:'(I bought  a dell imension 4700 that runs xp. i need the files from my old COMPUTER which is a V2 premier that runs 98 SE. i bought a null modem serial cable(RS-232) hooked it up to the only 9 pin plug in the back of both of my comps started the files and settings transfer wizard, but when i got to the page where it sais please wait while the wizard connects to the other computer all they did was keep looking for each other. they did not connect to each other. both computers just kept looking for each other. i let it run from 2:30-7:00 STILL nothing. if there is a problem with doing this with 98 SE then is there any way i can upgrade my old computer to a newer version of windows with out losing any of my files??? I don't have a floppy drive on my new computer, and no cd BURNER on my old computer. any help would be appreciated. Thanks.Try using HyperTerminal on each machine. I believe its installed on both XP and Win98. (CHECK in Accessories-->Communications section)

HyperTerminal is the program that will do the transferring.

Good luck.   :(Didn't find anything that said HyperTerminal in the comunications section on either computer. Do I have to do some thing to enable this on my computer or something? Thanks ahead of time. I really apreciate the help.http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/crawford_november12.mspx

or there is this>http://www.wown.com/articles_tutorials/dccmain.htmlIf your xp is using NTFS file system (it can use either FAT or NTFS) then it may not recognize the FAT files that are on your 98. All I can say is, start over, install xp again and this time when it asks you whether to use NTFS or FAT, choose FAT. Maybe then they will be able to see each other. Hope this helps.You may need to install Hyper TERMINAL through the Software menu in the Control Panel. The Windows 98 CD-ROM will be required to do so.It's a lot easier to transfer files with one of these:
Just temporarily transplant the OLD harddrive as a new slave IDE in the new pc. XP will read that IDE and you could copy old data to your hearts delight.