Parallel or USB Connection - PC to PC

[Stelios]

Dear all,

Are you aware of any site or article on the web explaining how to connect two PCs via parallel port and/or USB cable?

I am trying to copy-this will be on a regular basis- large storage files from one PC to another (Desktop to laptop or vice versa).

I prefer to use USB or at least the parallel port as the more convenient ways (I don't care about the transfer speed). Also, I would like to understand what the problems, if any, if the PCs are running on different operating systems, in my case WinMe and Win98.

I searched the web for related articles but with no luck, so far.

I would appreciate any help or info on the above.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Louie1961a]

both are possible. I have heard of but am not familiar with using the USB as a network interface. search under "USB + networking"

However, I am very familiar with connecting machines with parallell cables. In the world of windows (win95 and above I believe) it is call "direct cable connection" You require a special cable that can be purchased at staples, office max, compUSA, etc. Once you have the cable, go into the control panel, add/remove programs, windows setup. Under "communications", make sure the component "direct cable connection" is checked. Right click network neighborhood, and select properties. Make sure both machines have netbui selected, and file and print sharing enabled. Also, make sure you designate at leat one folder on your hard drive as a shared resource (right click on the folder or drive, and click on "sharing"). then restart both machines, and invoke DCC from the start menu. designate one machine as host, and one as guest. The program takes you through how to do this step by step. Once it connects, you can see the shared folder in your windows explorer.

That is the short version, I may have left a few things out since I haven't done this in years. you can search the net for "direct cable connection" and probably find many "how to" references.

By far the easier (and more efficient probably) is to buy some inexpensive network interface cards and a cross over cable. It will cost you a bit more (cards can be had for as little as 10-20 dollars each, cable probably 10 dollars or so depending on the length you need) and simply create a permanent network between the two machines, so you can share files and printers full time. There have been some great links here posted to some how to sites that will tell you how to go about setting that up. Just search this board, or go to www.practicallynetworked.com