through them if you have lots of time and can work through them at their convenience. After 10 hours over 2 days and STILL no clean installation and no phone support, I gave up!

This is a very useful product. I transfered all my programs from a 2k PC to a WinXP machine without hassle. Only one program did not work, because it did not run on XP. I transfered about 15GB in 2.5 hours. Worth every penny.