Is this possible?? I really need to link two computers

heres the deal.

I am in the process of moving. most of my stuff is on a barge en route to me..

I have a laptop and a desktop that I am trying to network.

the reason being... the laptop has some video files that I need to transfer to my desktop(the laptop has no burner at all) for conversion/burning.

the Desktop is running Vista, laptop running XP.

how do I do this?? is it possible>??? please take it slow and easy, I am a networking virgin.

oh... I do not need to be connected to the internet...just need the two computers linked.


and yes, I know it would be easier to get an external drive, jump drive, etc..but that isnt possible at present. i cant burn a cd from the laptop or id have done that already..

please help.

 

Maybe a serial port to serial port cable?

 

Halo kind of beat me to the punch on his response, but...

The only problem with serial or parallel type connections is that they have relatively slow transfer rates. If both computers have NICs, you could use a crossover cable (like Halo is suggesting). If they both have wireless cards, you could most likely set one of the two up AD HOC. Rather than detailing a procedure, there are most likely already step-by-step walk-through sites out there. Try a Google search for both. Here's a cross-over example I found...

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/426

 

To be honest with you, in the time it takes for you to purchase and configure crossover cabling, you could definitely purchase a sneaker-net solution like a jumpdrive or other portable storage. The latter requires no networking knowledge and while the transfer rates may be slower, you wouldn't have to deal with having both PCs on at the same time on a large desk, etc and at the same time, you'd be theoretically creating a backup of the files.

 

hi,

i would deffinately try a crossover cable because of speed issues with serial cables and the extra steps with copying on and copying off removable hard disks. simply put, the crossover cable plugs in the ethernet port of the laptop and the PC. then you configure the laptop with these settings:

IP: 192.168.0.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: none
DNS Server: none

then configure the PC with these settings:

IP: 192.168.0.2
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: none
DNS Server: none

XP is easy to find where these settings go because its just Control Panel > Network Connections > Local Area Connection > Properties button > Scroll down to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and double click it

Vista is Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Click View status link > Properties button > Scroll down to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and double click it

To access the PC from the laptop goto Start > Run and type \\192.168.0.2\c$

To access the laptop from the PC goto Start > Run and type \\192.168.0.1\c$

You may have issues at the last step because of security settings, firewalls and passwords. If you do, let me know and I can help you further.

 

Why is no one mentioning USB here?

You can buy USB link cables from Ebay or good pc shops or elctronics suppliers, specially for this job. No networking experience necessary.

And you would end up with a potentially useful bit of kit.

 

my experience of usb link cables is that they are a lot slower than ethernet. but it is a lot easier i suppose. has anybody experienced reliability issues with them either?

Regards,

 

There are 2 basic types; a networking solution and a file transfer type (think USB Laplink cable). Some of these will work cross-platform to some extent but, like the USB - RJ45 networking adaptors available, it really depends on the chipset used.

 

USB is 1/5 the speed of Ethernet.

USBII that modern pcs have is nearly 2.5 times as fast.

 

I guess the better question here is is this a one-time solution you're looking for? It would make no sense to invest in all this transfer hardware if it's going in the closet as soon as you get the movie files from one computer to the other.

Another question (and I think this has been asked already) is what makes purchasing transfer hardware possible and portable harddrive solutions impossible?

Unless you're running Gigabit, USB 2.0 is 4 times faster than 10/100 Ethernet and Firewire is faster than that at sustained speeds.

It would seem as if we're going around the block to get across the street.

 

There are a couple other ways you can perform this feat.

Contact any website provider and for a small fee will set you up with a site
that you can ftp (file transfer protocol) your files from one computer to them
and then from them to your other computer.

For about the same price, you can backup your files to a USB thumb drive
in the one computer then plug it in the other and copy/restore to the other
computer.

Do you have a friend with an external tape or dvd-r or cd-r drive you can
plug in? If not, go to the local computer store and their tech support can
do it for you. Start by looking in the phone book, calling them, etc..

Good luck!

 

Two more links for you to look at, one using crossover, and the other using wireless ad-hoc, both links are safe to use !

http://helpdeskgeek.com/networking/connect-two-computers-using-a-crossover-cable/
http://www.7tutorials.com/how-set-ad-hoc-wireless-computer-computer-network

Rusty !