Connecting 2 Computers

[Killer91]

I'm not sure this is the right forum but here goes..


I have a desktop pc and I have a laptop. I take LOTS of pictures and like to keep a copy of every picture on both computers in case one of them crashes. On top

of that I have a photoshop program on the laptop and often I edit a picture then want to move it to my desktop. Currently the only way to do this is to over the

internet or to use an SD card. I was wondering if there is some kind of cord I could purchase that I could hook the two computers together with to exchange

files. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I'm not sure this is the right forum but here goes..


I have a desktop pc and I have a laptop. I take LOTS of pictures and like to keep a copy of every picture on both computers in case one of them crashes. On top

of that I have a photoshop program on the laptop and often I edit a picture then want to move it to my desktop. Currently the only way to do this is to over the

internet or to use an SD card. I was wondering if there is some kind of cord I could purchase that I could hook the two computers together with to exchange

files. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Yes it's called the "ethernet" cord and the method is copy through lan

Set up file sharing on your computer, use same username and password on both computers and you can see the folders of your other computer through local network (if you have a router with NAT that is, if your computer is open to the internet it's a bad idea in general).

[Easyscor]

If your laptop is probably connecting to public wireless network from time to time, so you'll want that shared folder on your desktop PC. Otherwise your shared folder might be visible to people around you. If you've setup passwords for both your laptop and PC, and I hope you have, then you should be reasonably secure on your laptop in public. (Win7 saw every folder on my network until I upgraded it to SP1).

Even though you probably have a wireless connection to your router that servers well for browsing, it's too slow for large file transfers so go with that ethernet cable, direct to the router when you're moving your files.

Hope this makes sense.

[Bizman]

There's also USB-USB networking cables on the market for your needs. Depends on your ethernet resources, whether USB2 is faster or slower with its 480 Mps transfer rate than your network. There are lots of reviews in the internet

[BaldEagl]

There's many ways of doing that but the most satisfying would be to buy a router and set up a home network.  Then you'd have acess to your files no matter what computer you're using including modifying them then saving them back on the remote computer.

I've got three hooked up like this at home and can't imaging it not being this way.  Plus my laptop is connected wirelessly.  Just make sure to encrypt your logon information if you're establishing a wireless connection to your network.

[Tigger29]

If both computers share an internet connection then most likely they are already networked together.  If wireless then no cable is required!

In that case it's just a matter of making a folder on one computer and enabling "sharing" on it.  Then you access that folder from the other computer and just copy whatever into it.

[Killer91]

There's also USB-USB networking cables on the market for your needs. Depends on your ethernet resources, whether USB2 is faster or slower with its 480 Mps transfer rate than your network. There are lots of reviews in the internet

Thats was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! Just bought one a little bit ago but Haven't been home yet to try it out.

See I would just use my network at home to do this but its so unbelievably slow that i really need a wired connection between the two computers that completely avoids any internet usage.

Thanks for all the responses guys! Appreciate the help!

[Anodizer]

If you're connected two computers together (not router or switch/hub in between), you won't be able to use a regular network cable unless your network card has cross-over switching capability..  Otherwise, you'll need a network cross-over cable..  The wires on one side are opposite of the other..
This would be by far the least expensive route if you don't want to tear out the hard drive of the other computer and hook it up so you can grab the files off of it..  Would cost no more than a regular network cable at your local computer store..