A: The Amiga Explorer software, which is available in a stand-alone version and as part of Amiga Forever, provides a very easy way to copy software and data from one system to the other, as long as the Amiga and the PC are connected with a null-modem serial cable or Bluetooth link, or with TCP/IP (Ethernet, etc.) Other methods are explained in the pages referenced below.
The default hard disk installation of Amiga Explorer creates a "Work" directory on the PC hard disk which is seen as a hard disk named "Work" from within the emulation environment. This directory is stored in the "System/dir" subdirectory of the emulation-specific directory of the Amiga Forever distribution or installation. On a current Windows installation, "System/dir" is in "Amiga Files" (inside "Shared Documents", and also linked to in "My Documents").
By copying files from the Amiga hard disk to the shared "Work" directory on the PC, they automatically become available in the "Work" partition of the emulated Amiga. Please note that this transfer is usually best performed from the Windows desktop (or whatever operating system and file manager is running on the computer), not from inside the emulation, which usually has more limited access (if any at all) to the "real" Amiga.
Amiga Explorer also gives access to a "virtual hardfile" for each Amiga hard disk. This is in HDF format, which can be copied directly to the emulation, retaining the original file system and attributes. To mount such an HDF file, view its Properties with Amiga Explorer, and after copying the file to the PC, set the drive geometry values indicated by Amiga Explorer in the WinUAE configuration. This geometry information is very important, and it is best saved for future reference in a text file stored in the same directory as the hardfile.
Also see:
- 3-103 - Comparison of Some Amiga/PC Data Sharing Solutions
- 5-112 - Use of "Amiga Files" in Amiga Forever for Windows
- 3-156 - Host File System vs. Hardfiles
- 3-132 - System Configuration Import Checklist
- 3-109 - Reading Amiga Non-Floppy Media on PC
- 5-113 - Support for Amiga SCSI and Block-Type Devices on Windows
- 3-112 - Using Amiga Floppy Disk Image Files
- 3-118 - Reading Amiga Floppy Disks on PC
- 3-129 - Booting a PC into Workbench
- 3-167 - Archival of Amiga Floppy Disks
- The Migration Tips tutorial
