Pros: Fast transfer rate, 2.4m cable length, five-year guarantee

Cons: Both PCs must be side by side

Bottomline: Makes it easy to move to a new Vista PC

Manufacturer: Interactive Ideas

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If you have recently acquired a new PC, transferring your existing personal files and program settings from your old PC will probably be the first task after unpacking it.

To make the process easier, Windows Vista includes a useful utility called the Easy Transfer Wizard. The Sandberg USB Transfer Link works in harmony with this wizard providing a fast data transfer connection between two PCs.

Firstly, the Easy Transfer software – compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Vista – must be installed on your old PC from the installation disc.

The next step is to connect the old PC to your new one using the USB transfer cable. This starts up the Easy Transfer Wizard on both PCs. The wizard then asks you to select between a complete or customisable transfer.

The complete option automatically copies documents, music, pictures, program settings and internet settings along with your email settings and messages. General Windows settings and customisations are also included.

Alternatively, you can customise which folders and settings are transferred, although selecting individual files is not supported. All of your transferred folders appear in their original locations on your new PC and are highlighted to distinguish them from existing ones. The cable supports high speed USB 2.0, which meant our music, photos and documents were copied across quickly.

Copying across existing programs from your old PC to your new one is also possible. To do this, you have to download the free Microsoft ‘Easy Transfer Companion’ from the Microsoft site. However, the program is still in the testing stage so it isn’t guaranteed to work as it should. During our testing, transferring the most common Office applications worked, but it was very slow.

We would have liked to have had more control over which files are copied – using the supplied software, the entire contents of a folder must be included in the transfer. The Sandberg cable is better value than rival products we have looked at and is functional and simple to use.