Sharing files between two laptops at home. Home network?

firsttimebuyer2013

My girlfriend has a home business, and I do the design and website etc for her. We'd like to be able to share files so when I design something or tweak something, I don't have to keep emailing it to her or uploading it somewhere, and vice versa.

We both work on laptops and have BT fibre. What would be the best solution for this, and how would we go about it?

Would we need to buy anymore hardware?

Thanks

AndyPix

you can access your girlfriends c drive by clicking start and typing


[URL="file://%5C%5CHERIPADDRESS%5Cc%24"]\\HERIPADDRESS\c$[/URL]


It will ask you for a username and password, you will need to give it the credentials for someone who is an administrator on her machine


The same will work vice versa obviously




edit : All this is assuming you are on the same wifi network of course

[Deleted User]

You could just use Dropbox/Another cloud drive so that it would work in and out of the house

richardvc

Ringo is spot on !

Me and my DW use Google Drive and it works a treat from Pcs, tablets and mobiles ! 15gb of storage free and suits us perfectly !

If you're not sure how to use it there are tons of videos on Youtube to guide you through the process.

John_Gray

The direct connection between laptops would save shunting data up and down your broadband line. But it can be tricky to configure if AndyPix's suggestion doesn't immediately work...

psychic_teabag

AndyPix wrote: »

you can access your girlfriends c drive by clicking start and typing


[URL="file://%5C%5CHERIPADDRESS%5Cc%24"]\\HERIPADDRESS\c$[/URL]

Slightly more convenient would probably be to "share" a specific directory tree, rather than having to access and navigate the entire c drive.

[Deleted User]

John_Gray wrote: »

The direct connection between laptops would save shunting data up and down your broadband line. But it can be tricky to configure if AndyPix's suggestion doesn't immediately work...

That's a bit irrelevant if you've got an unlimited bandwidth internet package .. and cloud storage means you've got your file updates wherever you want - including on your phone.

I've started using Amazon's cloud offering since it gives me unlimited photo uploads (190gb and counting!) with my Prime subscription

Cornucopia

Another option would be to place a USB stick or external hard drive in your Router's USB port.

This creates storage that is accessible (with the right credentials) by anyone on thenetwork. It's not hard to set up, and has a slight advantage over connecting just the two computers that you can access shared info whether the other machine is on or not.

Also look at homegroup, which is Microsoft's "easy to use" sharing solution.

AndyPix

psychic_teabag wrote: »

Slightly more convenient would probably be to "share" a specific directory tree, rather than having to access and navigate the entire c drive.

Yep I was going to go into that if the OP came back expressing interest in this method




Also, i agree that Dropbox would be a much better option, but the OP specifically stated they didnt want to "keep emailing it to her or uploading it somewhere" hence me offering this solution.

esuhl

John_Gray wrote: »

The direct connection between laptops would save shunting data up and down your broadband line. But it can be tricky to configure if AndyPix's suggestion doesn't immediately work...

Dropbox can share files over a LAN. I guess it still uploads files to Dropbox's servers, though.

https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/137

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Resilio (formerly BitTorrent Sync) is similar, but only shares files over the local network. There's a free version for personal use.

https://www.resilio.com/

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If you want to share files via Windows (AndyPix's suggestion), then Windows has two options -- via a Homegroup (which only works on Windows 7 and up), or via a workgroup (which should work with other devices and older or non-Windows operating systems).

With workgroups, you can choose "simple file sharing" (for WinXP and up), or by traditional username and password (which is compatible with many devices and OSes). For the latter, you'll need to have the same username/password set up as a local account for anyone needing access over the network.

Here's how to set up a HomeGroup:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17145/windows-homegroup-from-start-to-finish