Scott,

Yes, you sure can proceed along the same path with two desktop computers as long as both PCs have USB.

UD:
Yes, the cable works with 98SE as well.

Cheers,
Claude

Wiz boy,

what is the step by step procedure for hooking this thing up USB?

thanx

I have to say that ethernet really IS the way to go. Some people just see the word "ethernet' and switch off because, on a large scale it can become a very complex thing. What they don't tell you is that hooking two PCSs together via ethernet is no more difficult that setting up an internet connection and the results are truly staggering. I've tried everything over the years, laplink - parallel, serial and USB, those little things you plug your 2.5 drive into, transferring data via CDs, ZIP JAZ, you name it. It almost makes me cry to think of all the time and money I've wasted on these so-called solutions because nobody ever took the time to tell me how easy, inexpensive and efficient the ethernet thing really is. There's also the tendency to think, "well my computer already has these connectors so I'll find a system that works with those".

That's why I had to post in this topic. I'm reading through and all the time I'm thinking, "no, don't do it! Not the USB thing. I've been there. Please somebody tell them about ethernet". Actually, one person mentioned it but it was passed over because the computers didn't have the connectors, (and I assume, because it sounds complicated).

Truth is, you can buy a laptop ethernet adaptor, an ethernet card for your desktop PC and the cable for about $100. This is less than the price of Laplink Gold and the difference in speed and efficiency is simply incomparable. Windows already contains the necessary software with great wizards, (especially in XP) to guide you through the whole thing. I got mine set up in less that 10 minutes.

Once you've set it up, you just won't belive how fast and efficient it is and how you ever lived without it. If you have a file on your notebook which you want to use on your desktop system, simply right click on the file or folder and select "Share on the network". Now when you open "Explorer" or "My Computer" on your desktop PC this file or folder will be right there. You can open it, play it, copy and paste it just like it was any other file on your system. There's no noticeable difference in speed at all.

As you can tell, I'm kind of evangelical about this, simply because I wasted so much time, money and effort on all these other methods, never realizing how easy and efficient the ethernet thing could be. Every time I use it, I shake my head and think, "how come nobody ever told me about this before". Well, that's what I'm doing. I'm telling you about it

Still sound like a chore, and an expensive one at that. None of my pc's have eternet built in, but they DO have USB - for 28 bucks, I can't see an advantage to building a 100 dollar system. Why was the USB transfer so bad for you?

Basically, I now realize how slow USB is compared to ethernet. I was pretty happy with all the other systems I tried until I discovered how simple and fast ethernet was.

Advantages: You don't have to run a separate program to transfer files; all the files on your connected PC are, in effect, already there on your other PC as soon as you plug the cable in. In fact, you never actually need to physically transfer a file in order to use it on the other PC. It just made my work so much simpler.

I fell into the trap of thinking "well I've got these USB ports so why spend aditional money". I also thought ethernet was something for network geeks and had no place on my desk. Just wanted to share what I've learned since.

What is the procedure and price for hooking up the ethernet cards in my LT and P/C. Do I have someone install it? I need this thing bad!!!

thanx for any help

If you're able to install a regular card, (like a modem or sound card) then you should easily be able to do it yourself. You can buy a PCMCIA type ethernet card for the laptop and a PCI ethernet card for the desktop system for about $50 each. Then all you need is the cable to hook them together. It's called an "ethernet crossover cable", (as opposed to an "ethernet patch cable"). You should easily be able to get all three items for around $100.

The cards themselves are plug and play. After you've installed them you just need to set up the network in windows. Let me know which version of windows you're using and I can give you some more info.

Oh, I forgot, the other big advantage of this setup is that both computers can share the same internet connection, printers etc.



[This message has been edited by Chris A (edited 07-28-2002).]

The advantage of Chris's method is that is probably 20 to 100 times faster than usb 1.1 practically.

it is so fast that any time is just about hard disk write time rather than file transfer time, so like he says it feels like you are working on one system rather than two.

I've got usb 2 external laptop hard disks, which are maybe 10 times faster than usb 1.1 practically, but still take a couple of minutes to transfer some cds worth of data. With usb 1.1 it takes an age in comparison, and usb 1.1 is pretty good compared to older methods.

Your $100 might buy laplink gold with a usb cable included, or you might get the cable separate for say $30 and you could use the direct cable connection built into windows. So the $60 extra you pay for ethernet gets you up to 100 times increase in performance which if you have big hard drives pays for itself many times over in the future in time saved twiddling thumbs waiting. If you only need occasional small backups a cheaper solution is fine.

The more I think about it, the REAL advantage of the network thing is this: it always seems that the files I need are on the OTHER machine. In the past this meant that I had to find the file on the other machine, copy it to the machine I'm using, (yawn), and then I could use it. After a while, your hard drive starts to fill up with all these extra files and you find yourself frequently trying to clean up your hard drive because of all this extra stuff you've copied over (which are just duplicates of what's already on your other PC).

When the second computer is on a network, you can leave all the files where they are and access them from either PC without any copying. If you do need to copy a file over you can just copy and paste like you do with any other file in Windows Explorer. Also, if you want to make a backup, for example to a CDR, you can drag and drop files from either PC into your burner application, again without copying anything over.

I must admit that I haven't tried all of the USB link software out there so some of these newer utilities may offer similar functionality. However the speed thing with USB is definitely going to be an issue when you're transferring large files like WAV and MP3.

Chris

I just got back from the Computer store and bought myself a present for my birthday. I had the network card installed on both LapTop and Desk Top PC...... in one word AWESOME!!! What a pleasure to be able to transfer files from LT to PC Instantly making both units act as one!!! I recomend this to anyone using a LT & PC. Cost me about $100.00 well worth every penny versus the much slower USB link for sure.

take care