Ive just brought a nice new laptop and im looking for a simple way of connecting it to my desktop to transfer small files e.g.word/excel documents etc. and use the printer connected to my desktop. i dont want to go the wireless route, its a bit too expensive, as i will only be using the network occasionally for example, when the kids want to print out stuff for their homework etc.. just a few wires i can leave connected to my desktop for when i need to print from the laptop would suffice.. Any help? i have found a bit of info here at aD, but i really could do with an 'idiots guide' as i am a qualified idiot. Thanx!
I will tell you that I would go the wireless route, if I had a laptop. You can take that laptop anywhere in the house and get files from the other computer.
Yes, wireless would probably be the best and cheapest way to go. Chances are, your laptop already has a wireless adapter built-in and your other PC likely has an ethernet card as well. A decent wirless router should run about $50 US and supports connections to both.
BigPantz, Good ideas from everyone. I support the wireless G technology myself and use the Linksys WRT54GS Router: http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=33&scid=35&prid=610 Anyway, to answer your question, you can hard wire a twisted 4 pair RJ-45 cable to your NIC card on the desktop to the NIC card on the laptop; assuming you have NIC cards in both machines and windows XP it's pretty easy to transfer files. That way, you are cabled to each machine and will allow you to transfer files to and from; pretty archaic and slow but it works. Do you have high speed broadband? DSL or Cable?? Next best option is to purchase a router where you would connect the modem to the router WAN port and the NIC cards - RJ-45 cables to the router ports 1, 2, 3 or 4. ... after that, you can hit network neighborhood and see your computers under the workgroup as long as you have your file sharing set up correctly. It's really not that difficult to tell you the truth. We can help you out step by step.
sorry, i think i should have given a bit more information on my setup here. the desktop PC is a standard (other than ive changed the DVD drives) Compaq S7150UK, Intel celeron 2.8ghz, 256mb DDR ram which is just a year old. the laptop is a Toshiba A60, pentium 4 3.06ghz, 512mb DDR ram. both machines running on XP. I have broadband internet, 1.5mb through Telewest (uk) on the desktop. i dont know whether this is cable os DSL. like i say, i looked into the wireless setup offered by my ISP via netgear, & the most basic setup for what i want will cost equivalent to $220 in your money! would it be possible for me to buy this stuff via the net from somewhere like the US and it still work for me in the UK? $50 for a router sounds a good deal. the cheapest ive seen one here is 80 quid ($150)
You could run into issues with the frequency with regards to UK regulations. I'm sure you have somethere that is the equivilent to the FCC in the US which might have a problem with you importing a U.S. 2.4Ghz wireless device.
