Connecting a laptop to a desktop...

[BigToque]

My friend who is starting college tomorrow, will be issued a laptop. It will no doubt be a pc laptop.

Without knowing exactly what he has on the laptop, what would he need to connect his laptop to his desktop pc? As far as I know, he just wants to share files (mp3's, documents, applications) (i've never used a laptop).

Also, I was just informed he wants to know if he can share his @home connection with it too, so when his brother is on his computer, he can still use the net on the laptop.

 

[MADCAP]

He will need an extra NIC card in his desktop and a PCMCIA NIC card for his laptop.

The easiest way to do it is to use Win98SE or WinME as these have internet connection sharing built in. He can use a crossover cable to link the two together and set up file and internet connection sharing. Voila! that's it.

If it's regular Win98 he will need a switch or hub or similar hardware solution to link the NICs together.

 

[Yzzim]

If you just want to transfer files back and forth you can use LapLink via a parrallel cable. You won't be able to share an internet connection though and transfering files would take a while.
If the laptop has an Ethernet PCMCIA card (which I'm sure it would if it came from the college) then I'd start a mini-LAN and connect the 2 computers via ethernet cable.