How do I transfer data from a laptop to a tablet?

It should be as simple as copying and pasting files to a USB flash drive, and most of the time it is, but a fair number of users fall at the first hurdle and find that their Samsung tablet is not recognised by their PC.

Sometimes it is just the cable, so the first thing to do is try another one, but if that does not work then it is probably a driver problem. There plenty of complicated and exotic solutions on the web but the quick fix is to install Samsung’s Kies sync utility (free from http://goo.gl/U0geqe), which includes the essential drivers.

It is a bit clunky and gets mixed reviews but you do not have to use it, in fact you can uninstall it straight away as the drivers you need, will remain on the computer. After a restart connect the tablet to the PC; Windows should now acknowledge its existence and it appears as an external drive in Windows Explorer, displaying the contents of both the tablet’s internal memory and a Micro SD card, if one is inserted.

You can now copy and paste your files, and usually the best place to put them is in one of the Download folders (Internal memory or SD card), which most apps can access. Otherwise copy your files to a relevantly named folder: DCIM or Pictures for images, Movies, Music, Documents and so on.