17.3) Transferring Files Between Windows And Unix/Linux Computers

If you are on a MS windows computer at home and you want to connect to a Unix computer at the University and transfer files between the two computers then you can use WinSCP to do this. Download WinSCP onto your MS Windows computer and open the application (double click on the icon).

WinSCP will ask you for a host name and you should enter the name of the gateway Unix/Linux computer at the University (see your system administrator for the computer name). Enter your username and password and click ‘login’. The first time you log in it may have a pop-up that states about the key. Your system administrator will have the keys or will instruct you to ignore and just press ‘yes’ to continue.

Once you connect, the screen will have two sides. The left side is the MS Windows computer and the right side is the Unix/Linux computer. You can now scroll down on the right side and click on files and drag them into the left hand side and the file will be transferred from your Unix/Linux computer at work to your MS Windows computer at home. Likewise, dragging files from the left side to the right side will transfer files from your MS Windows computer to your Unix/Linux computer. Note, you can change directories, if needed, using the drop-down box.