Connecting two PCs

is this a one off or are you after something a little more permanent?

Hi John,
Ummm... It really depends on what the options are. I envisage transferring small amounts of data one way or the other daily - but a CD-RW or sometimes even a floppy could handle that.

However, I plan to have most of my stuff on my new PC and use space on the old one's HD for back-up - hence my wanting to connect them directly.

You can get a usb direct connect cable but they're limited to 6ft either side without special extensions (around £40)
If you have network ports in your pcs you can connect via a router/hub (also around £40) if you think you'll ever need to plug in more pcs or a printer, otherwise get yourself a crossover cable (< £5).

Thanks - I'll use a USB cable.

Do you need any special software to allow the data transfwer between the two machines? I would guess two XP machines will communicate OK but 98 to XP?

>Will add something funny when I think of it.<

Ethernet cross over cable (cheap) and no special software, just use Network Places in Windows, You may need to name your computers (control panel - system) and share drives (from file manager). If you have problems it's probably then due to one or more firewalls preventing the connetion.

maplin do a usb to usb cable, with some simple file transfer softare included, for 18 quid.

for me, it has worked everytime except once with firewalled office laptop.

Just to chime in, if they're near enough to use a USB cable, get a couple of cheap ethernet cards and a crossover cable and do it that way.

Odds are it'll be quicker and if you ever decide to share an internet connection or anything like that you've got what you need.

Paul is correct, this should be the best way to do it, and will cost about the same as the USB solution.

A lot of modern PCs have ethernet built onto the board, so you may only need the cable. As stated above, the crossover will be the one to use.

Once the connection has been made, check the device proerties to ensure that full speed & duplex mode are both enabled.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne (at) Dial.Pipex.com. Put "Naim" in the title.

Also, connect your two PCs by whatever means you choose and then use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard on your XP machine for your initial setup and documents/settings transfer. Makes life much easier.

Mike

Thanks - I'll let you know what I end up doing.

I searched for a USB cable but couldn't find one!

I then checked the manual for my new PC's motherboard: two LAN sockets, as I had thought. I checked the manual for my old PC's motherboard: one LAN socket, which surprised me because I had no recollection of seeing one. Oh well, that was obviously because I had not previously intended to use it...

A day or so after ordering the cable I took a look at the back of my old PC, and the LAN socket shown in the manual wasn't there!

It's possible that the socket is there but covered up - I'll check when the cable arrives.

Anyway, it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the price of USB pen drives lately, and I found a Bytestor 256MB one for £22, which I've ordered. It's a lot more expensive than a cable but it will have other uses, and will allow me to move the PCs to different rooms if necessary.

The pen drive arrived today - it's great! [I have no idea how it compares with others - I just bought more or less the cheapest 256MB drive I could find].

As soon as I'd tried out the pen drive, the cable arrived, and I checked that my old PC had a LAN socket. As I had suspected, there was one hidden behind a break-offable metal plate on the back of the PC.

Then I tore open the cable's packet and, for no particular reason, looked at the the plugs. Luckily, they were transparent so I realised I didn't have a crossover cable. Duh!

Anyway, someone's going to get a not-very-exciting Christmas present...