Laptop to Desktop connection - possible?

almacmil

This might be a no-brainer for some fo you out there, but is it possible to connect a laptop to a desktop to transfer files for one HD to another? Can it be done by wireless or cable connection?

Ta in advance...

itwiz

Yes, many ways to do this. If both are fairly modern, they should have a network socket. You can simply buy an ethernet "crossover" cable and plug one end into each. That would save you having to buy any kind of hub to create a network.

Then, assuming you're using Windows, follow the wizards to set up a network and share the drives. You can then copy between the two.

You could also copy to a USB memory stick or CD-R/DVD-R on one, then insert it into the other and copy to that.

That's very broad, generic advice. If you can give more detail as to what operating systems you're using and the age of your hardware, more specific details can be given.

Cheers.

almacmil

Ta itwiz.

Both less than 3 years old and on XP. Is the cable a standard ethernet or would I need a specific one?

Can I set up a wireles lan then as both connect to the net via my BT hub?

bingo_bango

A standard ethernet cable is UTP, or UnTwisted Pair. What you need is a 'crossover' as itwiz states. The difference is that in the UTP cable, the cores in one end are in the same order as the other. In the crossover cable, the cores are reversed allowing data transfer which you need.

Should be able to pick one up for a few squid off ebuyer / ebay or the like. They're not expensive.

itwiz

almacmil wrote: »

Ta itwiz.

Both less than 3 years old and on XP. Is the cable a standard ethernet or would I need a specific one?

As bingo bango says, look specifically for a "crossover" if you want to connect them directly to each other without a hub. Either buy one online, or PC World, Maplin etc.

almacmil wrote: »

Can I set up a wireles lan then as both connect to the net via my BT hub?

Your laptop will almost definitely have wireless, your PC likely won't. However, if your hub has a spare ethernet port (RJ45), you could connect your laptop with wireless and your PC with a standard ethernet cable (not a crossover cable in this instance).

As another alternative, if your hub has two spare ethernet ports, you could connect both computers with a standard cable and create a network that way.

Finally, you could buy a wireless USB adapter for your PC so that they both have wireless. Typically these are around £15, I wouldn't recommend this unless you have difficulty in getting your PC physically close to the hub.

Depending on the quantity of data to be transferred, I would highly recommend using cables rather than wireless, both for speed and data integrity.

Cheers.

bluboy

If you've got XP on both machines and a BT Home hub you've got the basis for a home network already.

There are lots of good comprehensive guides out there - just do a Google search for "XP Simple File Sharing".

There's lots of usefull info on BT Home hubs (including wireless networking) here

kwikbreaks

> both connect to the net via my BT hub?

In that case you don't need any extra cables - just use the home network setup wizard and enable sharing. One way to the wizard is to right click on one of the network icons in your tray (bottom right of screen) and click open network connections then there is a link to "setup home or small office network" near top left of the window that opens.

almacmil

Thanks all - I'll try the hub network.